No Irish Need Apply

The Potato Famine of the 1840's drove thousands of Irish farmers out of the country.  Many immigrated to England, Australia and North America with the hope of starting over.  However, when they looked for work in their new country, they were often greeted by a window sign saying:  "Irish Need Not Apply".

The phrase turned up 29 times in the New York Times on November 10, 1854.  A variation, Irish Need Not Apply" appeared 7 times.  Other ads specified interest in Americans or Protestants, appearing several times on May 1, 1855, which effectively eliminated Irish Catholics.

A song "No Irish Need Apply", written by Kathleen O'Neil, was inspired by a young Irish woman searching for work as a maid in London.  She spots a sign in a window which reads:  "A small active girl to do the general housework of a large family, one who can cook, clean and get up fine linen, preferred.  No Irish Need Apply."
(The London Times, February, 1862)

Nineteenth Century British writer Anthony Trollope explained the pervading sentiment at the time:

"Often depicted as monstrous beings or apes in satirical cartoons, the Irish were not seen as welcome members to English society.  Irish immigrants were seen as lazy, drunk, anarchistic criminals whose sole purpose in life was to steal the jobs of English workers.  It comes as no surprise, then, that English employers were not very welcoming of Irish workers."(https://apps.cndls.georgetown.edu/projects/borders/items/show/86)

The city of Boston, Massachusetts was a common destination for the Irish.  In one year, the Eastern Seaboard city swelled from 30,000 to 100,000 Irish.  Boston shop windows often displayed the trademark "No Irish Need apply" signs, relegating the Irish to the most menial jobs.  In fact, in the mid-1800's, 70% of Boston's servants were Irish.  But they got their foot in the door.

The influence of Irish Catholics slowly grew when the Irish accepted jobs in the police force and in politics.  John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, father of the future Rose Kennedy, became mayor of Boston in 1906.  Joseph P. Kennedy rose to be the American Ambassador to Britain during the Second world War.  His son, John F. Kennedy, of course, became the 35th President of the United States in 1961, the first Catholic to be elected to the position.

Today, No Irish Need Apply signs are proudly mounted in the suburban Boston homes of third, fourth and fifth generation Irish. (http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/no-irish-need-apply/)

NINA sign circa 1916 courtesy Fulton Street Sign Co.

London's East End: An Immigrant Neighbourhood

"[The] invention about 1880 of the term 'East End' was rapidly taken up by the new halfpenny press, and in the pulpit and the music hall...A shabby man from Paddington, St. Marylebone or Battersea might pass muster as one of the respectable poor.  But the same man coming from Bethnal Green, Shadwell or Wapping was an 'east ender', the box of Keating's bug powder must be reached for, and the spoons locked up.  In the long run, this cruel stigma came to do good.  It was a final reminder to the poorest to get out of the East End at all costs..."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_End_of_London)

The East End originally referred to the area of London east of the Roman and medieval walled city and north of the River Thames.  The East End was composed of the following hamlets or boroughs:

• Tower Hamlets
• Hackney
• Bethnal Green
• Hoxton
• Spitalfields
• Wapping
• Whitechapel
• Shoreditch

Since the 1600's, London's East End has been the centre for receiving new immigrants.  Immigrants to London were attracted to the East End due to its location close to the docks where they arrived, the abundance of unskilled labour jobs and the inexpensive housing.  In the 17th Century,   French Protestants who suffered religious persecution in France, fled to England and settled in London's East End.  They were followed by Irish weavers during the Potato Famine in the 1840's.  The Ashkenazi Jews took up residence in the East End and by 1800, they were 20,000 strong.  With the construction of the St. Katharine Docks and the clearance of slums within the walled city, came more displaced persons.  In the 20th Century Bengladeshi's arrived in the London neighbourhood.    

London's immigrants found work in several industries.  The single most popular industyr among the Huegenots was silk weaving.  The Irish immigrants took jobs as weavers.  The Ahskenazi Jews often worked as costermongers or street traders.  Many of the Bangladeshi immigrants worked at the market on Petticoat Lane.  

In the 1800's, the East End was also home to poor British families.  Most of the street children that Dr. Thomas Barnardo accepted in his shelter were of British background.  The label "East Ender? did not have a positive connotation.  

"[The] invention about 1880 of the term 'East End' was rapidly taken up by the new halfpenny press, and in the pulpit and the music hall...A shabby man from Paddington, St. Marylebone or Battersea might pass muster as one of the respectable poor.  But the same man coming from Bethnal Green, Shadwell or Wapping was an 'east ender', the box of Keating's bug powder must be reached for, and the spoons locked up.  In the long run, this cruel stigma came to do good.  It was a final reminder to the poorest to get out of the East End at all costs..."

Likely because of the adversity that East Enders experienced, they grew to be resilient people.  

http://blogs.stlawu.edu/maddiebrown/literary-journalism/

For more information, read The People of the Abyss by Jack London.