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Irish Immigration Without the potato or some food substitute available in sufficient quantity to replace it, the Irish simply died. Historians dispute how many died but the best of the experts, like Cormac O’Grada, estimate that about one million did. Some died of outright starvation, perhaps as many as 9 percent in Mayo, but most died of the diseases that easily infected and ravaged the malnourished, like dysentery or diarrhea. Whatever the cause, they died everywhere: in their mud cabin hovels, on the roads, in the fields, even in the squares of towns where they had fled looking for relief. In Kenmare in Kerry, the local priest, Archdeacon O’Sullivan wrote, they were “dying by the dozens in the streets.” 1 Even nearly a hundred years after the famine, old men and women told the Irish Folklore Commission that there were mounds in fields or the ruins of cabins scattered around the country where no one would walk because they believed famine dead lay there. …show more content…
The famine led many people to leave their homeland behind and started to consider new places to live at. Many Irish moved to America, the mainly settled in New York, Boston, and Pennsylvania. Even though immigrants usually bring with them problems and diseases that affect the stability of the country, however that was not the case with the Irish immigration. Irish immigration had tremendous benefits in the American society, the immigration improved many economic, political, and religious
Immigration to America from Europe was at an all time high in the mid-1800s. After the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, a large group of Irish immigrated to the United States. Since then, increasing numbers of Irish people have been moving to the United States, especially in Chicago. The Irish had come to realize that the United States really is the land of opportunity. With jobs being available to the immigrants, many more shipped in to start new lives for their families. However, for quite a while they did not live in the nicest of areas in Chicago. Many of the Irish resided in low-class areas such as overcrowded parts around the Loop, and out in the West Side. Not only did the West Side shelter the Irish, but many Germans and Jews lived in that area.
Starting in the 1830s, many immigrants came flooding into the United States of America due to hard times, famines, and economic opportunities. Everyday, thousands of underprivileged citizens would take on the task of being an American. To begin, many immigrants were Irish due to the Irish Famine in the late 1840s (Doc 2). According to Catherine Moran McNamara, “The Irish lived under awful stress. I’ve seen the family thrown out (Doc 2).” Meanwhile during the Irish Famine, many potato crops died, leaving families without a source of food or income(OI). However, the Irish were not the only culture going through tough times. In Greece, the pay was unbearable with only five dollars a day(Doc 3). Also, George Kokkas explains that Greece lacked education for the youth. He stated that “I was concerned for the education of my kids.
Looking for a better life away from death, oppression, and destruction the Irish headed to America by the thousands in the 1840’s. Ireland’s staple food was the potato, it was the main means of subsistence for the poor. Then in the 1840’s cataclysm struck, the potato blight caused famine, disease, death and despair. Close to a million deaths were blamed on the potato blight in Ireland. The potato blight was caused by a disease that rendered the potatoes inedible. It lasted for several years, from 1845-1849 the country suffered great hardships, sickness, and death. The blight was the final straw to push many immigrants out of Ireland and to America looking for a chance of survival (Marger, 2015, pg. 284)
- Edwards, R. Dudley and T. Desmond William. The Great Irish Famine: Studies in Irish
Ireland is a beautiful country in Europe, about the size of Maine. Today, Ireland is mostly populated with middle-class families. Irish is famous for its potatoes, but in 1845 a disease attacked the potato crops. The potatoes were what most of the Irish families lived on. They ate and sold potatoes in order to make a living, so when the potatoes stopped growing, people ran out of money. This is known as "The Great Potato Famine". It was so bad; people were actually starving to death. Two million people died. There was almost no help from the British government. Often people rebelled against the government, angered by its carelessness. Many people didn't want to leave their beloved country, afraid of change. With no food to eat, emigration seemed to be the only solution for most of the population. People often talked about "streets paved with gold" in a country called America. There was said to be many job opportunities in this new country. America seemed like the best choice to settle down and finally start a new life.
During the Victorian era, England experienced tremendous growth in wealth and industry while Ireland struggled to survive. The reasons for Ireland's inability to take advantage of the Industrial Revolution are complex, and have been the subject of debate for more than a century. Many English viewed the Irish as stubborn farmers who refused to embrace the new technology. The Irish, however, believed the English had sabotaged their efforts to industrialize. The truth of why the Irish fared so badly while England became the most powerful nation in the world probably lies somewhere between these two extremes.
The life of Irish immigrants in Boston was one of poverty and discrimination. The religiously centered culture of the Irish has along with their importance on family has allowed the Irish to prosper and persevere through times of injustice. Boston's Irish immigrant population amounted to a tenth of its population. Many after arriving could not find suitable jobs and ended up living where earlier generations had resided. This attributed to the 'invisibility' of the Irish.
Many Irish peasants were forced to deal with the hardship of the Irish potato famine from about 1845-1850. Said famine wiped out roughly the entire potato crop in Ireland, thus causing much of the Irish population to decrease by about one quarter. The English who did little to help despite their leadership position indirectly fueled the famine. Prior conflicts between the Irish Catholics, and British Protestants continued to make matters worse, until the end of the famine in about 1850. During 1845, the Irish people were plagued by a fungal epidemic in their potato crop. Due to the past cultural conflicts the British government took no action, and this eventually led to the emigration and death of hundreds of Irish Catholics.
During the mid 1840’s, blight in the potato crops in Ireland caused widespread starvation and migration of Irish citizens to the United States. Yet, the massive loss of life and massive exodus could have been avoided if British taxation upon the working class of Ireland was nullified. Though the struggle for liberation was already taking place, the potato famine furthered the cause and helped spread awareness. Furthermore, the potato famine made the average Irish family more reliant upon the government for subsidies and supports to get by.
“I saw the dying, the living, an the dead lying indiscriminately upon the same floor” said by James Mahoney describes the Great Potato Famine perfectly. The Great Potato Famine did not only encompass death and dying but also a destruction of the economy. It was a time of great need for the people in Ireland causing starvation, the population to drop and the economy to diminish. With the great population drop the economy was affected in ways Ireland had never seen before. The Irish people lived off the potato and the economy was based off of the potato. When the famine hit there was essentially no economy left in Ireland. The potato is what sustained the people of Ireland because the agriculture of the potato provided jobs, and income for the people and the country. With little money, families began to migrate because they could no longer provide in the failing Ireland economy.
With 3 million either gone or dead from the island of Ireland, 1845 was possibly the most painful year in its history. It was also obvious that something was afflicting Ireland, with the smell and sight of the crops. Death rate grew high, and immigration even higher during this time period of the famine. The Great Potato Famine of 1845 had a massive effect on Ireland in population decrease, the reactions of the people, and effects it had on the future of Ireland.
INTRODUCTION The history of Ireland "that most distressful nation" is full of drama and tragedy, but one of the most interesting stories is about what happened to the Irish during the mid-nineteenth century and how millions of Irish came to live in America (Purcell 31). Although the high point of the story was the years of the devastating potato famine from 1845 to 1848, historians have pointed out that immigrating from Ireland was becoming more popular before the famine and continued until the turn of the twentieth century. In the one hundred years between the first recording of immigrants in
...ight hit the fields and destroyed the crops, disaster ensued. In those terrible years, between 1846 and 1851, one million people died of starvation, malnutrition, typhus, recurring fever, dysentery and scurvy. Another million Irish citizens emigrated.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Irish rapidly flowed into the United States. The Irish immigrated in different waves and for various reasons, only to be greeted with significant barriers when landing in America. The Irish were essentially pushed out of Ireland because of the awful economy and the great potato famine. Upon arriving in the United States, the Irish had a difficult time with jobs, discrimination, housing, and money in the populated urban cities in which they settled. Having a rough life in the New World, the Irish still managed to leave a powerful legacy and an influence still visible today.
The people of Ireland ended in America when the famine potato happened in the 1800’s and it was the hardest time for people. The famine occurred when potato crop failed because of a disease that destroyed all of it. During this time, potato was the main crop