Irish Famine
To some, Irish-American merely designates one of the many ethnic groups which can be found in the United States; but to those who are Irish-American, it represents a people who faced a disaster of huge proportions and who managed to survive at great cost. The Great Hunger of 1845 changed, and destroyed the lives of millions of Irish, causing them to seek refuge from poverty and starvation in other countries. On the other hand, not all countries would accept these victims of the Potato Famine. After a vast burst of Irish immigration to Great Britain, the British Parliament began to halt Irish migrants from entering the country. ... The average Irish immigrant was from a rural area, most often from the provinces of Connacht and Munster” (Akenson 36). ... Few wished to become American farmers after the famine, for it brought back memories of the old life. ... This created a strong social and political impact, because many Irish stayed together after the trip to America (Akenson 35). Due to this immigrant’s rural history, he became and unskilled laborer, or domestic servant and because of their poor state of hardship, the average American associated this average Irish immigrant with the decline of the United States. “While the poor immigrant defined the average Irish-American, more migrants actually came from wealthier famine-affected countries in the north and east of Ireland. ... Because of this the famine produced a radical shift in the regional origin of Irish immigrants. “Those who were very wealthy probably would not have been drastically affected by the famine whereas those who migrated the most. ... The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1851 was one of the great catastrophes of the nineteenth century and divides modern Irish history. It was a disaster which poisoned Anglo-Irish relations for many generations to come, and had deep effects not only in Ireland itself, but in England and North America as well. On the positive notion, it has transformed America into what it is today, and in the conclusion catastrophe ended in a good life for Irish Americans. ... “The impact of the total disease of the potato crop on the Irish population was devastating.