Irish Emigration to New England through the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841 to 1849

The Canadian port of St. John, New Brunswick was a magnet for Irish immigration during the decade that culminated in the Great Famine. A majority of these Irish immigrants relocated to Boston or elsewhere in New England, sooner or later, in order to rejoin their family members. Since many of the aforementioned Irish arrived in Canada in a destitute or infirm condition, however, they were required to take temporary refuge in the alms and work houses, hospitals, and asylums of St. John. Many of the records of these institutions have survived, and it is owing to Mr. Johnson’s ingenuity and diligence that we now have a surrogate record of these persons “missing” from the official passenger lists. In all, he has identified some 7,000 persons of Irish birth from the records of alms houses, hospitals, parish houses, etc. This is a major contribution to the literature of Irish immigration to North America.