The Indiana Irish Wars

Irishmen often brought regional feuds from Ireland to the United States. Due to the number of Irish workers on canal projects, these were prevalent in Indiana. Two groups— the Corkonians and the Fardowns—held a longstanding feud. The Corkonians came from the Irish province Munster, specifically in County Cork. The Fardowns came from the provinces of Connaught and Leinster. The hostility between the two groups was ultimately due to competition for employment. The Corkonians and Fardowns had violent encounters near many canal and railroad worksites in Indiana, later referred to as the Irish War.

In 1835, groups of Corkonians and Fardowns were working on the Wabash and Erie Canal. Construction contractors knew about the feud and tried to keep the groups separate. The Corkonians worked the northern section of the fifty-mile line, leaving the southern section for the Fardown men. The men stayed in separate camps and often worried that members of the other party would burn down their shelters or kill them at night. Contractors reported that some men camped in the woods to avoid such a fate. Most men came to work armed, sometimes with weapons they had stolen from locals. Small-scale brawls became so frequent that worksite authorities planned to remove one of the groups from the line entirely.

In July, rumors of a big clash began to spread around the canal camps. The groups planned to meet in the middle of the two camps, near Lagro. As men on both sides prepared for the fight, work on the canal slowed to a halt. On July 10, a reported 600 Irishmen met in Lagro, about 300 from each faction. Canal Commissioner David Burr managed to arrange a truce that lasted long enough for Indiana militias to arrive. The militias arrested over 100 Irish laborers a few days later. Without a nearby jail to hold so many men, officials took eight of the faction leaders to Indianapolis and released the rest to return to work. The eight leaders were released shortly after arriving. One Corkonian leader, Jeremiah Sullivan, was later re-arrested and sent to the state penitentiary. He was the only participant in the clash to receive legal punishment.