ly Journal_ for March 30,
1730, the number of Irish who came in via the Delaware river in that
year was 5655, while the total number of all other Europeans who
arrived during the same period was only 553. Holmes, in his _Annals
of America_, corroborates this. The Philadelphia newspapers down to
the year 1741 also contained many similar references, indicating that
the flood of Irish immigration was unceasing and that it was at all
times in excess of that from other European countries. Later issues
of the _Mercury_ also published accounts of the number of ships from
Ireland which arrived in the Delaware, and from these it appears that
from 1735 to 1738 "66 vessels entered Philadelphia from Ireland and
50 cleared thereto." And in the _New York Gazette and Weekly
Post-Boy_ of the years 1750 to 1752, I find under the caption,
"Vessels Registered at the Philadelphia Custom House," a total of 183
ships destined from or to Ireland, or an average of five sailings per
month between Irish ports and the port of Philadelphia alone. A
careful search fails to disclose any record of the number of persons
who came in these ships, but, from the fact that it is stated that
all carried passengers as well as merchandise from Irish ports, we
may safely assume that the "human freight" must have been very large.

Spencer, in his _History of the United States_, says: "In the years
1771 and 1772 the number of emigrants to America from Ireland was
17,350, almost all of whom emigrated at their own expense. A great
majority of them consisted of persons employed in the linen
manufacture or farmers possessed of some property, which they
converted into money and brought with them. Within the first
fortnight of August, 1773, there arrived at Philadelphia 3500
immigrants from Ireland. As most of the emigrants, particularly those
from Ireland and Scotland, were personally discontent with their
treatment in Europe, their accession to the colonial population, it
might reasonably be supposed, had no tendency to diminish or
counteract the hostile sentiments toward Britain which were daily
gathering force in America." Marmion, in his _Ancient and Modern
History of the Maritime Ports of Ireland_, verifies this. He says
that the number of Irish who came during the years 1771, 1772, and
1773 was 25,000. The bulk of these came in by way of Philadelphia and
settled in Pennsylvania and the Virginias.

The Irish were arriving in the Province in such great numbers