The United States received a large number of Irish immigrants during the nineteenth century. Between 1820 and 1930, it is believed that around 4.5 million Irish immigrants came to the United States. From 1820 to 1860, the Irish made up one third of all immigrants entering the country. They were almost half of all immigrants in the 1840s. Due to the increased availability of employment opportunities, many Irish immigrants settled in larger cities in the East and Midwest. Not all Irish people settled in urban areas. In Indiana, Montgomery became one of the rural farming settlements for Irish immigrants. They tended to own their own land, especially if they came before the 1850s. Instead of finding employment on the various internal improvement projects happening in Indiana during the nineteenth century, such as canals and railroads, these immigrants made their living through farming, possibly something that they were accustomed to from their life in Ireland.
Montgomery’s Irish came from all four of Ireland’s provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster, and Connaught. Most came from either Leinster or Ulster. The already established Catholic community and St. Peter Catholic Church likely enticed some of the Catholic Irish to settle in Montgomery. Though a large number of Irish immigrants in the United States settled in urban areas, the Irish in Montgomery serve as an example of those that settled in farming communities.
]]>L’Université de Notre Dame du Lac (the University of our Lady of the Lake) was founded in 1842 by eight members, led by the French priest Reverend Edward Sorin; all eight were a part of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Though Father Sorin was French, four members of the founding group were Irish. In 1844, the University of Notre Dame received an official charter from the Indiana legislation. Students from the University of Notre Dame are collectively known as the “Fighting Irish.”
The Fighting Irish nickname originally referenced the Irish immigrant Union soldiers who fought during the Civil War. Many of them were a part of the 69th New York Regiment, also known as the Irish Brigade due to its high percentage of Irish soldiers. Indiana boasted two regiments that had a high percentage of Irish soldiers: the 35th Indiana Regiment and the 61st Indiana Regiment (the 61st merged with the 35th in 1862). The University of Notre Dame had a number of students, alumni, and staff who joined the Union Army. Reverend William Corby was a priest at the University who became an army chaplain for the Irish Brigade. Soldiers remembered Father Corby for giving the Brigade absolution or forgiveness of their sins during the war. Father Corby went on to become the third president of the University. Another Notre Dame priest, Father Peter P. Cooney, was a part of the 35th Indiana. The Irish Brigade’s valor and bravery in multiple battles despite high casualties resulted in others recognizing and distinguishing them as fierce fighters.
Despite the Irish veterans’ prominence and earned respect, the Irish throughout Indiana, especially in South Bend, were often of a lower social status. In 1870, South Bend’s Irish population owned less property than other European immigrants. Low income resulted in limited social mobility. Whether or not the Fighting Irish nickname comes from the Irish Civil War soldiers, Irish immigrants were present in South Bend’s history and their legacy continues into the present.
]]>As the number of Irish immigrants and descendants grew in the state of Indiana, many people started to pay attention to the politics abroad in Ireland. Between the Great Famine (1845-1849) and calls for legislative reform and independence from the British Empire, many Irish moved out of Ireland but remained interested in their homeland.
Thomas Francis Meagher was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1823. In 1847, he co-founded the Irish Confederation— a group dedicated to an independent Ireland—with three others. After lecturing on anti-British ideas in public in 1848, Meagher was convicted of encouraging rebellion against the British government and was to be sent to Australia. In 1851, Meagher escaped to the United States where he became famous for his work for Irish independence.
Meagher connected with Irish communities, especially those in Indiana. An 1852 letter from Indiana’s governor, Joseph A. Wright, appeared in the Daily State Sentinel. In the letter, Wright wrote to Meagher on behalf of the General Assembly to ask that he come to the state: “You will find in this State many of your noble and generous hearted countrymen – some of our best citizens – who, together with the native citizens of Indiana, will give a cordial greeting to your arrival,” Wright wrote. While Meagher respectfully declined the invitation, he did make his way to Indiana in 1858. The Terre Haute Daily Union reported that Meagher would be delivering a lecture at the Universalist Church about Saint Patrick’s Day, national anniversaries, and “their significance and beauty – their harmony with the American Republic.”
During the Civil War, Meagher captained part of the 69th New York Regiment, which was also known as the Irish Brigade as most of the men were Irish. He was influential in encouraging other Irishmen, both those born in the United States and those from Ireland, to enlist in the Union Army. In 1861, Meagher became the Brigadier General of the Irish Brigade. The Irish Brigade had a hand in multiple Civil War battles, such as Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg. After the Civil War, Meagher became the Secretary of the Montana Territory. In 1867, Meagher fell from a steamboat on the Missouri River and drowned.
]]>Irish workers helping to construct railroads continued feuds from their homeland. Nationally, railroads, especially for steam-powered trains, increased in construction during the 1830s. For the state of Indiana as a whole, railroad construction peaked during the 1850s with most large cities having some sort of connection by 1860. The 1837 riot in Vernon occurred during the construction of Indiana’s first significant railroad that linked Madison to Indianapolis; the rail line was eventually completed in 1847.
The riot in Vernon consisted of a longstanding disagreement between the Corkonians and the Fardowns immigrants from Ireland. The Corkonians hailed from the province of Munster, especially County Cork, while the Fardowns are believed to have come from other southern counties in the province of Connaught and Leinster in Ireland. The two groups feuded on access to employment opportunities in America, protecting their region’s people’s jobs by intimidating the other region’s people. The majority of Irish immigrants working on the Madison and Indianapolis railroad identified as Fardowns, roughly 1,400 of the 1,700 workers. When more Corkonians arrived and secured jobs on the railroad and threatened the Fardowns’ majority, the Fardowns attacked the Corkonians killing one and wounding others. Two Fardowns, Martin Crotty and Michael Brennan, were tried for the murder of Corkonian Patrick Galuly. Both Crotty and Brennan were convicted and sentenced to death. The Governor of Indiana, Noah Noble, commuted their sentences and they instead served life terms. Crotty and Brennan reportedly were the first “life-time men” in Indiana. The riot in Vernon was just one example of the continuation of Irish traditions and beliefs from immigrant’s homeland to their new one.
]]>Irishmen often brought regional feuds from Ireland to the United States. Due to the number of Irish workers on canal projects, these were prevalent in Indiana. Two groups— the Corkonians and the Fardowns—held a longstanding feud. The Corkonians came from the Irish province Munster, specifically in County Cork. The Fardowns came from the provinces of Connaught and Leinster. The hostility between the two groups was ultimately due to competition for employment. The Corkonians and Fardowns had violent encounters near many canal and railroad worksites in Indiana, later referred to as the Irish War.
In 1835, groups of Corkonians and Fardowns were working on the Wabash and Erie Canal. Construction contractors knew about the feud and tried to keep the groups separate. The Corkonians worked the northern section of the fifty-mile line, leaving the southern section for the Fardown men. The men stayed in separate camps and often worried that members of the other party would burn down their shelters or kill them at night. Contractors reported that some men camped in the woods to avoid such a fate. Most men came to work armed, sometimes with weapons they had stolen from locals. Small-scale brawls became so frequent that worksite authorities planned to remove one of the groups from the line entirely.
In July, rumors of a big clash began to spread around the canal camps. The groups planned to meet in the middle of the two camps, near Lagro. As men on both sides prepared for the fight, work on the canal slowed to a halt. On July 10, a reported 600 Irishmen met in Lagro, about 300 from each faction. Canal Commissioner David Burr managed to arrange a truce that lasted long enough for Indiana militias to arrive. The militias arrested over 100 Irish laborers a few days later. Without a nearby jail to hold so many men, officials took eight of the faction leaders to Indianapolis and released the rest to return to work. The eight leaders were released shortly after arriving. One Corkonian leader, Jeremiah Sullivan, was later re-arrested and sent to the state penitentiary. He was the only participant in the clash to receive legal punishment.
]]>A canal craze swept the nation after the Erie Canal was completed in 1825, resulting in many states looking to create canal systems. Indiana began planning a man-made waterway to connect Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio, to the Ohio River in Evansville as early as 1826. The United States Congress gave Indiana a large amount of land to begin canal construction the following year. Construction on the Wabash and Erie Canal finally began with a groundbreaking ceremony in Fort Wayne on February 22, 1832. Advertisements for available construction jobs in Indiana were a major draw for Irish immigrants coming to the United States in the 1830s and 1840s. By 1837, about one thousand workers were employed on canal projects throughout the state. Newspapers circulated advertisements to recruit more workers. Though not explicitly recruiting Irish workers, advertisements appealed to immigrants who needed a well-paying job.
Arriving at the canal corridor, Irish men found jobs as contractors and laborers. Some advertisements in news publications around the state promised laborers lodging and $20 a month for their work and offered plots of land around the canal for $1.25 per acre. However, most laborers only received $10 a month, roughly worth about $363 today. Contractors often docked workers’ pay to account for food and lodging costs. Sometimes, the canal company paid laborers in certificates for small pieces of land rather than money.
Canal workers faced many hardships. Irish immigrants working on the canal lived in small, unhealthy shelters. The men, some with their wives and children, usually lived in cheaply built camps of 100-200 people. Contractors often had small homes to themselves, while most laborers lived together in larger buildings. Diseases were common in the canal environment, especially among the camps. Insects carrying illnesses, poor sanitation practices, and hard labor resulted in a high death rate among canal hands. The work itself was brutal. Men first cleared wide paths through trees and brush. Diggers followed, using picks and shovels to load cleared earth into horse-drawn carts. Many camps had nearby mass graves to bury laborers who died in work accidents and malaria or cholera outbreaks.
Thousands of Irish laborers survived horrible conditions and backbreaking work to complete the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1843. At 468 miles, the canal was the longest in the United States. Navigable water systems were important to the transportation of both goods and people. Indiana became more involved in national trade routes with the canal connecting the state to the Great Lakes via Toledo. However, the state did not have enough money to maintain the canal for long. The Wabash and Erie Canal closed in the 1870s.
]]>By 1880, Indianapolis was the third-largest meat-packing city in the country. One of the businesses in the city was the Deschler meat packing company in the backyard of their property on 423 California Street.. The Deschlers immigrated to Indianapolis from Germany in the 1860s and quickly established themselves in the food industry. They later would merge with another food industry company nearby and continue to build a prominent food business in the city.
The Kingan and Company meat packing plant at Maryland and Blackford Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, was larger than Deschler’s. Belfast resident Samuel Kingan founded his meat-packing company in Northern Ireland in 1845. Kingan opened additional factories in Brooklyn, New York, and Cincinnati, Ohio, before establishing the Indianapolis plant in 1863. An article in The Indianapolis Star boasted that workers at the new facilities would kill and pack 2,500 hogs per day.
Kingan and Company recruited mostly Irish immigrants for jobs at the plant. Employment opportunities drew more Irish to the nearby community. Some new arrivals sent their belongings directly from Ireland to the Kingan plant. Immigrants from all over Ireland lived in small homes and boarding houses in the neighborhood surrounding the plant.
The workers at the Kingan and Company meat-packing plant often endured long hours and dirty, dangerous conditions. The factory was loud with the sounds of squealing hogs and processing machines. Witnesses described conveyors of dead animals passing through crowds of workers at all hours of the day. The workers used cleavers to chop the meat going by, leaving blood and entrails all over the factory floor. Most of the employees were Irish men, but photos from the time show some women and children at work in the plant. Child labor was not uncommon in the 19th century. Many working-class children needed to earn money to help support their families, even though child labor is harmful to kids’ health and development.
The multiple stops on Blackford Street encompass the sites where both the Deschler and Kingan meat-packing facilities operated. Further north on Blackford Street, looking toward California Street, the Deschler Meat Packing Company operated. Further south on Blackford, at the intersection of Blackford and Maryland Street, one can look at the former site of the Kingan and Company meat-packing plant. Both sites played a major role in the history of Indianapolis and its industry.
]]>Irish immigrants have a long history with Indianapolis and the surrounding areas. Throughout the nineteenth century, Indianapolis provided an urban environment for Irish Americans seeking opportunity in the Midwest. Many working-class Irish immigrants who came to Indianapolis found homes just southeast of the city center. So many Irish people lived in the neighborhood that it became known as Irish Hill. Researchers in the 1930s found that around 90% of Irish people living in Marion County at the time had once lived in Irish Hill. There was also a large Irish population in Fountain Square to the south.
Most of the Irish living in these neighborhoods came to the United States to escape famine and poverty. They did not have very much money and needed to work hard to support themselves. Some men found work building canals, roads, and railways in and around the city. Others worked in factories like the nearby Kingan and Company meat-packing plant. Unmarried workers often stayed at boarding houses operated by other Irish immigrants in the community. Hannah O’Connor, an Irish woman living on Georgia Avenue, had twelve railroad workers staying in her boarding house in 1880, most of them Irish. Like many women in the neighborhood, Hannah made a living doing domestic work. There were plenty of jobs for women around immigrant labor hubs. However, they had very few choices for what type of work they could do.
In addition to having jobs, the Irish neighborhoods in Indianapolis had a strong sense of community. This was largely built around religion. Most Irish immigrants were devout Catholics, and the church was central to their social and spiritual life. In the 1830s, there were very few Catholics and no Catholic churches in the city. Early Irish immigrants had to celebrate Mass in bars and rented rooms. The Irish community helped establish Indianapolis’s first Catholic parish, Holy Cross, in 1837. St. John the Evangelist Church was built in Irish Hill in 1850, and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church opened in Fountain Square in 1865. These churches started schools, hosted social events, and supported the needs of the Irish community.
In Irish Hill and Fountain Square, Irish immigrants worked hard to support themselves and each other. They created strong community bonds in their places of work, worship, and rest. Over time, Indianapolis’s Irish population spread throughout the city, and Irish Hill and Fountain Square welcomed diverse new residents. The neighborhoods still hold the memory of the Irish immigrants who built them.
]]>Beginning in the mid-1800s, Irish Hoosiers around the state gathered each March 17th to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. This holiday celebrates St. Patrick, a saint who served as a missionary in Ireland in the fifth century. The Catholic Church credits Patrick with bringing Christianity to Ireland. The Catholic faith became an important part of Irish identity over the years. As the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick came to symbolize both Catholicism and Irish patriotism.
Indiana’s largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration took place in Indianapolis. The Ancient Order of the Hibernians (AOH) and an independent Irish military group called the Emmett Guards organized the day’s activities. After celebrating mass, Irish societies gathered at the Masonic Hall on the corner of Washington Street and Capitol Avenue. Social, political, and charitable groups like St. Patrick’s Temperance Society and the United Irish Benevolent Association joined the AOH and Emmett Guards in procession. Bands played Irish tunes and Irish and non-Irish spectators cheered as the parade made its way around the city center.
After the parade, guests attended a banquet at the Masonic Hall. People ate and drank while politicians, military leaders, and Catholic clergymen delivered speeches. The hall was decorated with Irish and American flags. Likewise, the speeches celebrated the Irish and American identities of the majority immigrant audience. Speakers remembered Ireland with pride and called for the country to be free of English rule. The speakers also blessed America as their new home and encouraged the audience to embrace their opportunities and responsibilities as American citizens. The evening ended with music and dancing. The holiday activities allowed the Irish community in Indianapolis to honor the life of a beloved saint and celebrate their identity as Irish Americans.
Indianapolis continues to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the present. Today, the popular holiday holds more cultural than religious significance and is celebrated by Irish and non-Irish people alike.
]]>In late August 1897, three branches of the Ancient Order of Hibernians gathered for their annual picnic at Robison Park in Fort Wayne. Over 3,000 people of Irish nativity or descent flocked to the new amusement park to enjoy the festivities. The afternoon boasted a variety of sporting events, allowing Irish American men to demonstrate their athletic skills. The “fine program of sports” included baseball, Gaelic football, and hurling. With a combination of American and Gaelic sports, the Irish community celebrated its cultural heritage and ideas of traditional Irish masculinity while shaping its distinct Irish American identity.
Robison Park was decked with green on August 27, 1897, for one of its largest events of the year. The excursion offered food, dancing, and speeches from community leaders, but sport was the main attraction. The afternoon began with a baseball game between the Shamrocks and the Emeralds, two local teams in the Robison Park League. Other teams in the league, like the Hibernian Rifles and the Clover Leaves, also boasted Irish-inspired names and had largely Irish rosters. The Emeralds prevailed over the Shamrocks, 14-8.
Though baseball was growing into a popular pastime for Irish Americans in the Midwest, Gaelic sports attracted the most attention, symbolizing cultural revival and nationalist pride. A Gaelic football match followed the baseball game. Young men from existing area teams met on the grassy pitch to play the uniquely Irish sport, which combined elements of soccer and rugby. Division 3 defeated Division 1, one goal and three points to none.
The sporting events concluded with the first hurling exhibition ever played in Fort Wayne. The ancient Gaelic sport, now the national sport of Ireland, was a high-contact activity with militaristic undertones. Using a curved wooden stick called a hurley, athletes attempted to hit a small ball known as the sliotar through or over their opponent’s goalposts. The team of recent immigrants who learned to play hurling in Ireland easily defeated the American-born team, one goal and one point to one point.
The Irish community of Fort Wayne continued celebrating Hibernian Day at Robison Park into the 1910s. Sport remained a significant part of the festivities and the Irish identity of the athletes and attendants.
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