History
April 18, 2008
The Irish In New Haven: History
The Irish Community of New Haven in the mid 1800’s was centered in
the “Old Third Ward” (bordered by Davenport Ave., George St. and
the harbor) and came to be known
as “The Hill Neighborhood”. This area was heavily populated by Irish and
German immigrants, especially on Congress and Lafayette Ave.
While there appear to have been some Irish laborers in New Haven as early as the 1820’s, the majority of the Irish immigrants arrived twenty years later.
The accessibility of New Haven to the Port of New York made the town the chief receiving point for immigrants in the State of Connecticut. Some Irish immigrants arrived in New Haven via a less popular route through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and then by boat or land into the US. Shipping companies already going to Ireland with shipments of timber were happy to fill their boats with Irish immigrants for the return trip. They sometimes charged as little as 15 shillings, compared with the fare of 5 pounds to go to New York.
In the 1840’s the Irish were first
attracted to New Haven by the promise of work building
the ill fated Farmington Canal. Later they sought work with the
Railroad and such companies as the rifle manufacturer, Winchester
Repeating Arms. The Irish were quick to make thier mark on the city
by organizing the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1842. Irish
immigrants also made contributions to industry in
New Haven. For example by 1850 a Linen Damask Factory and a major
contracting business had been started by Irish immigrant Matthew O’Connell of Dublin. In 1851, Patrick Maher, a mason-builder, started a contracting business and proceeded to build a number of important structures in town.
The New Haven Hospital had a presence in this neighborhood as early as 1861, where it is listed in the City Directory as “State Hospital”. It was situated between Davenport and Congress Avenues west of Cedar St. Today, the hospital, known as “Yale New Haven Hospital”, occupies a large section
of what was residential areas in “The Hill”.
The Irish also faced difficulties being accepted by the US born residents of New Haven. The Irish were
accused of taking work away from “native born” citizens and the Protestants were unnerved by
the growing number of Catholics.
By the 1880’s the Irish were being replaced in “The Hill” by Jewish
and Italian immigrants. The Irish began to move out to the newly developed “Streetcar Suburbs”. Irish immigration was reduced to a trickle by 1880.
During the
Civil War era New Haven’s “Carriage Industry” became one of the nation’s largest. Many of my ancestors worked
as “carriage painters” or “carriage smiths” during this time. The City of New Haven was also experiencing a
growth in population at this time.”At the outbreak of the war, the population was 40,000; by the turn of
the century it had grown to 108,000. Many of the new citizens had immigrated from abroad from such areas
as Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe. “~from
City Of New Haven History
By the 1950’s “The Hill” had deteriorated into one of the worst areas of New Haven.
“City leaders considered Oak Street their worst slum, “a hard core
of cancer which had to be removed,” as New Haven’s mayor at the time
put it.”(~from
“Death of Neighborhood” by Rob Gurwitt; Sep/Oct 2000) There fore the entire neighborhood was
razed in a rash of “Urban Renewal”. Most of “The Hill” is now covered by Yale-New Haven Hospital and
highway.
