The second major group of pre-Civil War immigrants came from Ireland, including both Catholic and Protestant Irish. Although in other regions Irish immigrants were equated with poverty during the 1820s and 1830s, the early Irish community of St. Louis in the 1830s often included wealthy, politically powerful and influential members, such as John Mullanphy, Alexander McNair, and John O'Fallon. However, starting in the mid-1840s large numbers of Irish fled poverty abroad and arrived in St. Louis with little money or skills. Many of these Irish were motivated by the Great Famine of 1845–1846 and the failed Irish uprising of 1848.