Meanwhile the situation in Ireland was almost as gloomy as before. Though as a consequence of the American and French revolutions the penal laws had been somewhat relaxed, and in 1793 Catholics had been allowed to vote at parliamentary elections, they were still persecuted and harassed in almost every conceivable manner by the Loyalist faction. In Armagh county murders, house burnings, and still more abominable crimes were of constant occurrence, and many thousands of the people were driven from their homes, some taking refuge in the South, some flying to Scotland, and a large number coming to America. An idea of the condition of things at that time in some parts of Ireland may be formed from reading the declaration of Lord Gosford, governor of Armagh county, and thirty magistrates, issued on Dec. 28, 1795.
“It is,” they said, “no secret that a persecution accompanied with all the circumstances of ferocious cruelty, which have in all ages distinguished that calamity, is now raging in this county. Neither age nor sex, nor even acknowledged innocence is sufficient to excite mercy or afford protection. The only crime which the unfortunate objects of this persecution are charged with is a crime of easy proof, indeed, it is simply a profession of the Roman Catholic faith.” The Presbyterians, who had for a long time been excluded from power and position by the “Sacramental Test Act,” and many of whom had, during the eighteenth century, emigrated to America, were also much dissatisfied with their condition and that of the mass of their countrymen.
“The journals of those days,” we are assured by a careful writer on this subject, “show that the Northern Presbyterians were not sharers in the disgrace or afraid to denounce the dominant faction. Neither must we forget that Presbyterianism was socially, though not religiously, outlawed almost to the extent of Catholicism.”
But the English government, which had absolute control of the so-called Irish Parliament, turned a deaf ear to all demands for justice and encouraged the Loyalists to continue their atrocious deeds. Under these circumstances, a number of prominent and patriotic men of all denominations, who had formed the United Irish Society a few years before, for the purpose of bringing about a union of Irishmen of all religious persuasions with the object of effecting a reform in the Parliament, now becoming convinced of the hopelessness of attaining their purpose by peaceful methods, resolved to imitate the example of the American Revolutionists and make an effort to achieve the independence of their country. The movement was unsuccessful, though its suppression in 1798 cost the English government the lives of over 20,000 of the latter’s mercenaries.
Multitudes of the patriots who had taken part in the insurrection escaped to America, a considerable proportion of these going in fishing schooners to Newfoundland, where their descendants are to be found in great numbers to-day, notwithstanding the large emigration from that island to the United States. The failure of Robert Emmet’s effort in 1803 for the freedom of his native land also led to renewed proscription and the flight of thousands across the Atlantic. No records of the numbers of Irish who came here during the period referred to are available, or could in fact under the circumstances be compiled. The notices, however, in the newspapers of the time of the arrivals of immigrants and the accounts of events then occurring in those parts of North America still held by the English, as well as in the United States, throw considerable light upon the subject.
Between 1652 and 1658, over 60,000 Irish—almost all adults—were by order of the Cromwellian government transported to the West Indies and the English colonies—a larger number than the total population of these dependencies at that time. Many thousand of those sent to the West Indies gradually found their way to this country through the Atlantic and Gulf ports, but the fact that proscriptive laws against Catholics, modeled after the English penal laws, were enforced in most of the colonies, prevented many others from coming here before the Revolution. It may be remarked in passing that to the feeling excited among the French colonists on the St. Lawrence by these enactments and by later mischievous displays of religious intolerance, is due the fact that Canada still remains subject to Britain, and that the Starry Flag does not wave over all the territory between the Gulf and the Pole.
After the Revolution, however, and when it became evident that religious liberty would be allowed by law to all the people of this Republic, the descendants of the expatriated Irish in the West Indies came to the United States in considerable numbers to escape the insalubrious climate, the almost constant turmoil caused by the conflicts waged there between European powers, the troubles and dangers arising from the frequent plots and uprisings of the colored population, and especially to be rid of English rule.
To show the difficulties and dangers to which those living in the West Indian islands were exposed, an incident which occurred on the island of Montserrat in 1768 may be briefly mentioned. The negroes of that island formed a plot to massacre the whites, and decided to carry out their project on St. Patrick’s day, “which,” we are informed, “the inhabitants generally assembled together to commemorate”—a fact which proves their origin. It was arranged that “the negroes allowed within the building (where the festivities were to be held) were to secure the swords of the gentlemen participating and those without were to fire into the hall and put every man to death. They were then to cast lots for the ladies, whom they intended to carry to Puerto Rico in the vessels that lay in the harbor.” The plot happily failed, through a warning given by a faithful servant to one of the intended victims, and several negroes were executed for complicity in it. The Irish in the West Indies sympathized warmly with the American Revolutionists, and this made them objects of distrust and hatred to the English. We are told that “from many letters found in American prize ships, it was discovered that a traitorous correspondence had been carried on between British subjects and the revolted colonies in North America.” The merchandise and stores of those suspected of sympathy with the Americans were confiscated by the English.
The vindictive animosity displayed by Admiral Lord Nelson while in the West Indies against the Americans and their sympathizers excited the bitterest indignation among the people there. Nelson—whose feeling toward the Americans, trading with these islands, may be judged from an expression in one of his letters, “I hate them all,” and his declaration in another, “I, for one, am determined not to suffer the Yankees to come where my ship is”—did his utmost to ruin American commerce in that quarter, and even went so far as to complain to the English government of his superior officers because they failed to encourage and abet his malignant efforts. His bitterness against the Irish may be easily inferred from one of his letters written from the island of St. Kitts, on March 18, 1785, in which he says: “Yesterday being St. Patrick’s Day, Irish colors with thirteen stripes on them were hoisted all over town. I was engaged to dine with the president, but sent an excuse, as he suffered those colors to fly.” It is not to be wondered at that numbers of the West Indian Irish sought a home under the flag with the “thirteen stripes,” to which they had so patriotically shown their attachment.
It may be remarked here that Seaman, referring to the period just before 1790, says that “the proportionately rapid increase of the population of the Southern states proved that they had received considerable accessions of immigrants from the West Indies.” The great majority of these were no doubt descendants of the transported victims of Cromwell’s despotism. The able historian of South Carolina, Dr. Ramsay, tells us that in 1791 a number of Catholics, “chiefly natives of Ireland, associated themselves together for public worship, and put themselves under the care of Bishop Carroll,” and adds that “The troubles in France and the West Indian islands soon brought a large accession to their numbers.”