Montgomery’s Irish Immigrants

The United States received a large number of Irish immigrants during the nineteenth century. Between 1820 and 1930, it is believed that around 4.5 million Irish immigrants came to the United States. From 1820 to 1860, the Irish made up one third of all immigrants entering the country. They were almost half of all immigrants in the 1840s. Due to the increased availability of employment opportunities, many Irish immigrants settled in larger cities in the East and Midwest. Not all Irish people settled in urban areas. In Indiana, Montgomery became one of the rural farming settlements for Irish immigrants. They tended to own their own land, especially if they came before the 1850s. Instead of finding employment on the various internal improvement projects happening in Indiana during the nineteenth century, such as canals and railroads, these immigrants made their living through farming, possibly something that they were accustomed to from their life in Ireland.

Montgomery’s Irish came from all four of Ireland’s provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster, and Connaught. Most came from either Leinster or Ulster. The already established Catholic community and St. Peter Catholic Church likely enticed some of the Catholic Irish to settle in Montgomery. Though a large number of Irish immigrants in the United States settled in urban areas, the Irish in Montgomery serve as an example of those that settled in farming communities.