|
The Irish language was once widely spoken on the island of Newfoundland before largely disappearing there by the early 20th century.〔 (Language: Irish Gaelic ), Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.〕 The language was introduced through mass immigration by Irish speakers, chiefly from Counties Waterford, Tipperary and Cork. The Irish spoken in Newfoundland was said to resemble that of Munster Irish as spoken in the south of Ireland in the eighteenth century. ==Irish immigration== The Irish language arrived in Newfoundland as a consequence of the English migratory cod fishery. While Sir Humphrey Gilbert formally claimed Newfoundland as an English 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 the South-West of England dominated most of the east coast of Newfoundland, with the French dominant along the south coast and 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 St. Pierre and Miquelon off the south coast.〔(Newfoundland Settlement and the Migratory Fishery ), Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.〕 Irish labourers were recruited for the fishery from south east 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.〔(Newfoundland: The Most Irish Place Outside of Ireland ), Brian McGinn, the Irish Diaspora Studies scholarly network, quoting Thomas F. Nemec, "The Irish Emigration to Newfoundland", pp. 16-17〕 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.〔(Memorial University, Intangible Cultural Heritage Branch )〕 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 - 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.〔Young, pp. 131-132: "October 17 (). Accompanied Lord Tyrone to Waterford; made some inquiries into the state of their trade... The number of people who go as passengers in the Newfoundland ships is amazing: from sixty to eighty ships, and from three thousand to five thousand annually. They come from most parts of Ireland, from Cork, Kerry, etc. Experienced men will get eighteen to twenty-five pounds for the season, from March to November. A man who never went will have five to seven pounds and his passage, and others rise to twenty pounds; the passage out they get, but pay home two pounds. An industrious man in a year will bring home twelve to sixteen pounds with him, and some more. A great point for them is to be able to carry out all their slops, for everything there is exceedingly dear, one or two hundred per cent. dearer than they can get them at home. They are not allowed to take out any woollen goods but for their own use. The ships go loaded with pork, beef, butter, and some salt; and bring home passengers, or get freights where they can; sometimes rum".〕 A description of this enterprise (with a burlesque flavour) was given by the eighteenth-century Munster poet Donough MacConmara, describing his deep sea-chest filled with eggs, butter, bacon and other necessities: : : : : : : : :〔Quoted in Corkery 1925, p. 268-169〕 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 nineteenth 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%.〔Fitzgerald (1984)〕 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 (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”.〔Quoted in de Brún 2009, pp. 11-12.〕 Most Irish settled on the Avalon Peninsula, with many in the main port and present capital of St. John’s.〔(Newfoundland: The Most Irish Place Outside of Ireland ), Brian McGinn, the Irish Diaspora Studies scholarly network, quoting John Mannion, "The Irish Migrations to Newfoundland", Summary of a Public Lecture delivered to The Newfoundland Historical Society, October 23, 1973, p. 3, and Kevin Whelan, "County Kilkenny Priests in Newfoundland" in Old Kilkenny Review, Vol. 3, No. 3 (1986), p. 243.〕 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 the St. John's area, in a population of about 3,200. Many were engaged in fishing and had little formal education. Many were servants who came to Newfoundland alone, but others had families, in which the labour of women and children was essential. Most families had a small plot of land.〔(Creed and Culture, 1784 to 1830: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage ), Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.〕 By 1815 the Irish in Newfoundland numbered over 19,000. Emigration was encouraged by political discontent at home, overpopulation and impoverishment. It was also aided by the fact that legislation of 1803 designed to regulate conditions on British passenger vessels, making the passage too expensive for the poorest, such as the Irish, did not apply to Newfoundland, which was viewed as a fishery rather than a colony.〔(Immigration ), Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Irish language in Newfoundland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|