In 1847, 215,000 Irish fled their famine-stricken and diseased homeland, and of this number, some 90,000 headed for the shores of Canada. It was both the largest and most diseased and destitute emigration that Canada had ever received, and it caught the colony almost totally by surprise. Many Canadians had been able to follow the course of the potato blight and famine in Ireland, but very few appeared to have considered their impact on the emigration to Canada. They had the assurances of those best informed about the condition of Ireland, the Imperial Government, that, no extraordinary measures would be needed; why should their word be doubted? In the first weeks of the Immigration season, Canadians discovered that the Imperial authorities were wrong; the colony found itself forced to deal with an abnormal immigration with only the meagrest preparations, Canadian emigration officials spent the rest of the season attempting to recover from the shock of those first weeks; all they could do was attempt to. relieve the sufferings of the immigrants to the best of their ability. Stop-gap relief measures were authorized by the Canadian Government for as long as distress and disease were prevalent; private charitable institutions stepped in to provide shelter and care for the helpless among the immigrants. In the end, the colony succeeded, despite its financial difficulties, both in enabling the Irish to regain their health and in making them producing members of the community, something which few Canadians, at the height of the crisis, felt would be possible. This successful 'absorption' of the immigrants, however, had been accomplished only with difficulty and at great cost. This thesis examines the Canadian response, and particularly that of the various levels of government, to the immigration crisis which it faced in 1847 and the strains which this crisis placed upon the relations of the Imperial and Colonial governments. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This study examines the experiences of post-1980 Irish immigrants in Australia using Greater Melbourne as a case study. It has three main but interrelated objectives. Firstly, it establishes the origins, characteristics, dynamics and outcomes of contemporary Irish migration to Australia. Secondly, it explores informants??? multiple experiences of Irishness in both Ireland and Australia. Thirdly, it examines how migrancy and identity issues were related to informants??? sense of belonging and home. Identity is approached in this study from a constructivist perspective. Accordingly, identity is conceptualised as dynamic, subject to situational stimuli and existing in juxtaposition to a constructed ???other???. Prior to migration, a North/South, Protestant/Catholic ???other??? provided the bases for identity constructions in Ireland. The experiences of immigrants from both Northern and Southern Ireland are examined so that the multiple pre- and post-migration experiences of Irishness can be captured. Face-to-face interviews with 203 immigrants provide the study???s primary data. Migration motivation was found to be multifactorial and contained a strong element of adventure. Informal chain migration, based on relationship linkages in Australia, was important in directing flows and meeting immigrants??? post-arrival accommodation needs. Only 28 percent of the sample initially saw their move as permanent and onethird were category jumpers. A consolidation of Irish identity occurred post-migration. This was most pronounced among Northern Protestants and was largely predicated on informants??? perceptions of how Britishness and Irishness were constructed in Australia. For Northern respondents, the freedom to express Irishness may have masked an enforced Irishness that evolved in response to perceived negative constructions of Britishness, and their experiences of homogenisation with Southern immigrants. Hierarchies within white privilege in Australia, based on origin and accent, were indicated by the study findings. Movement and identity were related through the transnational practices of informants. Separation from familial and friendship networks prompted high levels of return visitation and telephone contact with their homeland, establishing the group as a highly transnational in relational terms. Examining the experiences of this invisible immigrant group through a constructionist lens contributed to the broader understanding of whiteness, transnationalism and the Irish diaspora generally.

This study examines the experiences of post-1980 Irish immigrants in Australia using Greater Melbourne as a case study. It has three main but interrelated objectives. Firstly, it establishes the origins, characteristics, dynamics and outcomes of contemporary Irish migration to Australia. Secondly, it explores informants??? multiple experiences of Irishness in both Ireland and Australia. Thirdly, it examines how migrancy and identity issues were related to informants??? sense of belonging and home. Identity is approached in this study from a constructivist perspective. Accordingly, identity is conceptualised as dynamic, subject to situational stimuli and existing in juxtaposition to a constructed ???other???. Prior to migration, a North/South, Protestant/Catholic ???other??? provided the bases for identity constructions in Ireland. The experiences of immigrants from both Northern and Southern Ireland are examined so that the multiple pre- and post-migration experiences of Irishness can be captured. Face-to-face interviews with 203 immigrants provide the study???s primary data. Migration motivation was found to be multifactorial and contained a strong element of adventure. Informal chain migration, based on relationship linkages in Australia, was important in directing flows and meeting immigrants??? post-arrival accommodation needs. Only 28 percent of the sample initially saw their move as permanent and onethird were category jumpers. A consolidation of Irish identity occurred post-migration. This was most pronounced among Northern Protestants and was largely predicated on informants??? perceptions of how Britishness and Irishness were constructed in Australia. For Northern respondents, the freedom to express Irishness may have masked an enforced Irishness that evolved in response to perceived negative constructions of Britishness, and their experiences of homogenisation with Southern immigrants. Hierarchies within white privilege in Australia, based on origin and accent, were indicated by the study findings. Movement and identity were related through the transnational practices of informants. Separation from familial and friendship networks prompted high levels of return visitation and telephone contact with their homeland, establishing the group as a highly transnational in relational terms. Examining the experiences of this invisible immigrant group through a constructionist lens contributed to the broader understanding of whiteness, transnationalism and the Irish diaspora generally.

The present study proposes a detailed examination of the Irish migration to Montreal between 1847 and 1867, that is to say between the Famine and Confederation. For vast numbers of Irish, Quebec and Montreal were of course merely staging-points in a weary journey whose end lay in Upper Canada or, more often, in the United States of America. [...]

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