PART II EMIGRANT PERSPECTIVE
“The Port City of Cork sent many ships to Halifax, and consequently between 1825 and 1845 over half of the Irish residing in Halifax originated in that county. Not everyone stayed in Halifax for long. Many of the Newfoundland-Irish, and others that came to Halifax via the Miramichi timber camps, opted instead to continue onward to other parts of British North America or the United States. Those that migrated to Halifax directly from Ireland were, as Terrence Punch illustrated, part of the chain migration process. In other words, these individuals remained in Nova Scotia because they had family members in the garrison city. Like those that went directly to Newfoundland, the people that went out to Halifax were overwhelmingly from Kilkenny, Waterford, south Tipperary, and east Cork. Although the great potato famine forced millions of Irish families to migrate to North America between 1845 and 1852, very few of these people came to Nova Scotia. The Halifax-Irish are generally a pre-famine immigrant community” (ref, Halifax website). The author has noted linkages between the Newfoundland, Miramichi and Halifax Irish. A paltry 15 ships sailing out of Cork Harbour 1825-45 in this study reached Halifax. Ships from Youghal may well have been missed and Halifax did have the greater association with East Cork. St John’s, NFL.
Fig. 32. St John’s Newfoundland Population in 1861 - 24,851 : Ireland’s involvement in the Newfoundland fishing industry long preceded the 19 th century. “The fishery remained largely migratory, however, and the permanent population of St. John's was small and grew slowly throughout the 18th century. Then came a population explosion. Disruptions in trade caused by the American War of
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