page_title: Irish language in Newfoundland
section_title: Irish immigration
hierarchical_section_title: Irish language in Newfoundland / Irish immigration
caption_attribution_description: English: Trinity, Bonavista Peninsula, Eastern Newfoundland, Canada. The visible landmarks are: on the left, the St. Paul's Anglican Church (1892-94); in the centre, the Roman catholic Church of the Most Holy Trinity (1833); both were designated Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1989 and 2005 respectively. Français&#160;: Trinity, Péninsule Bonavista, Est de Terre-Neuve, Canada. Les monuments visibles sont: à gauche, l'église anglicane de St-Paul (1892-94); au centre, l'église catholique de la Très Sainte Trinité (1833); les deux ont été désignées édifices de patrimoine par la Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador en 1989 and 2005 respectivement.
context_page_description: The Irish language was once widely spoken on the island of Newfoundland before largely disappearing there by the early 20th century. The language was introduced through mass immigration by Irish speakers, chiefly from counties Waterford, Tipperary and Cork, and Newfoundland subsequently became the only place to have a distinct Irish-language name outside Europe: Talamh an Éisc. The Irish spoken in Newfoundland was said to resemble the dialect spoken in Munster in the eighteenth century.
context_section_description: The Irish language arrived in Newfoundland as a consequence of the English migratory cod fishery. While Humphrey Gilbert formally claimed Newfoundland as an English overseas possession in 1583, this did not lead to permanent European settlement. A number of unsuccessful attempts at settlement followed, and the migratory fishery continued to grow. By 1620, fishermen from South West England dominated most of the east coast of Newfoundland, with the French dominant along the south coast and Great Northern Peninsula. After 1713, with the Treaty of Utrecht, the French ceded control of the south and north shores of the island to the British, keeping only the nearby islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the south coast.
  Irish labourers were recruited for the fishery from southeast Ireland. Irish settlers were reported to be residing at Ireland's Eye, Trinity Bay, by 1675, at Heart's Content in 1696, and at St. John's by 1705.Thomas Nash, an Irish Roman Catholic, was one of the later pioneers of Irish settlement in Newfoundland. A native of Kilkenny, he arrived on the Southern Shore in 1765 and eventually settled in the Branch area.
  Between 1750 and 1830, and particularly between 1793 and 1815, large numbers of Irish people, including many Irish speakers, emigrated to Newfoundland, known colloquially simply as an tOileán "the Island". An account dating from 1776 describes how seasonal workers from Cork, Kerry, and elsewhere would come to Waterford to take passage to Newfoundland, taking with them all they needed. A description of this enterprise (with a burlesque flavour) was given by the 18th-century Munster poet Donough MacConmara, describing his deep sea-chest filled with eggs, butter, bacon and other necessities:
  Do thug an pobal i bhfochair a chéile
  
  Chum mo chothuighthe i gcogadh nó i spéirlinn –
  
  Stór nach g-caillfeadh suim de laethibh,
  
  As cófra doimhin a d-toilfinn féin ann;
  
  Do bhí seach bh-fichid ubh circe 'gus eunla ann
  
  Le h-aghaidh a n-ithte chomh minic 's badh mhéin liom –
  
  Cróca ime do dingeadh le saothar
  
  As spóla soille ba throime 'ná déarfainn ...
  The people brought together
  So as to nourish me in war or strife -
  A treasure that they would not lose for many a day, 
  And a deep chest that I would like myself;
  There were a hundred and forty hens' eggs and birds,
  For me to eat as often as I would wish -
  A crock packed tight with butter
  And a fat joint of meat bigger than I could tell.
  Kilkenny's contribution to this emigration was 25%, followed by Wexford (at least 23%), Waterford (at least 20%) and Tipperary (at least 15%), with Cork adding a further 6%.  Wexford was the county of origin in which the Irish language was least spoken. The other counties, mostly in Munster, were part of an area in which Irish was widely spoken until at least the middle of the 19th century. An illustration of this is furnished by the estimated percentage of Irish speakers for the decennial period 1771–1781 in the following counties: County Kilkenny 57%, County Tipperary 51%, County Waterford 86%, County Kerry 93%, and County Cork 84%. This is borne out by observations made in 1819 by James McQuige, a veteran Methodist lay preacher in Irish:
  In many parts of Ireland I have travelled frequently twenty miles without being able to obtain directions on my way, except in Irish ... I need hardly dwell on the Catholic counties, Cork and Kerry, where even the few Protestants speak their native tongue [i.e. Irish] ... In some of the largest southern towns, Cork, Kinsale, and even the Protestant town of Bandon, provisions are sold in the markets, and cried in the streets, in Irish.
  Most Irish settled on the Avalon Peninsula, with many in the main port and present capital of St. John's.
  Some Irish immigrants to Newfoundland moved on, and many others were part of an annual seasonal migration between Ireland and Newfoundland. Most landed in the Newfoundland ports of St. John's and Harbour Grace, and many moved on to smaller outports on the coast of the Avalon Peninsula. By the 1780s, the Irish had become the dominant ethnic group in and around 
caption: A view of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, where Irish settlers were established by the late 17th century.
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