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Irish immigration to ScotlandA brief overview of Irish migration to Scotland during the 19th century
Irish immigration to Scotland: First half of 19th centuryIrish immigration to Scotland was part of a well-established feature of early 19th century life in Ireland: the annual harvest migration. Since Scotland was Ireland's closest neighbour (only 13 miles separate the two countries at one point), it was an obvious choice for those that lived in the north of the island.
In the 1820s, up to 8,000 economic migrants crossed back and forth across the Irish Sea every year, bound for seasonal agricultural work or other temporary contractual work in northern England, Wales and Scotland. By the early 1840s, the number making the harvest migration alone had risen to about 25,000. Permanent settlement usually required a greater skill base than agricultural labourers held. Most of the non-harvest migrants came with highly valued textiles and jute knowledge and came from the Irish counties where linen and yarn were produced Derry, Donegal, Monaghan, Sligo and Tyrone. These early trickles of Irish immigration to Scotland do not conform to the stereotypes of migration in later years which were largely about the arrival of unskilled and destitute people. While most of the temporary migrants and probably a small proportion of the skilled workers eventually returned home to Ireland, some chose to settle permanently. This was more likely to happen in Scotland than in England or Wales, possibly because of the strong cultural ties between Scotland and Ulster, the province which provided most migrants to Scottish industries, especially in textiles. Up to the 1830s, Scotland could offer if not rich pickings, at least a chance of a regular wage. The country was experiencing a boom in the construction of homes, factories, roads, canals and other infrastructure while the coal, textile and steel industries were also increasing production. Whole towns grew up to provide a workforce to some of these industries and saw the development of significant Irish communities within them. In Girvan, Ayrshire, for example, some three-quarters of the 6,000 population was Irish-born in 1831. By 1841, when the earliest Scottish census was taken, some 125,321 (4.8%) of the 2.6million population was Ireland-born. In contrast, the Irish-born made up only 1.8% in England and just 0.78% in Wales. Largest centres of Irish settlement: |
Historical counties of Scotland, England and Wales
No passenger listsThe complete lack of ship passenger lists presents a major problem for family historians trying to work back to Ireland from a family line that settled in Scotland. Most genealogy resources in Britain won't provide specific details of where in Ireland their immigrant ancestor came from. They'll just record 'Ireland'. In the absence of passenger records detailing a last place of residence, the researcher is in difficulty because to make progress with Irish genealogy records it's essential to know a geographical place of origin. If your Irish ancestors were Catholic and arrived in Scotland following the Famine, you may well be in luck because the parish registers of the Scottish Catholic Archives record the parish of origin in Ireland. Every Scottish Catholic parish register has been digitised and made available on the pay per view site ScotlandsPeople. Failing that, there are a number of techniques that may help you locate the county or town where your ancestors came from. The first is to examine the census records not just of your direct ancestors but of any family members and their Irish born offspring. You should 'follow' each of these individuals through each subsequent census in the hope that they eventually reveal a more specific place of origin. If this option has been exhausted, the census details of your ancestors' neighbours should be studied. People tended to migrate in clusters; one group would leave, and then write home positively about job opportunities for friends and family, who would then set off to join them. This is known as Chain Migration. While there is no guarantee that your ancestor was originally local to all his new neighbours, chain migration research may help you narrow down at least a county for further research. More options and techniques for identifying your ancestor's place of origin.
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