Irish Women's Letters Home: An Employment Agency

Arguably one of the most important sources available today in order to comprehend the importance of female Irish immigrants are their letters home to loved ones in Ireland. On the surface they appear to tell tales of courage, danger, risk, homesickness, relief, warning, and assimilation; on a deeper level, these letters seem to represent more than a female perspective: they themselves were a "pull" factor that influenced more Irish to immigrate to the United States (1).



One aspect of immigration that is often underplayed was that men and women did not always feel forced to leave Ireland; they were "pulled" by agencies, such as, "The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Hibernian Society, and the Shamrock Friendly Association," (2). These agencies, often composed of immigrants themselves, wished to help the middle class Irish immigrate to America through pamphlets that tempted the Irish and depicted the luring concept of the "American Dream", by stating that there, "...was great opportunity, freedom, and equal treatment under the law as long as the emigrant, male or female was willing to work and be industrious," (3). Beyond these pamphlets, however, were the ever more powerful and influential letters from women telling the story of immigration and life in America from the perspective of a veteran to the process and a person seemingly assimilated into American culture.

Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, women's letters spoke of independence and effectively were an "employment agency" for potential immigrants, educating them on job possibilities and opportunities, as well as going as far in some cases to arrange employment opportunities for friends and family members (4). These letters were typically between mothers, daughters, and female friends, which created a female network that arguably influenced many single women who were unhappy with their lives in Ireland due to their subordinated status as women.

However, after the 1840s, letters were slowly evolving from tales of lure and independence, to tales of caution due to depressions throughout the United States, creating poor living situations and job availability. This decade was also dominated by the Great Famine in Ireland, and while many immigrants acknowledged the warnings, the current status of life in Ireland was deplorable enough to push them to America despite what may have laid before them (5).

Immigration did not slow down even after the stories from America reached the shores of Ireland. A hope for a better life met with, "The subordinated, invisible status of women in post-famine, blocked from easy access to a marriage partner, to waged employment, to expressions of her sexuality determined the high and higher emigration rates among women. In this sense the post-famine emigration of women was refusal to accept the servile role allotted to them in their society and a rejection of patriarchal values underpinning it," (6).

These letters and their effect on women illustrate a difference between male and female Irish immigration. Men were also affected by push and pull factors, but they were willing to take risks, whereas women, if they chose to immigrant on their own accord rather than at the decision of a man, needed comfort and reassurance from friends and family in America if that was a possibility.







Image Source: "Miss Kennedy Distributing Clothing at Kilrush". Accessed on May 1, 2013. http://resources.teachnet.ie/jstacey/2004/. 

Sources:

1. Phalen, William. "The Stalwart Ladies: Nineteenth Century Female Irish Emigrants to the United States". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 92, 2003, 185. 
2. Ibid. 
3. Ibid. 
4. Ibid. 
5. Ibid. 
6. Jackson, Pauline. "Women in 19th Century Irish Emigration". International Migration Review, 18, 1984, 1018.