A transformative work that explodes assumptions about the importance of the Great Irish Potato Famine to Irish immigration to North America.
Irish settlers were Canada’s largest immigrant group during the nineteenth century, but their long history in Canada, and the overwhelming contributions they made, have been overshadowed by the associations of one catastrophic event: the Great Irish Potato Famine. The negative imagery associated with immigration that took place during the famine years of the 1840s has come to symbolize the story of Irish settlement in North America.
The first of three books on the Irish in Canada, Atlantic Canada’s Irish Immigrants challenges the incorrect assumption that the famine was the defining event in early Irish-Canadian history. Mythology and truth are laid side by side in this compelling study, which shatters the widespread belief that the Irish immigration saga was primarily driven by dire events in Ireland. It provides new insights on how, why and when Irish settlers came to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. It traces their places of settlement across each of the four provinces and considers their overall impact. Campey highlights how, through their skills and energy, the Irish contributed much to the development of Atlantic Canada. Extensively documented and drawing on all known passenger lists of the period, the book is essential reading for anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of Irish immigration to the four Atlantic provinces.
