Irish
An Irish Immigrant arriving in the U.S.; courtesy Spartacus Educational
Shortage of Work and Anti-Chinese Sentiment
As the railroad and mining industries slowed down, most Irish workers were laid off. What jobs were left went mostly to lower-paid Chinese laborers. Then, with the Panic of 1873, the United States was thrown into an economic depression. Many Irish immigrants in the San Francisco area lashed out at the Chinese, who they believed were their main competitors for jobs. Prejudice and discrimination against Chinese laborers was widespread, and many leaders of the anti-Chinese movement were immigrants from Ireland. Chief among them was Denis Kearney, who had sailed directly to San Francisco from Ireland in 1868.
Kearney and his compatriots not only directed their hatred toward the Chinese, they blamed the railroad executives who had laid off Irish workers but retained a cheaper Chinese labor force. This anti-Chinese sentiment led to the establishment of the Workingmen’s Party of California.
The Irish Legacy
Like other groups, the Irish played a key role in building 19th-century California and San Francisco in particular. James Phelan, for one, arrived in New York an impoverished boy, made a fortune as a retailer in Ohio, and then moved to California to sell his goods to thousands of Gold Rush prospectors. He soon established Hibernia Bank, which provided loans to Irish entrepreneurs. His son, James Duval Phelan, continued his father’s successes and became mayor of San Francisco in 1897, eventually serving three terms; in 1913 he was elected to the United States Senate.
Further south, John Downey arrived in Los Angeles with a few dollars in his pocket and, with financial help provided by J. P. McFarland, opened his own successful drugstore. Downey became active in the Democratic Party and in 1861 became governor of California. He was also one of the founders of the Pioneer Oil Company and was the main figure behind the building of the Los Angeles Public Library.
Great numbers of Irish immigrants — some famous, most not — played a vital role in the development of California.