An Irishman's journey to America...??

Question

For school, I am writing a fake letter as if I'm an Irish immigrant who came to America (around 1847), back to my fake Irish family. I'm suppose to tell them of my journey...
So, what was the journey like for an Irish immigrant coming to the U.S. back then? Like, they got on a boat and then what? How did some come legally/illegally, etc? What was it like once they got there? Where in the states, did most arrive?
If you have details/ideas that would help, I'd be grateful if you shared them!
Thanks! :)

Answer 1

You probably came illegally. You were not well received and you lived in a community with other immigrants as you all stuck together. You were probably a carpenter or some sort of tradesman. People did not want you taking their jobs for less pay. If you change the date to around 1861, you might have inlisted in the Civil War.

Answer 2

When my Granny Immigrated her she came legally. She boarder a ship in camped dirty quarters. At the time there were no laws about how the bunks had to be cleaned so they were filthy and many people ended up sick and covered in fleas. When the reached America they were forced to wait in long lines for papers or food. If you want an idea of the discrimination they faced once they arrived watch Gangs of New York. They were treated like cattle and leeches. Irish immigrants poured into the Eastern seaports like New York and Boston...but for a long time they were hardly regarded as human beings let alone as American citizens...

Answer 3

That would be during the time of the potato famine. They packed Irish like sardines in boats. Many died along the way. They came in legally. They arrived to find themselves not welcome to signs in shops saying no blacks or Irish wanted. But they came anyway. My great great.....grandfather came about that time and used the Erie Canal to come to Wisconsin and he started out as a farmhand until he could save money buying his own farm. Eastern Wisconsin became a home to many because they welcomed Catholics. However some stayed in New York or Boston and got jobs. A lot of Irish joined the police force.

Answer 4

From my own great-grandfather, Patrick Byrne, who immigrated from Ireland about 1859.

Dear Ones: Arrived safely New York harbor, heading for Chicago.

Dear Ones: Arrived safely Chicago. Got draft notice to serve as soldier in U.S. Army. The U.S. is in a war with the South. Must serve.

Dear Ones (1863): Have served two years in the Union army, and have mustered out. They have a program whereby I may re-enlist in the army for a bounty of $200. Another man liable for the draft may pay the government $200 for the bounty. I have gone for the bounty.

Dear Mrs. Byrne: The Department of War regrets to inform you of the death of your husband, Patrick Byrne. He was digging an earthwork with other soldiers, when it fell in on him. During desperate efforts to free him, a soldier struck him in the head with his spade. He died almost at once.

Answer 5

My Great great grandfather Daugherty came from Donegal, Ireland, to Castlemore, Ontario, Canada, an area settled by Irish Roman Catholics. One of his sons, my great grandfather, immigrated to the United States where he worked as a laborer building railroads before eventually ending up in the Dallas, Texas, area as a carpenter/general contractor. He became an American citizen in 1916. Another brother made his way to California.

Life for Irish immigrants was incredibly hard, and from what I have heard about my great-grandfather, they were often hungry, but they also knew that they had opportunities in the United States that they wouldn't have back home. Most families immigrated as a group, but sometimes young adults would make the Trans-Atlantic passage by themselves.

I can also recall my grandmother telling me that she was embarassed by her papa's accent, but most everyone in their little Texas town admired him as he was incredibly honest, even earning the nickname "Honest John". Like many immigrants, he also saw to it that his children graduated from college--a rare feat for a carpenter and his seamstress wife (which was, of course, duplicated many times over by other immigrant families)!

Family legend has it that this particular immigrant family started out in one ship and had to transfer to another one mid-passage as it was taking on water. Most immigrants were probably seasick the entire trip, and some developed typhoid fever and dysentery living in very close quarters, usually in steerage. Nevertheless, most of those who came were better off than many left back in Ireland because they had the money to make the trip. Most Irish arrived in Boston or New York, but some like my ancestors came to Canada originally.

For a more recent account of Irish immigration to America read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and 'Tis. They are truly some of the best novels I have read in a long, long time. The McCourt family came to New York during the early 1930s, but had to return home. McCourt, who was born in New York City, but raised and educated in Limmerick, came back to the US during the Korea War. He details his struggles growing up in Ireland and then upon his return to the US where he taught at a Long Island high school.