Irish in Syracuse, New York facts for kids
Irish people started coming to the area around Syracuse, New York between 1776 and 1910. These early Irish settlers, sometimes called "Pioneers," arrived in Onondaga County, New York from different places. Some came straight from Ireland, many came from Canada, and others came from countries where they had lived before. Like most Irish people who moved across the nation, these early settlers came to escape hunger and poor farming conditions in their homeland.
History of Irish Immigration to Syracuse
The first Irish people visited Onondaga County, New York around 1776 as soldiers with the English Army during the American Revolutionary War. Most of them did not stay, but a few returned later to make their homes there. By 1820, only a few hundred Irish people lived in the county. The earliest arrivals were mostly Protestants. They settled on farms outside the city in places like Salina, Onondaga, Geddes, DeWitt, Lysander, Spafford, Skaneateles, Marcellus, LaFayette, Camillus, Elbridge, Otisco, Tully, Pompey, Clay, Cicero, Manlius, and Van Buren.
Most Irish people in Onondaga County, New York arrived after 1820. A large number came during the Great Potato Famine from 1848 to 1855. These immigrants were Irish-Catholic and found jobs mainly in the city.
Early Irish Farmers Outside the City
The Irish who lived on farms were usually earlier immigrants. Many came from New England, leaving their rocky, hard-to-farm land for the open, fertile land in Onondaga County, New York. More than half of these Irish farmers were Protestant. They owned and worked their own land. They did not face the same difficulties as the later Irish-Catholic immigrants. Some Irishmen worked as farmhands for wealthy landowners from New England. By working hard and saving money, many were able to buy their own land within five to ten years.
James Conan was a typical "strong-backed" Irish farmer. In 1855, four years after he arrived, records show he had $50 (which meant three cows and two pigs) but no land. By 1860, his wealth grew to $500. By 1865, he owned a house and barn worth $800, and his land was valued at $13,200.
The Potato Famine and New Arrivals
The potato famine in the late 1840s caused about a quarter of Ireland's 8 million people to die from sickness and hunger. Many who could afford the $50 trip to America decided to leave. Nearly 113,000 Irish people came to America in 1848 alone.
When they first arrived, most had very little. Only about half of the men and very few women could read or write. In Syracuse, New York, they took difficult jobs that no one else wanted. Women worked as low-paid house servants. Men worked in salt mines, lumber yards, and horse stables. In the late 1850s, many Irish people were worried that freed slaves would move north and take their jobs.
A local newspaper, The Daily Standard, reported on October 24, 1856, that business owners were talking about hiring freed slaves. The paper mentioned one man saying he would prefer to hire other workers rather than "Irish help."
Between 1848 and 1855, over 5,000 Irish immigrants came to Onondaga County, New York. About 2,000 of them settled in Syracuse, New York. Immigrants from the same towns or counties in Ireland often settled in the same areas. In Geddes, New York, hundreds of people from Thurles in County Tipperary settled together. Southeast of the city, in Pompey, 150 of 700 Irish immigrants came from Upperchurch, a poor mountain town in County Tipperary.
Irish Settlers in the City
In the city, Irish settlers worked on the Erie Canal and in the growing salt industry. They also worked in rock quarries in Split Rock, southwest of the city. Most of these new arrivals were Catholic and single. They lived in simple communities in the Near Westside and Far Westside neighborhoods. These areas started growing in 1822 after the Erie Canal was finished.
Challenges Faced by Irish Immigrants
In the early days, Irish Catholics faced unfair treatment. They were sometimes stopped from going to church and were made fun of. Every year on St. Patrick's Day, a dummy representing the Irish patron saint was hung from a flagpole on Salina Street. It was decorated with potatoes and a codfish.
Michael Gleason, a salt inspector born in County Tipperary, Ireland in 1799, complained three times to city officials about the dummy. When nothing was done, he "stopped at a hardware store, bought an axe, and forcing his way through the crowd, calmly chopped down the flag pole." It was not until thousands of Irish-Catholic immigrants arrived in the city in the 1850s that this unfair treatment began to lessen.
The Irish earned respect because they worked hard at jobs others did not want. The Daily Standard newspaper wrote in an editorial on May 29, 1858, that while it was good to talk about Americans leading America, the Erie Canal could not be made ready for boats without the hard work of Irish people.
By the 1890s, tensions between different ethnic groups grew in the city. Rivalry between Irish and German immigrants became violent. In 1895, a white line was painted down the middle of South Salina Street. The west side was for the Irish, and the east side was for the Germans. People caught on the "wrong" side were sometimes beaten.
Later Waves of Immigration
By the 1890s, with land disputes and more hunger in Ireland, another large group of Irish people came to Syracuse, New York. Census records show nearly 3,000 Irish moved into the city. By 1890, almost twenty percent of Syracuse's population was Irish. Men found jobs in new factories, steel mills, working for the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR), and in local breweries.
Tipperary Hill Neighborhood
Irish laborers helped build the Erie Canal. Many moved to a hill on the Far Westside of Syracuse starting in the mid-1800s. They settled south of the old village of Geddes, before it became part of the city. They lived on top of the hill, looking down at what was later called "Automobile Row". This area had many industries like Franklin Automobile Company and Onondaga Pottery. The men would walk down the hill each day to work at factories east of Tipperary Hill on streets like Geddes, Fayette, Marcellus, and Oswego, in the city's Near Westside. To the north, the Solvay Process Company offered many jobs making soda ash on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Many Irish people also worked in the local salt mills on the North side of Geddes.
Irish Influence in Politics
The first Irish-Catholic mayor in Syracuse was James Kennedy McGuire (1868-1923). He was elected at age 27 and served three terms. He was known for running a strong political organization around 1900 and hoped to become Governor of New York State.
St. Patrick's Day Parade in Syracuse
The yearly St. Patrick's Day Parade is held in Syracuse each March. It takes place on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day itself.
Irish Community Clubs
By 1890, many Irish organizations existed in Syracuse. These included the Irish National League, the Friends of Ireland, the National Land League of Ireland, the Irish Relief Fund, the Central Land League, the O'Connell Association (which focused on learning), and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
When World War I began and American nationalism grew, along with fewer new Irish immigrants in the 1920s, many of these Irish organizations stopped existing. Local Irish people focused their ethnic traditions more on family events and certain local bars. The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on South Salina Street was even stopped for a time.
In 1930, Edward N. O'Neil, who was born in Northern Ireland, started the Hibernian Club on the Westside.
Irish Events
