Irish-Canadians are the fourth largest ethnic group in Canada with a population of four and half million or fourteen percent of the total population. The earliest recorded Irish presence in Canada was in 1537 when a group of fishermen form Cork sailed to Newfoundland. Many Irish, especially from Co. Waterford settled in Newfoundland in the early 1800s, from 1820 Irish began arriving throughout Canada, between 1825 and 1845, 60% of all immigrants to Canada were Irish. Irish immigration peaked during and after the Great Irish Famine, a great number settling in the provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. The majority arrived in Grosse Isle (in present day Quebec) on which was situated the immigration reception station, many destitute Irish shored up here because the fare was much cheaper to Canada than America. From Grosse Isle most survivors were moved on to Montreal with orphaned children been adopted by Quebec families. These children kept their Irish surnames and a common Catholic religion also allowed Irish immigrants to intermarry with French Canadians, one estimate suggests that as many as 30 percent of the French-speaking Quebeckers have some Irish ancestry. A sizeable proportion of the Irish immigrants settled in both urban and rural areas of Quebec, Montreal and rural areas in Western Canada. The Great Irish Famine had a large impact on Ontario, boatloads of destitute immigrants arrived in desperate circumstances from Quebec to Toronto and Kingston. There was an economic boom in the following years allowing men to obtain employment on the growing rail network, in the construction and logging industries.
Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and independent self drive tours of Ireland. Article source: http://www.exploringireland.net
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