The Irish diaspora

[Docere]

Although the Irish influence on the island was limited at first, they would before long leave a cultural stamp on Newfoundland life. One so distinct in fact that historian Tim Pat Coogan in his book on the Irish diaspora “wherever green is worn” opined ‘nowhere in the world outside of Ireland itself, is the Irish presence so strongly felt as in Newfoundland.

One is aware there of Irish resonances on all sides, resonances of music, personality, physiognomy and history”. This is quite a heady claim considering the mantle of most Irish place outside of Ireland has traditionally gone to perhaps Liverpool or Boston. However, the unique history of Newfoundland through its fisheries has meant that ones impression of it, such as its capital St. John’s and the Avalon Peninsula in the south-east of the island is of an overwhelming Irishness. Irish immigration to Newfoundland had been reduced to but a trickle by the time of the great famine exodus to Britain, the United States, mainland Canada, Australia and Argentina. So why then does Newfoundland still retain that peculiarly Irish character it has? The answer lies undoubtedly in the fact that the emigration from Ireland to Newfoundland was very specific.

https://www.theirishstory.com/2013/0.../#.YjeAXXpKjIU