Irish Immigration to the East Coast and Beyond

In the 19th century, Irish immigration was a necessity. They were struggling in their home country, and had to make a move to ensure their health and safety. The solution for many was to immigrate to the United States, so with the little money they had left, they boarded ships heading to America.

Before 1845

Prior to the potato famine, some Irish decided to immigrate to America for a new chance. While things were not terrible, they were still frustrated by the lack of religious and political freedom, as well as poor economic conditions. Things were not miserable in Ireland at this time, but they were not great either. Many Irish immigrants wanted to start fresh and see what the New World would have in store for them.

The Great Hunger

In 1845, the biggest crop in Ireland started failing. The potatoes that the Irish relied on to feed themselves started getting infected with late blight, which would make the whole plant, from root to vegetable, inedible. The Irish relied on potatoes to fill the majority of their diet because they were forced to send a majority of their other crops to the United Kingdom under armed guard. So once the potatoes were gone, there was not anything left for the Irish to eat. They were left with two options: starve to death, or start over somewhere new. When all was said and done, the Irish population basically halved with the amount of people who died or emigrated to different countries.

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The Trip

Many Irish people used the entirety of the little money they had to come to the States. They would board cargo ships that were barely converted to hold people, some of which were used in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and started their journey across the world. The travelers were kept in tight, dark quarters with very little fresh air. The adult passengers were allowed 18 inches of bed space, while children were allowed 9. They were also covered in their own excrement and sick, allowing disease to run rampant on the boats. Nearly a quarter of the total 85,000 Irish emigrants died on these “coffin ships”. They would lay their dead to rest in the sea forever, by wrapping them in fabric and weighing them down with rocks.

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Settling In

Once the Irish got to the port they were traveling to, many of them dropped their bags and settled in whatever city they landed in. Many of them had used all of their money to pay for the trip to the States, so they did not have the money to travel further west. When it comes to finding jobs, most Irish people entered the workforce at the bottom of the ladder. They would take on tedious, dangerous work that nobody else really wanted to do. The men would lay railroads, dig up canals, and work in mines, while the women became servants.

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Working Conditions for the Irish

The Irish were very much discriminated against in the job market in the United States. Many jobs had the phrase “Irish need not apply” posted in bold letters at the bottom of their ads. But some jobs saw how desperate and hardworking the Irish were, and would exploit them instead. Some employers noticed how willing Irish workers were to work dangerous, hard jobs for little pay and exploited that, and they also threatened to fire employees asking for higher pay  to hire the new cheap labor. This is not the only way the Irish were discriminated against, however. Throughout the generations, the Irish would work their way up the ladder, going from miners, to firemen, and eventually, working their way into politics.

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Discrimination Against the Irish

Unfortunately, the Irish were discriminated against in and out of the workplace. Not only did nativists dislike them just because they were immigrants, there was a lot of religious discrimination, particularly from the Protestants. The discrimination would often turn violent, with a church that was purchased by Irish-Catholics being set ablaze and “Know-Nothings”, members of a group that hated catholics, rioting against German and Irish catholics, in a day that is now known as Bloody Monday.

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Where Did the Irish Settle?

The majority of the Irish that came to America settled in the port they were dropped off at by the boat. Many Irish settled in Boston, which is known for its Irish population to this day, but many of them ended up in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and New York City as well. They also settled in Maine, Rhode Island, Delaware, and in other ports on the east Coast. From there, some of them moved to southern colonies like South Carolina, but many of them wanted to stay with their friends and families who were also living in these port cities.

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Did the Irish Only Settle on the Coast?

No! While many Irish people could not afford to continue traveling through the states once they got to America, those that could ventured west. Specifically, to Butte, Montana. Many Irish came to the United States to specifically go to Butte, on the invitation of one Marcus Daly. Daly was Irish himself, and he came to America at 15 to start a new life. He worked odd jobs for a year until he could afford passage out west, where he found a job that sent him to Butte, where he eventually bought a mine, in which he found a huge vein of copper. He invited people from his home country to come to Butte to mine the copper, and Butte has been a safe haven to Irish ever since. To this day, Butte has the largest population of Irish Americans per capita of any U.S. city, including Boston.

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During the Great Hunger, many Irish people immigrated to the United States in pursuit of a better life. Because they, typically, spent all of their savings in order to cross the ocean, they would usually settle in the city they were dropped off in. There were a few Irish that continued throughout the states to find Butte, Montana, which has the largest Irish population of any city to this day, but there are also strong Irish populations in Boston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Do you know any cities with major Irish populations not on this list? Leave a comment and let us know where it is!