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Contrary to what some might believe, the Irish who
came to Prince Edward Island were not driven here by
poverty or the potato famine (184549). Rather, they
were experienced farmers and skilled tradesmen seeking
refuge from religious discrimination against Catholics,
striving for better opportunities in agriculture after
crop failures in the 1820s, and seeking to realize their
emerging middle class values of individualism, dignity,
human rights and freedoms, and belief in progress. Irish
immigration to Prince Edward Island occurred in three
waves 17671810 saw the Colonial Pioneers;
18101830, the Southeastern Immigrants (from
Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, and Tipperary); and, in
18301850 came the Monaghan Settlers (but also
emigrants from Armagh and Tyrone).
The Irish were not part of the official colonial policy,
as were the Scots. The Irish who came to Prince Edward
Island did so by choice rather than invitation. Or, in
many cases, by default as there was accessible and
affordable direct passage from towns such as Wexford,
Waterford, and Cork. The majority (90%) of Irish settlers
here were of Roman Catholic faith, while the remaining
10% were Anglicans or Nonconformists. Upon arriving on
the Island, the Irish settled primarily in the
communities of Fort Augustus, Vernon River, St.
Marys Road, Hope River, Kellys Cross,
Emyvale, Kinkora, Foxley River, and Burton.
The 1841 Census, for example, reports 212 inhabitants in
Kinkora (Lot 27), 155 of whom were born in Ireland. That
same year, 50 emigrants arrived from the counties of
Armagh and Monaghan. A few of the original Irish names
include Keefe, Kelly, Somers, Murphy, Shreenan, Kenny,
Dawson, Trainor, and Finlay. The Irish of Lot 22 (Hope
River and south) included Flemings, Cullens, Cannings,
Harringtons, Pendergasts, Sullivans, and Reids who
emigrated in the 1830s from Counties Wexford, Cork,
Kilkenny, Kerry, and Kings. Still othersthe
McKennas, McPhillips, McCarrons, Curleys, McAleer,
Keenans, Greenans, and Clarkinscame from Monaghan.
Life was not easy for the Irish in Prince Edward Island.
With the Islands land system of absentee English
landlords and primarily non-English tenants, the Irish
felt they were inhabiting a second Ireland. In 1830, the
Irish and other Catholics began to achieve higher status
when the Penal Laws were rescinded, giving Catholics the
right to vote and to hold office. During the 1850s,
Catholic-Protestant relations remained difficult. The
Orange Order became, for a time, a strong force in Island
communities. Irish Catholics were viewed as doubly
inferiordue to their religion and to their
nationality.
A resilient people, the Irish in Prince Edward Island
came to prosper with their fellow citizensacquiring
their own lands and participating in emerging trades and
professions. Today, the most visible sign of the
Islands Irish heritage is the important community
role played by the Benevolent Irish society. Founded in
1825 to help ease the transition for Irish immigrants,
the B.I.S. still fulfils its mandate to engage in acts of
benevolence for those in need. The Society also seeks to
foster unity among all Irish and promote Irish
culture and heritage in all its aspects ceilidhs,
Irish set dance classes, music lessons, lecture series,
pub nights, and week-long festivities leading up to St.
Patricks Day.
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