Irish people were among the pioneers in this country from almost the first settlement on the Atlantic coast, and continued until the line of immigration had crossed the continent to the Pacific.
The Colonial records bear testimony that Irish people were here at an early period, and so many hamlets on the frontier were designated by distinctive Irish names that had we no other proof than these facts, we could not honestly divest ourselves of the conviction that Ireland contributed more in numbers for the development of this country than came from any other one source.
Great injustice has been done the Irish people by depriving them of credit so justly due them. This has resulted partially from ignorance, but to a greater extent it is due to an influence exerted prior to the first settlement in this country. The purpose which prompts this injustice has been maintained through English influence, and has always been wanting so much in charity to the Irish people, that we can hope to accomplish little in any effort to establish the truth so long as individuals in this country are willing to have their judgment influenced by the policy of a foreign power.
The same influence has been as actively engaged in claiming that we are English; that this country is consequently “a worthy daughter of a more worthy mother!” Yet my investigations have impressed me with the belief that of the seventy-five millions forming our present population, there are a far greater number of individuals who could be more certain of their African origin, than there are those who could prove a direct English descent.
It is not sufficient to show proof of an ancestor sailing from an English port, as all such were rated during the seventeenth century as English, without reference to their nationality. Moreover the bearing of an English name would be no more conclusive, as we shall show that a large proportion of the “Wild Irish” were compelled by law to assume English surnames, which their descendants bear at the present time.
I have no precise data bearing directly upon the earliest immigration of the Irish to this country, for none exists. On the other hand, the assertion that they were among the first settlers, and the most numerous afterwards, cannot be rejected or disproved. I will now very clearly show, as circumstantial evidence, that throughout the greater portion of the seventeenth century a dire provocation existed, and that the Catholics were driven out of Ireland by a persecution which has never been equaled. The world to-day is in ignorance of the fact, since a complete history of Ireland, and of the suffering borne by a majority of the people, has yet to be written.
Whenever an advantage was to be gained by falsifying an historical event in connection with Ireland, the English government has never hesitated, in the past, to exercise its influence for that purpose. Yet with a strange inconsistency every record in the keeping of the government bearing upon its own immediate history, is zealously preserved, notwithstanding the most damning testimony is thus furnished of corruption, double dealing and crime.
As an American I would gladly have laid aside all religious appellations if it had been possible otherwise to have done justice to my subject, but unfortunately, as a consequence of the prejudices of centuries, not a few people regard the “Protestant Irishman,” the “Presbyterian Irishman,” and the “Catholic Irishman” as so many distinct species of the human family. The necessity, therefore, exists in doing justice to Ireland, that all at least in relation to the Catholic portion should be made prominent, as this precludes the plea of being either English or “Scotch-Irish.”
But as regards the race, the fact is that even within the period of which we shall treat in regard to the forced emigration, there remained in Ireland but little of the pure old Celtic stock. The inhabitants of Ireland had been gradually becoming a mixed people, and were as much of an aggregation as the population of the United States is a conglomeration of all other races. Yet there is something in the Irish climate and surroundings, which, even within a generation, exercises a powerful influence in bringing the descendants of all foreigners to a type possessing much in common, and with characteristics unlike any other people.
It was not until near the close of the reign of Charles the First, that the Irish people were forced to emigrate. Therefore, I propose to begin with a brief reference to the so-called “Rebellion of 1641.”