Happy St. Patrick’s Day

One of the oldest immigrant communities in North America are the Irish, who every March 17th celebrate the national holiday of Ireland worldwide on St. Patrick’s Day. Some 50 million people in North America are descended from Irish emigrants who came to Canada and the USA during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

rish eyes traditionally smile upon the world every March 17th, on St. Patrick’s Day. The national holiday of Ireland, the day commemorates the life and contributions of the Roman Catholic Saint Patrick, who was born around the year 387 in Britain. Patrick became a Christian missionary and bishop on the island of Ireland in the 5th century (i.e. the years of the 400s). March 17th is said to be the date on which St. Patrick died.

As a teenager, Patrick was reputedly captured by Celtic pirates, and taken to Ireland and held there for six years. While in Ireland, he converted to Christianity. After fleeing Ireland, and escaping back to Britain by ship, Patrick continued to study Christianity. He later traveled to Europe to continue his studies, and was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church during the time of Roman rule. Patrick returned to Ireland, settled in the west part of the island, and set out to convert many people, especially the wealthy and privileged, to Christianity. Patrick used the indigenous Irish plant, the shamrock, to explain the Christian ‘holy trinity’ of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Although St. Patrick’s legend credits him with banishing all snakes from the island, scientific evidence cannot find any trace of snakes in post-glacial Ireland. St. Patrick’s work as a Christian bishop in Ireland throughout his adult life led to being adopted as the Roman Catholic patron saint of Ireland. It is said that he converted more than 100,000 people, and was responsible for the establishment of some 300 churches during his life time.

Irish diaspora

Between 1845 and 1852, Ireland’s main cash crop, the potato, failed due to potato blight. Driven by desperation and sheer starvation, more than 250,000 people left Ireland in the last half of the 19th century, heading mostly to Canada and the USA. About one in five of these emigrants died of disease or hunger before they could re-start their lives in North America. Two quarantine sites in Canada were Grosse Isle in Quebec, and at Miramichi in New Brunswick (where my spouse and I visited).

Many Irish children were orphaned by the death of their parents during the voyage from Ireland or in quarantine. In Quebec, these orphan children were adopted by French families, through the children kept their Irish names. The Catholic religion served as a common bond between the children and their host families. My spouse, who is a 5th generation descendant of Irish emigrants, relates that his maternal grandparents, with a traditional Irish name of O’Shea, lived in the Quebec town of St. Jerome, but spoke very little English.

The successful story of the Irish in North America came about not so much because of the supports that hungry refugees and orphan children found in Canada and the USA when they landed, but in many ways in spite of the lack of support then available. Today in Canada and the USA, more than 50 million people are descendants of the Irish emigrants who fled the potato famine and the hard times that followed.

When we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and commemorate the struggle and the achievements of North America’s Irish descendants, we look upon the hard-won progress in how our society welcomes, absorbs and integrates newcomers. There is always more work to do, and better ways to do it. One day each year, we pay tribute to the Irish, and how they became us, and we became them!