Young men dressed up for Saint Patrick's Day, 1892 (note the shamrocks)

The Irish have been part of Nova Scotia since Roger Casey arrived in the 1660s, married an Acadian, and began the Caissy family. There were Irish at Louisbourg and at the founding of Halifax, and so many Irish were employed in the annual summer fishery along the province's Atlantic coastline that the entire region was known to them for centuries as Talimh An Eisc ('The Land of the Fish'). You can find the Irish among the first settlers in almost any community in this province.Most people connect Irish emigration to North America with the Potato Famine of the late 1840s.  The majority coming to Nova Scotia, however, arrived in the mid-1700s or between 1815 and 1845.

The first wave arrived in the late 1750s, a time when Ireland was largely a country of tenant farmers and labourers, with an economy dependent on Great Britain. These economic barriers, plus the prospect of land ownership in North America, led many to emigrate, particularly from the northern counties of Londonderry, Donegal, Tyrone and Antrim.

Those who came to Nova Scotia were soon joined by others who had previously emigrated from northern Ireland and were living in New Hampshire. Together, they were called the 'Scots-Irish' although this is not an entirely accurate term.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians at the 1919 Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Halifax. The banner 'O'Connell Liberator' is being carried.

Most of the northern Irish who came to Nova Scotia in the 1750s and 1760s were third and fourth-generation descendants of Lowland Scots, transplanted to the northern Irish province of Ulster. They are more accurately called 'Scots from Ireland' or 'Ulster Scots,' since few of them had native Irish ancestry.

These immigrants were the founders of Truro and Londonderry in Nova Scotia.  Others settled in Chignecto and in Granville, New Dublin, New Donegal (Pictou) and in parts of Hants County. Archibald, Allison, Parks, Fulton and Creelman are typical family names. The 'Ulster Scots' are often considered part of the larger New England Planter settlement of Nova Scotia, which occurred at the same time.

On January 17, 1786, 'a number of respectable Inhabitants of this Province, natives of the Kingdom of Ireland,' met at Halifax's Golden Ball tavern, kept by John O'Brien, to establish The Charitable Irish Society. Together, these 'Gentlemen, Merchants and others' declared their 'affectionate and compassionate concern for any of the Irish Nation, who shall be reduced by sickness, old age, shipwreck or other misfortune.' For 225 years they have maintained their presence in Halifax through charity, education, and support of local culture.

The second wave of Irish arrived between 1815 and 1845.  The population of Ireland had more than doubled in the fifty years before 1815, and the country could not support so many people. Religious animosity, civil disorder, and an unpopular forced union with Great Britain in 1801 combined with the opportunities offered in America to make the idea of emigration attractive. 

Programme for the Chartiable Irish Society's 1914 Saint Patrick's Day Banquet at the Halifax Hotel

Nova Scotia received thousands of people from the southern Irish counties of Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork and Kerry. Their main ports of arrival were Halifax and Pictou, although smaller numbers landed at the Gut of Canso, Sydney, Yarmouth and other ports. Some became fishermen, but many applied for free land from the government in order to start farming.

Some of these later Irish were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, such as the dozens of families who settled central western Nova Scotia in communities such as New Ross, East and West Dalhousie, and elsewhere along the old proposed Annapolis Road, linking Halifax to Annapolis Royal.

Halifax and Dartmouth were focal points for southern Irish arriving after 1815. By the early 1860s, nearly 50% of the population in the two communities was Irish. The main attraction was steady employment for labourers and skilled tradesmen.

These works required massive supplies of granite, much of which was quarried by Irish labourers on the western hills of Halifax's Northwest Arm. In mid-century the building of railways began in Nova Scotia, and many of the navvies were Irishmen.

Drive through Herring Cove and Ketch Harbour, just outside Halifax, and you will see villages founded by Irish fishing families with names like Dempsey and Hayes, Flemming and Sullivan. Between Halifax and Windsor, you can visit Uniacke House, today part of the Nova Scotia Museum complex, but originally the country estate of Richard John Uniacke, a native of County Cork.

Take in a Cape Breton ceilidh and an appreciative ear will detect the Irish influence on that island's rich musical heritage. From Donovans at Ingonish to Murphys in Yarmouth, you'll find an Irish presence in Nova Scotia wherever you look.

Blueprints for a Hydrostone-area Home, ca. 1918 (Halifax Relief Commission)

At some point, most people who live in older homes or own land that has been settled for generations, want to know more about the space they inhabit and share with the past.

Who built this house? When? How did they furnish it? What were their lives like? Who was the first person to own this piece of land? What were its original measurements and boundaries? How did it change shape and ownership over the years? When was a house first built on it? What did the neighbourhood look like then?

There are ways to explore all these questions--and archival records can provide the answers. Archival research, however, is not always easy. You're not likely to be presented, for example, with a big file containing the complete history of your house on your first visit to NSARM.

Most heritage homeowners have already learned that it takes determination, patience, and a certain strategy to restore and live with their house. So too, researchers should design a strategy for delving into the history of their homes and properties.

The Built Heritage Resource Guide is designed to introduce and briefly describe the major types of records available at NSARM for researching the history of homes, properties and land in general, throughout Nova Scotia. Some of the resources we describe are available elsewhere in the province, for example at local deed registries, probate offices, or community museums and archives; others are unique to NSARM.

Digitized examples of each resource are presented below, but these are only the "tip of the iceberg"... you'll need to visit NSARM in person to explore the resources fully. We're here to help... and along the way you'll learn much more about your home, your land, your community, and Nova Scotia's rich built heritage.

Keys to unlocking a building's history:

• Oral History
• Genealogies, Community and County Histories
• Land Records
• Nova Scotia Registry of Deeds
• Map Collection

William Mackay's 'Great Map'

Nautical Charts

A.F. Church Co. Maps

Geological Survey Maps

Topographical Maps

Fire Insurance Plans

Bird's Eye Views

• Architectural Plans
• City, Provincial, Telephone and Business Directories
• Nova Scotia Census Records
• Nova Scotia Court of Probate
• Municipal Records - Assessment Rolls
• Municipal Records - Halifax City Works Department
• Documentary Art and Photographs
• Newspapers
• Miscellaneous - Real Estate Registers
• Miscellaneous - Halifax Relief Commission
• Miscellaneous - Dendochronology (Tree-rings)