Westward Cork Migration by Sail 1815-1860 by John Sutton

PART I CALENDAR OF CORK EMIGRANT SHIP SAILINGS 1815-60

The American Civil War ( 1861-65 ) shared tales of gallantry, brutality, brilliance and ineptitude with the Crimean War, and its initial management was reported by William Howard Russell , the renowned Dublin Crimean War correspondent, who was a critic of slavery and of the conduct of the War by both North and South, earning him death threats from both sides and his early withdrawal from further involvement and commentary. Curious that electronic telegraphy, so useful in the Crimean War, was in use during the Civil War when the first transcontinental telegram was sent 24 Oct 1861 to Abraham Lincoln in Washington from Sacramento California by Chief Justice Stephen Field with congratulations for that telegraphic achievement and a pledge of Californian Support in the conflict. After the Civil War the US enjoyed an improved transportation system. Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 during the Civil War to link Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay to the eastern US rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and construction began from the west and east in 1863, joining the tracks together with the ‘Golden Spike’ at Promontory Summit in Utah on 10 May 1869 . While Chinese labourers worked on the eastbound section, Irish, German, and Italian labourers were important on the westbound section. Lest the reader may surmise railroads replaced waterway transportation : ‘In 2019 , according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which controls twelve thousand miles of inland waterways through its extensive lock and dam system, waterborne vessels carried $80 billion of America’s cargo. States like West Virginia and Kentucky still rely on the Ohio and Mississippi for anywhere from $2 billion to $8 billion of their annual commerce. A typical fifteen-barge tow on the western rivers carries as much freight as 1,500 semi-trucks. If river barges were eliminated, travel on America’s highways would become an unimaginable nightmare’ (Buck 2015, 5-6). As for British North America : after the American Civil War, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick united in 1867 into one federation as the Dominion of Canada and became four provinces with the Province of Canada dividing into the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Canada acquired Rupert’s Land in 1870 , then British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, on condition a Canadian railroad would be built within ten years to link east and west. Prince Edward Island joined in 1873 . The Canadian government contracted with the Canadian Pacific Railroad to build a transcontinental railway, and it was completed in 1885 . Immigration was encouraged with incentives to populate the prairie territories, and it was successful. However, very few Irish participated in emigration to Canada during the latter part of the nineteenth century, while some Irish Canadians migrated westward. Why did the Irish so decisively turn from Canada to the USA in the late 1800s? Part ll, ‘An Emigrant Perspective’, discusses North American developments during the 19 th century that may have impacted emigration decisions.