
Irish Immigrants
As we approach St. Patrick’s Day, we are reminded that the Irish American story spans hundreds of years of immigration. The first cause of Irish influx to America was the Industrial Revolution. From the 1760s farmers and laborers lost their livelihoods and Europe became more industrialized. The period of the Great Hunger in Ireland from 1845 to 1850 is the most well-known period of mass immigration from Ireland when more than a million fled to the United States. Immigration continued through the 1900s with the Irish in search of a better life during periods of hardship. It’s of little surprise that today 39.6 million Americans claim Irish ancestry.