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Indiana's Green Roots
Hoosiers Can Claim Some Irish in Their Past
By Brenda Myers
Having come to the state in large numbers as spirited canal and road workers beginning in the 1830s, they began as a rural population and often lived in transient worker camps. By the end of the 1800s, most Irish families had settled down and lived in more urban environments, with husbands and sons working in factories and families attending church and school together.
When Hoosiers enjoy libations and corned beef this March 17, they can do so knowing their roots, while thin, are deep.
Just the Facts
Here are a few facts about the Irish in Indiana from Peopling Indiana: The Ethnic Experience, published by the Indiana Historical Society
- During the 1850s the number of Irish immigrants in Indiana almost doubled, and the number of foreign born in the state grew twofold. Still, in 1860 only 8.8 percent of the state's total population was foreign born.
- In 1870, almost 29,000 Irish-born immigrants resided in Indiana, comprising 2 percent of the state's population of 1.68 million, but 14 percent of all foreign-born immigrants.
- By 1980, just 825 individuals residing in Indiana had been born in Ireland.
- The greatest influx of Irish natives peaked in Indiana during the period 1860–1920, the time it also was most evident as a distinctive ethnic group. After that date, most Hoosier Irish history relates to those who were descendants of early immigrants. Urban Irish residents were among the builders of modern Indiana.
- Although the potato famine in Ireland during the 1840s contributed greatly to the massive emigration from Erin, Indiana was not among the states that received the greatest numbers of Irish immigrants during this period.
- In the first quarter of the 1800s, while all parts of the state saw moderate immigration by Irish Catholics, they were more likely to be found in the southern part of the state.