The Irish
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Ireland has a great history of war, famine, despair, and hardship. Throughout the years the Irish have come from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. In this paper I will give a history of the Irish people before coming to America, what it was coming here, how they were welcomed to their new home, and how they are faring now. I will also expose many of the stereotypes that the Irish have pinned to them and the reason that they are there.
In the early 1800s, the Irish had great success in the potato industry due to the high prices for agricultural products because of the war with England. Soon though, prices began to fall and so did productivity. For that reason, the owners of the farm land turned there plots into grazing areas. There was an addition problem though, what would happen to the hundreds of other farmers that worked the land? One popular solution for most “landlords”, as they were called, was to evict all the tenants, whether they were paid up for rent or not. Then they would destroy their homes so that they could not return.(No author 1).
The now homeless people turned to secret organizations to retaliate against the people that they once depended on to live their lives. Some names of these groups were Rightboys, Thrashers, Ribbonmen, and Whitefoots.(No author 1). When these vigilantes were caught, their punishments were severe. Something as simple as stealing a piece of bread could land you a multiple year sentence in prison. To add insult to injury, the prisons that these people were sent to was in Australia, many miles away from there homes. It was thought that things for the Irish could not get any worse, but in 1845 that is just what happened.
The potato was a very significant part of the Irish way of life. It is one of the few foods that a person can survive solely on. Many homes lived exclusively on the potato, they could
not afford anything else and it kept them alive. What would happen if for some odd reason, all the crops failed and people were not able to support themselves with the potato? No one gave this possible scenario any thought because it seemed absurd that such a thing could occur. But in 1845, a disease destroyed over half of the potato crops in Ireland. The Irish had hoped that it would be an isolated incident and prayed that next year might be a more productive one. But 1846 proved to be even worse then the year prior. The issue with starvation became a reality after the second year of the famine, people began to panic and crime was at an all-time high. The Irish began immigrating to other countries, and bringing deadly diseases with them. Canada was the main destination point for most immigrants for the first year. There were ships with bountiful amounts of food on them being shipped to Canada from Ireland, even though the potato crop was failing, other crops were flourishing. It seems ironic that while there own country was starving, they sent the one thing that their citizens need most to another land.
Many countries, including America attempted to send relief to Ireland in their time of need. But the English were very much against any relief being sent to these people in need. There were many suggestions given to England to help the starving in their neighboring country. Some examples are soup kitchens, which they declined because they said that the Irish would get used to free food and not want to work for a living anymore. They were also unwilling to donate any money to help the Irish buy what food there was, saying that they will only use it to by guns and turn against us. America offered to send food over, but the English said that if anything was to be sent there, it must first go through England, to make sure that
“shipping interests were fully employed”
The boats in which the Irish took to get overseas were ones of despair. All immigrants were instructed to sit below deck, in cramped corridors, with little or no food. Sanitation was non-existent, people who boarded that were sick, quickly spread it throughout the entire shipment of migrating people. About half of the entire population of individuals that attempted the voyage to America did not make it. They either died on the way, or very soon upon arriving. Word spread that the Irish were dropping like flies in America, and this also was a cause of much of the hatred and rejection imposed on them when they arrived.
The total death toll resulting from the Great Potato Famine is not entirely known, but
the approximate count is around one and a half million, while another one million emigrated.(O Grada 105). The Irish thought once they were out of Ireland that all be well again. But the welcome that they received in America was not of the warm and open kind. A stereotype was already in place when the first wave of immigrants arrived in America. The thought was that all Irish were dirty, needy and thieves. Most, if not all Irish were poor when they arrived in America, so getting started on a new life would not be easy. It would include getting a job, finding a place to live and being accepted into an entirely different way of life. The luck of the Irish was anything but, sign on business windows were beginning to pop up every where, they read, “N.I.N.A.”, which means, “No Irish Need Apply”. The obstacles were endless, opportunity for employment was very limited and what jobs they were able to obtain they either lost rather quickly or the pay was so minimal that they might as well not have worked at all. Jobs that they were able to get included, janitorial work, masonry, carpenters,
sawing wood, carrying packages, serving as waiters, and other low end jobs that other people at the time would have considered lowly.
New York was the most popular choice among the Irish immigrants. Rumor was that everything starts in New York. By 1850, New York had a population that consisted of thirty-seven percent Irish. Amazingly so, greater New York had almost as many Irish-born citizens as did Dublin Ireland. For a steady five year period, immigrants flooded New York and its surrounding areas, continuously building the Irish community in the new land.
The Irish were housed predominantly in what is now lower Manhattan and China Town. For the most part they stayed together in a tight- knit community. They had no other
people to relate to, especially since America was not in the least bit interested in welcoming them with arms wide open.
It was during these early times that the stereotypes