Why did Irish people from Ireland came to America?

Question

what troubles did they have in there country?what so different about Ireland that they came to America?

Answer 1

They went to share their sense of humour for food.

Answer 2

Because they were starving.

Answer 3

In America, the idea was that they wouldn't be discriminated against because of their religion, plus the lure of being able to own land - Irish Catholics were not permitted to own property in their own country for many years under English rule.

And then there was the Famine in the 1840s, which halved the population of the island from 8 million to 4 million, and no-one knows just how many died as accurate records were not kept.

And later there was economic recession in Ireland, so it was easier to make a good living if you moved abroad, and America seemed to be the land of opportunity for many.

Answer 4

Irish went to America for a better life, penal laws shoved them out, famine shoved them out, no jobs shoved them out.

Answer 5

In Ireland we had a famine and our potato crop failed that was the main source of food people began to starve and immigrated to survive

Answer 6

The original migration to the Ellis Island area was mainly because of the potato famine in Ireland in the early to mid 1800's.  The potato was a staple in the Irish diet and people were literally beginning to starve, so they chose to make their way to America and a new life.

Answer 7

In the past, from what I learned in school, there was a famine and a crop-failure in the late 1800's early 1900's. They immigrated to the US due to this.

~Zuck

Answer 8

1: To earn money to send home

2: Forced emigration of criminals

3: Great Famine

4: The family farm only went to one child so the others had to emigrate.

Answer 9

Irish people have endured periods of emigration for centuries not just to the U.S. but notably to The U.K. and Australia also. There have been many reasons why, from famine 1845-1852 (where over 1 million Irish people emigrated), to unemployment in the 1980s, and many reasons inbetween.

I don't really know what you mean by "different", obviously there are many, many differences between Ireland and the U.S. But Irish people have a history in America it remains the largest ex-patriot community. Nearly 36 million Americans (12% of the American population) claim to be "Irish" or of Irish decent. Which is over 9 times the population of Ireland itself funnily enough?!

So if there was ever a war of some kind you guys would kick our arses.

Answer 10

At the time that they emigrated, there was generally a lack of opportunity for jobs, home/land ownership or even the basics - food - in Ireland. Some suffered from violence and political oppression under British rule. (that is a long story of it's own)

My own relatives emigrated to the US from Ireland due to lack of opportunity (jobs) and violence due to their Catholic religion. All were very proud of doing well in the US and becoming citizens.

There have been several waves of immigration the famine years saw the most immigration in the US - millions came and did well in America. There was discrimination and hardship in the US, but the Irish Americans succeeded and are now a very powerful group. They were able to send funds back to help relatives in Ireland, enabling those unable to emigrate to survive. Irish Americans were also instrumental in raising funds so that the Irish Republic could be established.

Now the Irish economy is doing very well, there is a lot of foreign investment and opportunity - Ireland is seeing a lot of immigrants itself in the last decade or so.

Answer 11

Ireland was very poor and people were dying of starvation after the Great Famine in the 19th century. Ireland hasn't completely recovered from deep poverty until very recent years. That's why a lot of Irish people had no chance but leaving their country for places like America, the UK or Australia where they could live a better life. People who emigrated, or sons of emigrants, are starting to come back to Ireland now that it's a prosperous country.

Answer 12

They came because of the Potato Famine. I also heard from someone because of religious reasons too.

Answer 13

the famine lasted between 1845 and 1847, in this time we lost about 2,500,000 and a further 1,500,000 left for America, Australia and England, but mostly to the states, so times were tough, also British rule forced alot of people out of the country, we achieved Independence in 1922, the next 70 years saw little in the way of economic growth which caused a steady stream of emigration. our economy grow so well in the 1990's and 2000's that it became known as the Celtic tiger, we out grow most of Europe and even the states in this regard and even now people still move to the states even tough it is better here, the states is still known here as the land of opportunity, were if you work hard you will be rewarded and that still appeals to us.... hope that helps

Answer 14

potato famine and religious beliefs