Westward Cork Migration by Sail 1815-1860 by John Sutton

PART II EMIGRANT PERSPECTIVE

During the 1820s few vessels carried emigrants directly from Cork to Philadelphia, which experienced yearly arrivals of 250-300 ships. Liverpool was by far Philadelphia’s main transatlantic trading partner and, while emigrants on those ships were usual portrayed as from Great Britain, the frequency of Irish names suggests a generous number to have been Irish. Londonderry and Belfast, long associated with Philadelphia in the linen trade, sent large groups of Irish emigrants directly from their ports to Philadelphia, and Londonderry continued to send considerable numbers in the 1830s. Particularly interesting of the 1820s was the trade between Philadelphia and Canadian ports. Canadian schooners voyaged to Philadelphia regularly with Irish emigrants from St John, Halifax, and St Andrews. The St John trafficking was also well documented in the 1830s and 40s. Philadelphia’s importance as a port of immigration diminished significantly during the 19 th century. Destination popularity decreased from 12.1% to 2.4%. Philadelphia Arrivals. Annual Average. Total US Immigration. Philadelphia %. 1820-31 - 24,231 2,019 200,400 12.1 1832-46 - 58,297 4,164 1,227,500 4.7 1847-54 - 124,583 15,572 2,817,300 4.4 1855-66 - 54,600 4,550 2,199,000 2.4 Impact of Irish immigration on Philadelphia and Pennsylvania ( 1850 USA Census): Total Population - %Irish - %British - %German - % Foreign-born. Philadelphia - 408,045 17.7 5.1 5.6 29.8 Pennsylvania - 2,311,786 6.6 2.3 3.4 12.6 Ireland again was the dominant emigrant group, but the dilution of the native population with foreign-born residents was considerably less than for Boston/Massachusetts and New York City/State. Approximately 72,223 Philadelphia residents in 1850 were born in Ireland. Further developments between 1850 and 1860 ( 1860 US Census): Philadelphia foreign-born Irish residents increased from approximately 72,223 to 95,548. Irish-born residents in Pennsylvania increased by about 49,362 - from approximately 152,577 to 201,939. Baltimore. Observations from Baltimore Passenger Arrivals (M255) During the 1830s no direct emigration from Cork to Baltimore is evident - however, major Irish emigration on Liverpool vessels is apparent. During this period Liverpool and Rotterdam seemed of secondary importance to Bremen for the transport of emigrants into Baltimore while in the late 1830s Amsterdam and Havre also grew in importance. The ships from Bremen and Rotterdam mostly carried German emigrants, while Havre vessels provided a mix of French, Swiss and German emigrants. In the final analysis, the bulk of emigration into Baltimore at that time seems to have been of German origin. To maintain a proper perspective, in 1840 the population of the German States was approximately 27 million, compared to Ireland’s 8 million. In the 1840s, Ireland still provided the highest proportion of the emigrants on the Liverpool ships for Baltimore.

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