Series : The Irish in Canadian History : No. 1
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Contents :
Preface:
This is the first of a series of brief articles about the Irish who emigrated to Canada, and those who made notable achievements or, contrariwise, achieved notoriety by other means.
Much attention is paid to the American experience, from Irish people who made their mark at home, left homesteads which have survived to the present day, or blazed trails across the midsection of the North American continent. Considerably less is heard about the noted persons of Irish descent who found their ways into England and Scotland, Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand, Brazil, South Africa, and other far-flung places. The purpose of this series of blog articles is to cast light upon the Canadian experience of Irish who came from away.
If a reader has made, or is in the process of making, a similar undertaking for one of the countries listed above, England, &c., please send a description of your project with a link to the home page for inclusion on this site, subject to editorial review.
Early Irish migration to Newfoundland :
It has been asserted that the first recorded† Irish presence in Newfoundland was as early as 1536, when Irish fisherman sailed from Cork to Newfoundland. Other sources cite the early 17th century (1600s), when the fishing industry was flourishing, particularly on the banks off the Avalon Peninsula. Irish from the counties of Waterford, Wexford, and Cork began to develop settlements on the island by the mid-1600s. †The source for this assertion was not cited in the article, “Irish Canadians,“, online at Wikipedia.
This map, entitled Descriptio Terræ Novæ, trans. “Description of the New Land,” was drawn in 1602 by Petrus Bertius (1565–1629). Part of New France (Franciae Novæ) is shown in the upper left-hand corner, with Nova Scotia and Sable Island in the lower left. Nearly centred in the map is Terræ Novæ. Though the text was written in Latin, several of the place names are familiar to us today: Belle Isle (Bela Ilha) off the north coast of the island), Fogo Island (I. de Fogo), Whale Island (I. de Orquas), Cape Bonavista (C. de Bonavista), Conception Bay (B da Conceicam), St. John’s (S. Ioan), and so on.
Recommended reading :
- Emke, Ivan. “Irish-Newfoundland Identity: Narratives of Cultural Continuity in a Canadian Province.” Newfoundland and Labrador Studies. Vol. 23, No. 2 (2008): pp 295–310.
- Fitzgerald, Patrick. The Irish in Newfoundland, 1780–1830: From Seasonal Migration to Permanent Settlement. Belfast: Queen’s University Press, 2001.
- Greene, David L. “Irish Migration to Newfoundland: The Historical Background.” Newfoundland Studies. Vol. 6, No. 1 (1990): pp 35–52.
- MacKinnon, David. A Journey of Hope: The Irish in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John’s: Memorial University Press, 2011.
- Mannion, John. Irish Settlements in Eastern Canada: A Study of Cultural Transfer and Adaptation. Toronto: University Press, 1974.
- Mannion, John. “The Peopling of Newfoundland: Essays in Historical Geography.” In The Forgotten Irish: Irish Emigrant Experiences in America, edited by D. E. Doyle, pp 58–79. Toronto: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999.
- McCarthy, Michael. The Irish in Newfoundland, 1600–1900. Their Trials and Their Triumphs. St. John’s: Creative Publishers, 1999.
- O’Flaherty, Patrick. The Rock Observed: Studies in the Literature of Newfoundland. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979.
- O’Neill, Paul. The Oldest City: The Story of St. John’s, Newfoundland. St. John’s: Boulder Publications, 2003.
End notes :
Source citation for this page: Kilpatrick, Alison. “Early Irish migration to Newfoundland.” Published to Arborealis, online at arborealis.ca/2024/11/101/early-irish-migration/, accessed [date].
All rights reserved. Alison Kilpatrick ©2024.
Published 10th Nov. 2024; edited 12th Nov. 2024.
