Among the wave of humanity that came to Canada in the 19th century were hundreds of thousands of Irish, some of whom ended up in our communities and, in so doing, helped shape them
As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, it’s perhaps a good time to reflect on the early emigrant experience of the Irish. Their story is one of tragedy and perseverance.
Most of us are at least passingly familiar with the Potato Famine of the 1840s that led to mass starvation across Ireland. It’s commonly believed it was the devastating impact of this tragedy that led to mass migration from the Emerald Isle to Canada. In fact, this population movement began decades earlier.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars of 1792 to 1815, tens of thousands of young Irishmen found escape from poverty in their homeland by enlisting in the British Army or Royal Navy (comprising a third of Britain’s military manpower). But then the wars came to an end and the army was inevitably severely reduced, closing this option.
Instead, they looked to Canada to improve their lot. Cheap labour was needed in lumber camps and for construction of the Welland Canal and the Rideau Canal. At the same time, land was being opened for settlement. Canada represented a new hope.
Irish migration was encouraged by leaflets circulated by Canadian lumber merchants and the British government. For their part, lumber merchants realized money could be made in loading their vessels with would-be settlers on the return trip from Britain. The government encouraged this as a means of relieving what they believed to be the over-population of Ireland and the root cause of the island’s poverty.
While some Canada-bound migrants landed in New York and then made the trek north, most immigration was funnelled through the St. Lawrence island of Grosse Île, off Quebec City, which served as Canada’s main immigration gateway and quarantine station from 1832 to 1937.
Between 1815 and 1840, about 450,000 Irish migrated to the British North American colonies.
Irish migration to Canada only increased when Ireland was struck by the Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger due to widespread starvation. During this period, more than one million Irish died from starvation and resultant diseases. Even more fled overseas, many to Canada. The population of Ireland, which stood at eight million prior to the famine, was reduced to five million within a decade.
The famine period was the high-water mark of Irish migration to British North America. In 1847 alone, at least 110,000 Irish left Irish and British ports for Canada. The tragedy is many didn’t make it.
An estimated 20 per cent of these desperate migrants perished either at sea or in quarantine upon arrival. Grosse Île was overwhelmed by the numbers, many of them suffering from typhus (known as ‘ship’s fever’ because of the frequency in which it appeared during lengthy voyages), dysentery, and smallpox because of the unsanitary conditions they endured during the cross-Atlantic voyage. The death rate among Irish migrants was so high, immigration ships from Ireland became known as “coffin ships.”
Despite this soul-crushing tragedy, many Irish continued to flee their homeland for the promise of a better life in North America. A sizable number ended up here, where they farmed, worked as labourers, opened businesses, and tried to put the suffering behind them.
Irish settlers, who had endured so much, made a positive contribution and creating a community that was resilient, compassionate and ambitious.
On this St. Patrick’s Day, raise a toast to them.