Westward Cork Migration by Sail 1815-1860 by John Sutton

PART II EMIGRANT PERSPECTIVE

Numerous canals and locks were constructed on BNA and US waterways, and nowhere was the complexity more apparent than in the Great Lakes-St Lawrence Basin with lake height differences and lengthy river rapids, requiring long canals and intricate lock systems. Lake Superior, with a height differential over twenty feet and surface area comparable to Ireland, would not gain a shipping link to the other Great Lakes via the Soo Locks until 1855 (Fig. 22). 1824-29. The Welland Canal (BNA) , west of the Niagara Falls, and spanning almost 30 miles with a height differential of 99 meters/325 ft., provided BNA its own canal and lock ship-link from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie and access beyond to the cities of Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago (see Figs. 20, 22). Irish labor contributed to its construction. 1825-32. The Ohio and Erie Canal (US). This 308-mile canal was built in stages and linked Cleveland on Lake Erie via Akron, at the canal summit, to Portsmouth on the Ohio River (Fig. 20). On 3 July 1827 , the first canal boat on the Ohio and Erie Canal left Akron, traveled through 41 locks and over 3 aqueducts along 37 miles (60 km) of canal, to arrive at Cleveland on July 4. While the average speed of 3 mph (5 km/h) may seem slow, canal boats could carry 10 tons of goods and were much more efficient than wagons over rutted trails (Wiki). During the 1840s, Ohio was the third most prosperous state, owing much of that growth to this canal (Ibid). While the waterways would remain the practical mode for bulk transportation, railways, built again with the assistance of the Irish labour force, would become a more practical mode of transport for passengers later in the century. 1825. The Great Miramichi Fire (BNA). The Miramichi River and Valley provided access to the vast forests of New Brunswick and many Irish, both Protestant and Catholic, were settled there, farming and working in the timber trade, when one of the largest forest fires in North American history caused major destruction (see Part l). 1826-32. The Rideau Canal (BNA) - 202 km (125 miles) long, was yet another major canal achievement, linking Bytown (future 1855 Ottawa City, across river from Hull) on the Ottawa River to Kingston on Lake Ontario. The construction was supervised by Colonel John By, using Irish laborers, and one thousand deaths are reputed to have occurred, mostly from malaria endemic in Ontario at that time, and mostly among Irish navvies, with many from Cork. The Rideau Canal was built to prevent severance of transportation along the St Lawrence River between Lake Ontario and Montreal, in the event of an American invasion (McGowan, 2023) . 1828. The Oswego Canal (US) . This canal, that was completed in 1828 , linked the Erie Canal near Syracuse to Oswego on the south shore of Lake Ontario, providing access from Lake Ontario via the Erie Canal to Lake Erie in the west, and to Albany and New York in the east. The wintertime advantage for Lake Ontario residents and shipping was direct access to the ice-free Port of New York, since the St Lawrence River freezes over in winter (see Fig. 20). 1828. Economic Downturn and Immigration (US). The economic climate was reasonably robust in the mid-1820s as significant European migration began. However, after US industrial production declined by 6.0% in 1828, per the Davis Index, 1929 saw a 40.6% decline of immigration from the UK into the USA, demonstrating a rapid adjustment in Great Britain and Ireland to job market conditions across the Atlantic. Immigration from Germany experienced a 67.8% decline that year. This pattern of immigration declines with market downturns prior to the mid-1850s would also be evident in 1837-8 and 1857-8 but would not explain downturns that occurred in 1843 and 1855 (Cohn, 2009, 88).

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