Irish New Zealanders
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(March 2023) |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 17,835(by birth, 2018)[1] 800,000(by ancestry) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New Zealand | |
| Languages | |
| English,Irish,Māori | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism,Protestantism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Irish people,Ulster Scots,Irish Australians,Scottish New Zealanders,English New Zealanders,Welsh New Zealanders,European New Zealanders |
The termIrish New Zealander(Irish:Gael-Nua-Shéalaigh) refers toNew Zealandersof full or partialIrishancestry. This includes Irish immigrants as well as New Zealanders of Irish descent. The term makes no distinction concerning religion and encompasses both Catholic and Protestant (includingAnglo-Irish) immigrants and their descendants; nonetheless, the chief criterion of distinction between Irish immigrants, especially those who arrived in the nineteenth century, is religion.[2]
Irish people have played a significant role in the history of New Zealand. TheIrish diasporain the nineteenth century reachedNew Zealand,with many Irish people immigrating to the country, predominantly toAuckland,Canterburyand theWest Coast.With Irish immigration to New Zealand, the Irish people established Catholic churches and schools, especially in Auckland.[3]Today, there are roughly 800,000 New Zealanders of Irish ancestry (approximately 15% of the total population). This is an estimated figure based on historical immigration patterns, with a much smaller proportion of the population self-identifying as Irish.Irish culturehas influenced the widerculture of New Zealand.[4]
The descendants of the Irish people and their culture have mixed with otherNew Zealand Europeancultures to form modern-day New Zealand culture. However, unlike many Scottish settlers inOtagoandSouthlandIrish settlers were more spread out across the country, resulting in visible Irish communities throughout New Zealand that began to mix with other communities.[5]Job opportunities for Irish-born New Zealanders were limited as a result of anti-Irish bias.[citation needed]In the 1930s 40% of theNew Zealand Police Forcewere of Irish ancestry.[citation needed]One of the main reasons the Irish immigrated to New Zealand was because of theGreat Famineand fear of yet another famine.[citation needed]
Irish immigration to New Zealand; 1840–1915[edit]
Some of the first Irish came with theRoyal New Zealand Fencibleswho were British army veterans given land for service. Around half of them were Irish Catholics.[citation needed]Until 1852 the Irish comprised just under 15% of New Zealand immigrants. A Dublin University Magazine described New Zealand as 'the most recent, remotest, and least civilised of our colonies'; the voyage cost over four times that of crossing the Atlantic to America.[6]Immigration from the region ofLeinsterwas common from 1840 towards 1852. Most Irish immigrants to New Zealand during the Irish diaspora that followed theIrish Famineof 1845-1852 were indigenous Irish from Munster and indirect emigrants from Australia during the gold rushes.[7]In the early twentieth century immigration from the region ofUlsterincreased. This "reflected the preference for Protestants among New Zealand immigration authorities".[8]To make New Zealand more attractive as a place of settlement for migrants, "fudging" of statistics occurred emphasising homogeneity (using the phrase '98.5 percent British'). Place of birth was used to circumvent ethnicity, "to conceal the numbers of other population groups, particularly the Irish and Chinese"[9]
Politics[edit]
Significant expressions of Irish culture came in public debate. The long struggles in Ireland for land reform, home rule rather than English rule, and eventually independence were a major concern of British politics throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many in New Zealand followed these debates and crises, and expressed their sympathies publicly. Occasionally it came in the form of civil disorder. There were 'shindies' between Irish Nationalists and Irish Unionist Orangemen at Ōkārito in 1865. In Christchurch on Bo xing Day 1879, 30 Irishmen attacked anOrangeprocession with pick-handles, and in Timaru 150 men from Thomas O'Driscoll's Hibernian Hotel surrounded Irish Orangemen and prevented their procession. In 2013 the NZ Press Council (now the NZ Media Council) upheld a number of complaints that denigrated Irish identity in New Zealand.[10]
Irish place names in New Zealand[edit]
There are some place names in New Zealand with connections to Ireland or Irish people, including:
- Ardmore,afterArdmore, County Waterford
- Athenree,afterAthenree, County Tyrone
- Ballance,after Irish-born Prime MinisterJohn Ballance
- Bangor,afterBangor, County Down
- Belfast,afterBelfast
- Bowentown,after Irish-born GovernorSir George Bowen,who was fromUlster
- Camla,afterCamla, County Monaghan
- Capleston,after Irish settler Patrick Quirk Caples
- Cronadun,afterCronadun, County Donegal
- Dargaville,after Irish settler Joseph Dargaville
- Dromore
- Dunsandel,afterDunsandle Castle,Galway
- Glasnevin, New Zealand,afterGlasnevin,Dublin
- Glenavy, New Zealand,afterGlenavy, County Antrim
- Glen Massey,after Irish-born Prime MinisterWilliam Massey
- Hobsonville,after Irish-born GovernorWilliam Hobson
- Hurleyville,after a family of Irish settlers
- Katikati,previously known as Waterford
- Kerrytown,afterCounty Kerry
- Killinchy,afterKillinchy, County Down
- Kingston,originally St Johns, after Irish-born police commissionerSt John Branigan
- Martinborough,after Irish settlerJohn Martin
- Mauriceville,after Irish-born Minister of Immigration and Crown LandsSir George Maurice O'Rorke
- Massey,after Irish-born Prime MinisterWilliam Massey
- Shannon,after Irish settler George Vance Shannon
- Queenstown,afterCobh
- Wellington,capital of New Zealand, afterArthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington,born in Dublin
- Westport,afterWestport, County Mayo
See also[edit]
- European New Zealanders
- Europeans in Oceania
- Ireland–New Zealand relations
- Pākehā
- Immigration to New Zealand
References[edit]
- ^https:// stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/irish
- ^John Stenhouse, 'Religion and society - Sectarian conflicts', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand,http:// TeAra.govt.nz/en/religion-and-society/page-6(accessed 9 December 2021)
- ^Phillips, Jock."Irish – Migration 1800–1850".Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.Ministry for Culture and Heritage.Retrieved23 October2015.
- ^McLachlan, Marilynn (17 March 2014)."St Patrick's Day: 10 Irish influences on New Zealand".The New Zealand Herald.ISSN1170-0777.Retrieved23 October2015.
- ^Phillips, Jock."Irish – Settlement".Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.Ministry for Culture and Heritage.Retrieved23 October2015.
- ^Jock Phillips, 'Irish - Migration 1800–1850', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand,http:// TeAra.govt.nz/en/irish/page-2(accessed 9 December 2021)
- ^'The Irish', URL:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/home-away-from-home/the-irish,(Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 8-Dec-2014|access-date=2021-12-9
- ^'The Irish', URL:https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/home-away-from-home/the-irish,(Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 8-Dec-2014|access-date=2021-12-9
- ^Belich J. (2001). Paradise Reforged: A History of the New Zealanders from the 1880s to the Year 2000 Auckland: Penguin Books. Pp 217–218
- ^New Zealand Media Council Te kaunihera ao pāpāho o Aotearoa|url=https:// mediacouncil.org.nz/rulings/charlie-smyth-against-the-press/|title=CHARLIE SMYTH AGAINST THE PRESS|publisher= NZ Media Council |access-date= 2015-12-9
