Irish Immigration
The first emigrants from Ireland to come to the New World arrived in the 17th century. Most of these 50,000 or more emigrants fled Ireland to escape severe economic, social and political problems. From the early 18th century to the early 19th century, between a quarter and a half million additional immigrants arrived and settled primarily in the middle and southern colonies. Many left Ireland for the "promised land" to avoid competition for land, depressions in the linen industry, and religious and political disturbances. Between 1815 and 1844 (the eve of the Great Famine), as many as 1 million Irish immigrants arrived in North America, and for the next 10 years, during the famine in Ireland, about 1.8 million more came to North America, primarily the U.S. Living conditions and work opportunities were generally poor, and thousands died of diseases brought from Ireland. After the Great Famine, from 1856 to 1929, about 3.25 million people emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. Established institutions, neighborhoods and job opportunities provided necessary support, and the new Irish population flourished. Following the Great Depression in the U.S., emigration from Ireland to America slowed. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, Americans of Irish heritage are the second largest ancestral group in the country, accounting for 15.6 percent of our total population. More than 40 million Americans claim to be of Irish descent.