Narrating the Living Conditions and Life Experiences of Toronto’s Irish Poor in the 1850s and 1860s

Recent accounts of life in nineteenth century Irish America have outlined the ways in which “Irish” and “Irish American” identities were made and re-made through the decades. While the so-called “ethnic press” played an active role in projecting these ideas of Irishness across the United States, studies of it have been for the most part limited to major publication centers such as New York, Boston, and Chicago. This paper therefore seeks to re-conceptualize and broaden understandings of the ethnic press within nineteenth century Irish America. By 1870, twenty-nine large American municipalities had at least 10 percent Irish-born within their populations, with less than half of these in the New England states and none in the South. While the likes of the well-known Irish World and Boston Pilot circulated within these places, there was also space in their markets for a secondary layer of newspaper in which “things Irish” found a prominent place. Chief among the latter were (arch)diocesan weeklies, edited by laity and clergy alike. Although ostensibly addressing English-speaking congregations, these newspapers’ audiences were in practice largely of Irish birth and ancestry. The contents of these papers in turn reflected this, with items ranging from ancient Irish folklore to commentaries on nationalist dramas in the homeland. The paper explores this neglected layer of “Irish” publications in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati.