Paper delivered by Dr Gerard Moran lecturer in the Dept of History, NUI Maynooth, at Uncovering Our Connemara Roots, a genealogical conference held in Clifden on 30th May – 1st June 2012.
‘In Search of a Better Way of Life’: Emigration from Connemara in the late Nineteenth Century.
While an estimated eight million people emigrated from Ireland in the nineteenth century there were great regional variations and patterns to the exodus. Connemara society retained many of the pre-Famine features up until the subsistence crisis of 1879-82: an increasing population, the subdivision of holdings and early marriages. The crisis of the late 1870s resulted in a new approach to the perennial problems of poverty and overpopulation and assisted emigration was advocated as a solution by the philanthropists, Fr James Nugent of Liverpool and the Quaker, James Hack Tuke, who visited the region in the Spring of 1880. Both realised the region’s resources were not capable of sustaining a large population and by removing families it would have the dual advantage of consolidating farms into economic units for those who remained, while improving the lives of those who were sent to North America. Both men identified the mid-western states of North America as the most suitable region for settlement because land and employment opportunities were available as the region was being opened up by the railways. In June 1880 Nugent with the co-operation of local Catholic priests sent 329 people to Graceville, Minnesota where land was provided by Bishop John Ireland of St Paul. Their passage fares were paid by the Duchess of Marlborough Relief Committee and private subscriptions. At the same time Tuke advocated the emigration of families from the region and it resulted in the establishment of the ‘Tuke Committee’ in London in March 1882. Its emigration efforts were concentrated on the Clifden area because the local board of guardians were prepared to take out a £2,000 for emigration purposes. The demand for assistance was greater than the resources which the ‘Tuke Committee’ had and while nearly 1,300 were assisted between April-June 1882 many were left behind. Tuke called on the government to provide the funding for a large-scale emigration scheme and £150,000 was allocated in 1883 and 1884 with the ‘Tuke Committee’ administering the schemes in Connemara. Over 6,000 people had their passage paid to North America in the early 1880s representing about 12% of Connemara’s population. Families were mainly assisted with at least one member having English and a high number of bread winners in each group. Only those with friends and relations in the United States were assisted to that jurisdiction, the rest being sent to Canada where the colonial authorities were prepared to provide help when they arrived at their ports. While the assisted emigration schemes ended in 1884 due to opposition from Parnell and the Irish Parliamentary and the Catholic bishops of the west, it initiated a chain migration process with at least another 500 emigrating by the end of the decade, their passage being paid by the Tuke emigrants. Remittances were also sent back by the emigrants: by 1890 £8,000 was sent back to the Clifden area which was used to supplement local incomes. The assisted emigration schemes initiated a migration process which continued into the twentieth century.
Dr Gerard Moran
Dept of History,
NUI Maynooth
Further Reading:
Gerard Moran, Sending Out Ireland’s Poor: Assisted Emigration to North America in the Nineteenth Century (Dublin, 2004),
Gerard Moran, ‘From Connacht to North America: State-aide emigration from Galway to North America in the 1880s’ in Gerard Moran (ed), Galway: History and Society (Dublin, 1996)
i am looking for any info re. assisted emigration from killary /renvyle area.Any sogestions would be appreciated.
Hi Gerard, The Clifden & Connemara Heritage Society are currently working on a project where we will be transcribing the ships manifests from the 1882 sailings of the Tuke Assisted Emigration Scheme to gather all names of those hat emigrated from the area in 1882. If you would like to drop me an email to coral01@eircom.net, I would be happy to help with any queries.
Seems that the Tuke organisation concentrated on the USA and Canada.Did any emigration organisations promote Australasia? My paternal g-father emigrated to Melbourne, (the ship’Garonne’ 1888).He was not an ‘assisted’ emigrant to the best of my knowledge and I often wonder how he gained the wherewithal to cover the cost! And why he chose Australia-the lure of the instant fortune by a lucky strike had long gone.His sister,Mary followed the more traditional path of Connemara emigrants,going to Brooklyn NY in the same year as her brother’s departure.The other five siblings remained in Ireland-and saw their children leave for the States and one followed his uncle to Australia.
A shortage of marriageable women ‘of good character’ and a shortage of domestic’servants encouraged the NZ government to promote ‘suitable’ female emigration to this country in the latter part of the 19th century
Michael Coyne
Hello Michael,
While your grandfather emigrated a good 40 years after this article appeared in the Tyrawley Herald (published 14th August 1847 in Co. Mayo, Ireland), the extract taken from a Mayo County Library Publication about the Famine explains how people in Ireland were being encouraged to emigrate to Australia at the height of the famine:
“(in Australia) … the things we are in greater want of is labour. We are giving £35 a year for a man and his wife, and £25 a year for Shepherds, besides rations, which consists of 10lbs of flour, 12lbs of beef, 2lbs of sugar, and three-quarter lbs of tea per week, and a house to live in, by no means hard work. We have a great many working men earning from 30s. to 12s. per week.”
There are posters to be found online showing original advertisements attracting people to emigrate to Australia from Ireland throughout the 19th century. Unfortunately many people chose to emigrate because of the imminent threat of starving to death under the British Government’s colonial administration.
I saw on familysearch that there were quite a numer of Malues in this region during the 1860s and 1870s, but all seem to have disappeared. I cannot find any of them as passengers on the list provided with this article. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks, Charles Malue
My great-grandmother was born in Clifden and baptised in February 1832
She married in Western Queensland Australia in 1864–her name was Bridget Walsh, parents Patrick Walsh and Bridget Connolly.
Has anyone advice as to how and where tofind out any more abouit her, and her family in Clifden. We have been to Clifden a number of times and only just recently
I am thinking seriously to obtain a professional person to assist us with this. Would appreciate names and cost of services.
Thank you,
Mary McCarthy Queensland.
I àm looking for info on my uncle Patrick Coyne from Claddaghduff who emigrated to australia between 1910 to 1920??2
Hello and Happy Holidays!
My name is Joe Hubbell, and I am 64 years old, living in Grover Beach, on the central coast of California.
I am doing family genealogy, and I am trying to find my great grandfather on a ship manifest, but it is proving tricky.
On his naturalization document, he states that he entered New York in 1883, but n manifest I have found (scoured) shows him or family members on it.
I came across the Tuke Asssted Emigration story for ships leaving from Blacksod Bay and Galway, but he does not appear to be on their yet either. Perhaps these lists are still in progress?
Any help or insights you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
His name was Martin Lanahan (possibly Lenihan or Linehan)? And he was born in 1864. His parents were John and Ann Lanahan.
He ended up living in the St. Louis, Missouri area.
Thank you!