Irish In Ontario Second Edition

Hailed as one of the most important books on social sciences of the last fifty years by the Social Sciences Federation of Canada. Akenson argues that, despite the popular conception of the Irish as a city people, those who settled in Ontario were primarily rural and small-town dwellers. Though it is often claimed that the experience of the Irish in their homeland precluded their successful settlement on the frontier in North America, Akenson's research proves that the Irish migrants to Ontario not only chose to live chiefly in the hinterlands, but that they did so with marked success. Akenson also suggests that by using Ontario as an "historical laboratory" it is possible to make valid assessments of the real differences between Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics, characteristics which he contends are much more precisely measurable in the neutral environment of central Canada than in the turbulent Irish homeland. While Akenson is careful not to over-generalize his findings, he contends that the case of Ontario seriously calls into question conventional beliefs about the cultural limitations of the Irish Catholics not only in Canada but throughout North America.

Akenson argues that, despite the popular conception of the Irish as a city people, those who settled in Ontario were primarily rural and small-town dwellers. Though it is often claimed that the experience of the Irish in their homeland precluded their successful settlement on the frontier in North America, Akenson's research proves that the Irish migrants to Ontario not only chose to live chiefly in the hinterlands, but that they did so with marked success. Akenson also suggests that by using Ontario as an "historical laboratory" it is possible to make valid assessments of the real differences between Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics, characteristics which he contends are much more precisely measurable in the neutral environment of central Canada than in the turbulent Irish homeland. While Akenson is careful not to over-generalize his findings, he contends that the case of Ontario seriously calls into question conventional beliefs about the cultural limitations of the Irish Catholics not only in Canada but throughout North America.

Including a new preface by the author, Irish Migrants in the Canadas probes beyond the aggregate statistics of most studies of the migration process. Bruce Elliott traces the genealogies, movements, landholding strategies, and economic lives of 775 families of Irish immigrants who came to Canada between 1815 and 1855 from County Tipperary, Ireland. He follows his subjects not only from Ireland to Canada but in their subsequent movements within North America. His work has important implications for current discussions of nineteenth-century society in Ireland, Canada, and the United States.

Taking on the myth that Irish settlers in Canada were a wave of famine victims, Lucille Campey reveals the pioneering achievements of the Irish who began populating — and thriving in — Ontario and Quebec a century before the famine of 1840. The second volume of the Irish in Canada series brings an informative and lively account of this great saga.

A comparative study of Irish communities in a Canadian and an American city.

Challenging the commonplace view that the Irish immigration saga was primarily driven by dire events in Ireland, Lucille Campey’s groundbreaking work redraws the picture of early Irish settlement in Atlantic Canada. Extensively documented, and drawing on all known passenger lists of the period, the book is essential reading.