Legacy of Irish immigration abounds in region

Of the many ethnic groups who have come to call the Passamaquoddy Bay region their home, the Irish possess a distinct story born from particular conditions that influenced their migration here. They were in search of land and fleeing famine, and their communities that arose in coastal towns were both tightly knit and subsequently interwoven into both Maine and New Brunswick. With the celebration of St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday, March 17, eyes turn to that legacy in the Quoddy area.

Early arrivals and their reception

Early on, the Irish settled in New Brunswick in such numbers that there were proposals to name the Prince Edward Island area as New Ireland in 1779 and 1780, writes Marie Jones Holmes in "The Irish Came by the Thousands," published in The Quoddy Tides on March 13, 1992. While that didn't come to pass, the influence of the Irish is unmistakable in the place names that remain, including Ballyshannon, Londonderry, Waterford, Kerry, Donegal and Galway. St. George itself was founded in 1784 by Peter Clinch, born in Ireland.

A significant influx of Irish migrants took place in the 1820s following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, previously a source of income to the Irish who were supplying foodstuffs to the British, writes Fidelma M. McCarron in They Change Their Sky: The Irish in Maine. Many opted to come through New Brunswick, because it cost half the price of sailing directly to the states. Of the 29,000 who left through the Irish port of Derry between 1816‑26, 65% were going to New Brunswick. Saint John in particular was a magnet because it was a shipbuilding center; many worked there for a few years before moving on south once enough money was acquired to buy land.

In Eastport, the Irish began arriving primarily in the 1820s and 1830s, says local historian Stephen Collins, whose grandparents came during that time by way of Canada. "When they arrived, they faced economic hardship and discrimination. Most of them came with nothing but the clothes they were wearing," he says.

The reception was initially favorable, as indicated in the Eastport Sentinel in 1819, which reported "600 of the sons and daughters of Erin" arrived in St. Andrews that year and that "we learn from one of them, a very intelligent gentleman, that the number of emigrants from Ireland ... will greatly exceed that of any former year."

In 1820, an air of caution was implied by the same paper upon reporting the arrival of "hundreds of Irish emigrants" who appeared generally "respectable" with "much satisfaction in stepping on the land of liberty flowing with milk and honey. They must remember, however, that it is by honest industry that they can obtain the milk and honey."

The very next year, the Sentinel ran reports from Calais of four men being attacked by Irishmen armed with clubs, with severe injuries ensuing. While they were captured, "there can be little doubt ... that murder, horrid, premeditated murder was the object of these abandoned ruffians as not a word was spoken previous to the assault."

By the 1840s, the Calais Times was reporting that the Irish were "seen by some as a bad influence on society, drinking too much and being too ready with their fists when in their cups," writes Al Churchill, president of the St. Croix Historical Society. "This was probably unfair for the native Protestant English and Scotch had a severe problem with alcohol long before the arrival of the Irish. A major irritant was religion, the Puritan ethic being strong and differences between the Catholic Irish and Protestant religious beliefs irreconcilable."

Indeed, "the most vital thing they brought with them was their Catholic faith," says Collins. In 1852, a wooden Catholic chapel was built "on a piney rise in Trescott" and named St. Mary's. Many Irish settled within earshot.

The journey across the Atlantic was not always an easy one, as Marie Jones Holmes reports, particularly in the mid‑1840s as the potato blight struck. While the death rate of passengers most years was around one percent, in 1847 it reached 15%. That year, 14,892 surviving passengers arrived on 24‑acre Partridge Island at Saint John; 601 would die on the island from typhus and another 595 in the city alms house. The following year, another 48 Irish were buried on Hospital Island off St. Andrews. Famine and plague were twin challenges that struck the Irish severely during these years.

Irish immigrants settle in

“After they arrived, [Irish immigrants] became laborers in both the fishing and boatbuilding industries," Collins continues. "Some of them found employment at the Pembroke Iron Works," a thriving foundry built in 1828 on the Pennamaquan River. At its peak, it produced 5,000 tons of iron, including nails, horseshoes, chain iron and boiler rivets. Others -- mostly the families who arrived earlier -- were able to acquire land and become farmers.

Of the Irish immigrants, one distinct place of origin stands out: Rathlin Island. Between 1835 and 1860, 500 Rathlin islanders left for America; half settled in Washington County, with Trescott, West Lubec, Pembroke and Perry serving as the nucleus of the Rathlin communities.

The legacy of the Rathlin islanders remains intact today. "You can still see the many gravestones behind the Pembroke Catholic church with inscriptions saying this person and that person were born on Rathlin Island in the north of Ireland," says Hugh French, director of the Tides Institute & Museum of Art. Place names similarly carry the story; Horan Head, Black Head, Bradley Mountain, Morrison's Cove and Cobble Hill are all remnants of the Rathlin settlers.

When the Pembroke Iron Works closed in the 1880s, many of the workers came to Eastport to work in the sardine factories, French says. "That's what created what was known as Irish Hollow, now Sullivan Street, in Eastport, where so many of the Irish lived near the factories."

In Calais, meanwhile, an informal district called Irish Town was formed on Union Street, says Churchill. Irish immigrants there "became an integral force in developing this area into an important lumber exporter. Initially, most worked on the docks, in the mills and in the woods."

When it came to integrating into the growing communities of Maine and New Brunswick, the Irish made steady and gradual progress. In terms of building styles, material culture and farming, they adopted the ways of their new environment, including learning to work with oxen and mastering new techniques.

Today, Irish Hollow and Irish Town live on in memory only, as their subsequent generations have dispersed and new residents have moved in. The rich legacy of the Irish continues throughout the region in the form of family and place names, carrying the story of hardships and discrimination overcome and the sustaining role of faith.