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Chapter 2 THE PERIOD OF EMIGRATION With that historical background in mind, it is now possible to zero in on the long-suffering but ever rebellious people who immigrated to America and, of course, eventually to Cleveland. This background material is also supplied as a refutation that "the Irish had no history in the 18th and 19th Centuries," which were the two principal periods of their immigration to the United States. Ireland had a history, but one many people would like to forget, especially British historians. What is particularly sad about the period of their immigration to these shores is that it occurred, as we have seen, when the people of Ireland existed in quiet misery. It was their low point in learning, in the fields of arts and crafts and, most notably, in physical well-being. While it is a pity that it was not Columcille's scholars who were coming here, it is even to the greater glory of those illiterate and impoverished Irishmen that they did so well once they established themselves here. They came to America in such numbers that the extent of their migration boggles the mind. Consider the fact that between 1800 and 1900 over four million sons and daughters of Ireland crossed the Atlantic to begin a new life here. There has never been .....(continued next page)
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