In a census conducted by the province in 1766, Windsor’s population was 243, of which 60 were from Ireland.

So writes L. S. Loomer in his book on the history of Windsor, which in the index has at least 20 references to the Irish and Ireland.

Elsewhere, circa1860, the population of East and West Dalhousie was about 50 percent Irish. Near Kingston, between 1880 and 1920, there was an Irish community called Irishtown. In her writing, historical author Hazel Foote (the history of Woodville) refers to a substantial Irish settlement at Black Rock in Kings County. And as I mentioned in a recent column, Centreville and Atlanta, in Kings County, also had Irish settlements.

I could go on and tell you about other “Irish elements” in and around the outskirts of the Annapolis Valley but suffice it to say that Irish immigrants have been settling here and elsewhere in Nova Scotia since the early 1800s; in other words, many of the Irish came here well before the potato famine (at its peak between 1845 and 1852) which supposedly was the main cause of massive emigration.

However, what may be surprising (especially if you have Irish ancestors) is that many of those immigrants didn’t come here directly from the auld sod. This is pointed out by Lucille H. Campey in her book, Atlantic Canada’s Irish Immigrants (published by Dundurn Press in 2016). Campey writes that most of the Irish Catholics who settled in Nova Scotia in the 18^th century had not come directly from Ireland but had relocated from Newfoundland.

Campey’s book can be found in the Annapolis Valley Regional Library, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Nova Scotia’s Irish story. As well as devoting detailed chapters on the Irish in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick, Campey also examines the connection between immigration and our lumbering and fishing resources. For example, fishing spurred emigration to Newfoundland, while vast lumbering resources had the same effect in New Brunswick.

Campey notes that the Irish had a major impact on Atlantic Canada, helping to shape the region’s economic, social and cultural development. This is well documented in her book.

However, you will find the chapters on early Irish settlers more interesting than the economic aspects of immigration. It’s interesting, for example, that an 1817 tour by the then lieutenant governor found that some 56 years earlier, a sprawling Irish settlement had been founded along an inlet in the Bay of Fundy. And that a 1774 tour by British writers found that rural townships in the province were “chiefly inhabited by the Irish.”

Campey’s book is about the Irish and if you want to learn anything about your ancestors, I suggest you check it out from the library. For its Irish content, L. S. Loomer’s Windsor book is also worth checking out.

You may also want to Google New Brunswick Irish Portal and Irish Central, two sites that will be appreciated by anyone with a touch of Ireland in their genes.