1. Immigration to Scotland 1830s – 1939 The Irish
Lesson starter:
Write down five things you see in Glasgow that are evidence of Irish immigration in the past.

2. We are learning to…
Identify the reasons why many Irish came to Scotland

3. I can… Note-take on the reasons for the Irish coming to Scotland
Complete a National 5 question on Irish immigration

4. Think, pair, share!
Why might someone decide to leave their own country and move to live in a different country?

5. Immigrants from Ireland
Short sea crossing
Links between Scotland and Ireland are ancient
Both have spoken a form of Gaelic for hundreds of years
The short sea crossing made it easy to travel
Irish workers had always came to Scotland for seasonal work

6. During the 19th century, the majority of Irish people lived in extreme poverty
Affected towns and rural areas
Housing was of a shocking standard
Catholic couples had huge families
There was little work available
Housing was of a very poor standard

7. Why were the Irish so poor?
1. Ireland had no growing industries
4. Small farmers were evicted by landowners as they made them little money
2. Rising population
Why were the Irish so poor?
5. Farm land was in tiny plots – not enough to make a living
3. Goods from UK factories were cheaper
7. UK government knew nothing about running Ireland
6. Most people rented land/homes – rents could go up

8. Farmer A has a small piece of land
The land is poor quality (all he can afford)
He needs to grow something cheap that can produce a lot on a small amount of land
It needs to be something that can fill up his large family…

9. Potatoes Large crop can be grown on small piece of land
Only source of food for ½ Irish population
Don’t keep long
If the crop fails, Half the population have no backup
1840s – potato crop fails

10. The potatoes were ruined by a blight
Black, smelly fungus
1st signs of blight 1845
Again in 1846 and 1848

11. ‘people lived upon the carcasses of diseased cattle, upon dogs and dead horses, but principally on nettletops, grass and water cress…dead bodies were found with grass in their mouths.’

12. Effects of the Potato Blight
Over a million starved to death or died from disease eg. Cholera
Many could not pay their rent and were left homeless (landlords used police and soldiers to do this)
British Government did little – eventually sent corn
Other food produced in Ireland was still sent to Britain to be sold
The workhouse system in Ireland could not cope with demand – even if you did get in it was a miserable existence
Many people wanted to leave Ireland completely
Between 1841 – 1851 population went from 8.2million to 6.6million

13. ACTIVITY 1 -SPEED DATING!
Each of you will be issued with a card with a question and answer on it. There are only 7 questions so some of you will have the same question.
At the start of this exercise you probably don’t know the answer to all the questions.
Stand up and push chairs in.
Find someone who has a different question.
Ask each other your question in turn and supply answer if your partner doesn’t know it.
Swap question cards.
Find a new partner and repeat. Again and Again!

14. ACTIVITY 2 – FILL IN THE GAPS
Hopefully, you now know some of the answers to the questions.
Test your knowledge by filling in the gaps on the sheets.
Success criteria is 7 correct points in the right place on the sheet!
Check your answers from the next slide.

15. ANSWERS Potato blight is a disease which makes potatoes ROT.
Absentee landlords meant that many landlords in Ireland lived ABROAD / IN ENGLAND OR FRANCE.
Absentee landlords were a problem because they were not interested in helping THEIR TENANTS / PEOPLE WHO RENTED THEIR LAND.
The religion of most landlords was PROTESTANT . Tenants were mainly CATHOLIC and were not treated well by landowners.
An industrial revolution is a change from MAKING THINGS BY HAND, AND PEOPLE WORKING MAINLY IN THE COUNTRYSIDE to MAKING THINGS WITH MACHINES IN FACTORIES, AND WORKING MAINLY IN THE CITIES.
BRITAIN was the first country to have an industrial revolution.
6.5 MILLION people emigrated from Ireland to Scotland between 1830 and 1930.

16. ACTIVITY 3 – BBC programme
You are now going to make some notes from TV programmes on reasons for Irish immigration to Scotland.
Use the sub-headings on the board.
This will help you develop your note taking skills!
Make your notes as clear as possible – you will be using these notes for the following activities.

17. Where did the Irish settle?
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Ayrshire
Dundee
Group task – try to work out why the Irish chose each of these spaces specifically.

18. Glasgow This was the first place people arrived
This was where most work was
In 1848, 1000 Irish were landing in Glasgow a week
Wages were higher
than in Ireland

19. Dundee
Many settled here to work in the textile industry (making material)
Dundee Jute industry in particular
Jute

20. Coatbridge Coal mines and ironstone mines here needed workers
There were also textile mills which would employ women and children
In 1861 ½ of Coatbridge miners were Irish

21. Ayrshire
Lots of coalmining work here
Also very close to Ireland

22. 1851 census City Percentage of population Irish born Glasgow 18%
Dundee
Paisley
13%
Kilmarnock
12%
Edinburgh 7%

23. Other Irish workers
Some did not settle anywhere and moved around wherever there was work.
Some (especially from Ulster) came for part of the year to work then went home.
For these reasons, census information is not always accurate. Census information does not count Irish children as Irish either if they were born in Scotland.

24. National 5 Question
1. Explain the reasons why so many Irish came to Scotland during the 19th century. 6 marks

25. National 5 Question - answers
Many Irish lived in poverty due to lack of work or help from the government.
Farm land was of poor quality in Ireland and it was difficult to make a decent living.
Absentee English landlords treated tenants badly, often increasing rents and evicting tenants.
Housing was of terrible condition in Ireland so many left hoping to find better conditions.
The potato famine caused starvation and death and those who could, escaped.
Scotland was the closest place to come to which made travel cheaper.
Scotland was industrialising which meant lots of work was available.
This meant wages in Scotland were higher than those in Ireland for doing the same job.
There was work available in Scotland for the whole family – men, women, children.

26. PUSH Factors – make you want to leave a country
PULL Factors – attract you to another country
From the N5 marking scheme on the next slide, identify which would be PUSH factors and which would be PULL factors

27. Push / Pull
Scotland was the closest place to come to which made travel cheaper
Many Irish lived in poverty due to lack of work or help from the government
Scotland was industrialising which meant lots of work was available
Farm land was of poor quality in Ireland and it was difficult to make a decent living
Absentee English landlords treated tenants badly, often increasing rents and evicting tenants
The potato famine caused starvation and death and those who could, escaped
This meant wages in Scotland were higher than those in Ireland for doing the same job
There was work available in Scotland for the whole family – men, women, children
Housing was of terrible condition in Ireland

28. Irish Immigration Revision
1 Thinking about the programmes you have seen, what do you think were the different reasons for emigration from Ireland to Scotland?
To summarise, the different reasons were:
The potato famine
Poverty
High rents
Rising population
Shortage of land
Absentee landlords and religious discrimination
Lack of jobs
Scotland was having an industrial revolution and had jobs available
Higher wages in Scotland
2 You will be given a ‘Diamond 9’ shape. Cut out the squares and write
one of the above reasons on each square. Then arrange the squares into
a shape which shows WHICH REASONS YOU THINK ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT, e.g most important at the top and factors of equal importance on the same row. Be ready to give reasons.
3 Following the discussion, glue the squares into your jotter in the arrangement that you have chosen. Give your work the title Reasons for Irish Immigration.