On January 1, 1801 the British government officially joined Ireland with the United Kingdom. The controversy over the union with Britain split Ireland, with the exception of the Catholic hierarchy, who were solidly behind the British government, and the Orange party who were effectively opposed, though officially neutral.
A quarter of a century after the American Declaration of Independence from Britain, and while the new United States struggled to establish a nation, millions of Irish citizens were forced to see their country become legally part of the United Kingdom.
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This union brought no relief from the discrimination against Irish Catholics, Presbyterians and other religious groups. Many from these groups saw America as the country that would be likely to understand their plight and whose laws guaranteed many of the freedoms the British had long denied them. Thus a new wave of religious, economic and political refugees soon arrived on American shores and would historically be known as the "Pre-Famine Irish." The poor economic conditions, extremely limited arable land and the likely impossibility of ever rising above the poverty level spurred this first major emigration of the Irish.
Not surprisingly, many of the Irish immigrants landed in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence had been signed and where the Industrial Revolution had begun in earnest. Thousands of Irish landed in the cities of the eastern seaboard and, unable to travel any further into the continent, most settled in the eastern former colonies and established new lives in America. Like other newly arrived ethnic groups, they settled together, forming wholly Irish communities. Those arriving in Philadelphia, who were unable to find employment there, found their way to other towns along the river and eventually settling in Wilmington, Delaware.
The earliest Irish arrivals to Wilmington were the Scots-Irish, who formed the city's first Presbyterian congregation in 1740, and by 1774 had established a second church. Their first church building was moved to West Park Drive on the Brandywine, where it continues to be used.
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Founded in 1740, Wilmington had steadily grown through the years in its industrial output. By the time these Irish began to arrive, Wilmington already had a reputation for flour and gunpowder mills. Wilmington's growth in productivity and size accelerated early in the 19th century. Laborers were needed to keep up the productivity of the city's top manufacturing family, the DuPonts.
The DuPonts had taken advantage of the location of Wilmington. There was easy access to the Atlantic Ocean facilitating trade with the European continent. In addition, the Brandywine and other waterways provided the energy for their mills and enabled quick shipping of goods to the Delaware and onto the Atlantic. The DuPonts were shrewd businessmen and were rapidly gaining huge markets for their gunpowder. With the arrival of the Irish they demonstrated their reputation for taking advantage. They did not wait for the Irish to come to them looking for employment. They went after the Irish.
E.I. DuPont assessed the immigrant situation quickly. He learned that many of the new arrivals had families in Ireland. Husbands would rely on relatives to care for their wives and children back home while they tried to establish themselves in America. DuPont proposed to lend his Irish workers money to bring over their families and friends. In this way he was bringing in more potential laborers for his mills and growing businesses.
Once the families were reunited in Wilmington, DuPont provided rent-free housing near the mills and factories. Further, he began to provide medical care and education for his Irish workers and their families, lent money when necessary, and gave them the opportunity to garden and even own land if they chose. For these poor, landless Irish such benefits were something they had only dreamed of in their native land, so, naturally, they became devoted to the DuPont family and their business.
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Of course, the Irish had other devotions. The Catholic Church had sustained them during the most trying times in their homeland. Even though American Protestants were still openly hostile to Catholicism, the Irish were given the same freedom enjoyed by all, namely an education. In 1816 the DuPonts established a school at the request of the workers. The Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School opened in October at Simsville cotton mill along the Brandywine. What is now the Haggley Museum houses materials used in such schools, as well as in smaller classrooms located near factories and the mills which operated at Hagley. The Irish, again, were startled at such generosity. For the first time in memory they were able to have their children educated. Some of the more enterprising (or daring) adults attended reading classes to improve their skills. The simple act of being able to read was one factor responsible for the decreased dependence on the parish priest.
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The parish priest was more than a religious figure in the Catholic Irish community. Because of his education he was their legal adviser, handled financial affairs and assorted business matters, read and wrote dictated letters for the illiterate. Though the priest's influence began to wane as time wore on and the Irish workers became more educated, the Church remained an important aspect of their lives. Father Patrick Kenny, an Irish immigrant priest, established St. Peter's parish in the vicinity of Hockessin, the first of its kind in Delaware.
As churches continued to be built, the idea of establishing a parochial school came into being. The non-denominational school at Simsville cotton mill began to lose students following 1840, when Roman Catholics built St. Joseph's on the Brandywine, with considerable financial help from the Protestant DuPonts. A school was attached to the church in 1850 and was staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Chestnut Hill, Pa. Father Peter Donaghy, who served as pastor from 1887 to 1893, was a native of Ireland and was active in maintaining Celtic culture and the Gaelic language among the American Irish.
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