Immigration During the Irish Potato Famine
The Irish potato famine, also known as the great hunger was a period of starvation within the country of Ireland. This was due to Phytophthora infestans. This is when a microorganism causes a detrimental effect on the given crop. It is thought that the strain that made its way to Ireland in 1854 made its away from the Americas. A lot like the Phytophthora infestans making their way to Ireland, many Irish left Ireland due to the detrimental effects.
The famine claimed around one million lives in Ireland and around twice the amount of lives lost immigrated due to the famine. Many Irish were fearful of immigrating to another country, but due to the crop failure, they were forced to overcome this fear for the sake of their lives due to starvation. The socialist structure in rural Ireland collapsed due to the famine.
The Irish were also evicted during this time due to the Gregory clause. Sadly many Irish people did not leave for better lives as once they were in the new country they were living in poverty and discriminated against.
People who immigrated to the United States due to the famine. This was the first big wave of immigrants to the United States from Ireland. Many travelled on what was called coffin ships. People on these ships were close together without light and air and in their filth. Many did not make the journey to America or other destinations.
Many Irish people passed away on the journey to other countries due to diseases and starvation, but the figures of how many died during the journey are unknown. What is known is that during the potato famine the population of Ireland went from 8 million to around 6 million from starvation and leaving to other countries.
Assisted immigration: not paying their fare. Being assisted by local authorities or landlords. Can be more economical for the landlords. Other assisted immigration was to Australia as not many women were moving there during the famine and there were more men than there were women. So women were offered free travel to Australia from Ireland during the famine which was very pleasing as it was not cheap to move from Ireland.
Chain migration is when you have relatives or friends already in the area you are going to migrate to. Your family or friends in that area send money home to you to bring the rest over. Many Irish fled to the Americas with this way of immigration. They would send younger family members of working age to go to America (or another country) to work and send home enough money to either help the family at home get food or enough for them to be able to join abroad. Over 10000 Irish individuals sailed to the Americas. It is said that one out of five Irish persons died of disease or starvation on the journey over.
When immigrating to the Americas, places such as Canada held a much stricter immigration policy for the Irish. This lead many Irish nationals to choose the United States over others. Many Irish fled to cities in America such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and even Baltimore. Although less strict to move to than Canada, many Irish folks still endured discrimination in the united states, along with being more susceptible to new diseases in the United States.
Along with chain migration assisted immigration was also great. Even without the famine people still would have immigrated because of the economic conditions in Ireland because Ireland did not experience an industrial revolution. This was mainly due to the potato famine and the fact that the British ruled Ireland making it virtually impossible for an industrial revolution.
With the potato famine and also years of lost culture from British rule, the Irish developed a sense of resentment towards the British. Some people argue that the Irish experienced genocide because the British refused to help during the famine. It is rather controversial whether it was genocide or not.
A lot of the Irish left to Scotland, Wales, and even England. Despite the long battle between the British and Irish, some Irish still chose to move there. One of the most immigrated cities by Irish facing the famine in Britain was the city of Liverpool. Ironically located in England. In fact, by the year 1885, the city’s population was one-quarter Irish born.
In conclusion, the Irish suffered a great deal due to the Potato famine. While it is unclear whether there is anyone to blame for this suffering or if it is just rotten luck. It can be said that the Irish emigrated to almost every corner of the world and left their mark.
