a. Early Immigration
Many Catholics fled Ireland for America as the events of wars unfolded. These were Ireland’s “wild geese”, some of whom became the earliest Irish
Catholics came as penniless indentured servants or redemptioners who had to pay off their borrowed passage costs and related expenses before winning their
freedom. On the other hand, many of the early Irish Catholic who emigrated declared themselves Protestants after arriving in the North American colonies, as
they encountered widespread discrimination in the colonies. This was partly due to English colonial laws and policies and partly because of the Protestant-Catholic
conflict in Ireland. Many of the Irish Protestants who emigrated during and after the colonial period came seeking economic opportunity, though they were also
fleeing religious and economic discrimination against them by the English rulers of Ireland. For most Irish Protestant immigrants, before and after the revolution,
America was a land of greater freedom and opportunity than Ireland had offered. Many came to America, prospered and sent home money that paid for the passage
of their families. They also sent home “America letters” that drew many others from their extended families, villages and towns. In short they began the kinds of
“immigrant chains” that became the classic patterns of immigrantss from many countries.
a. The Main Wave of Irish Immigration
During the American Revolution, the North Atlantic was an unsafe place for immigrant ships as the United State were at war. After Napoleonic Wars began
from 1793 to 1815, the Atlantic was again unsafe. Immigration to the United State from Ireland was very small during the whole period.
Catholic immigration to the United State from Ireland began to pick up during the 1820s, as translantic fare began to come down on the new “packet
ships” that sailed to America regularly scheduled basis. Immigration statistics began to be kept by the U.S government in 1820. These showed that more than 35
percent of immigrants from 1821 to 1830 came from Ireland. Irish immigration picked up even more in the decade that followed, with almost 240.000 immigrants
from Ireland arriving in America from 1841 to 1846.
b. Famine and Plague
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