Irish Immigration to South Africa (1845-1860)

Between 1845 to 1849, the worst famines in Irish history strikes the country, killing an estimated million Irish men, women and children and causing roughly the same amount to flee the country in search for a better life. Now historically the British government did little about this emigration, either to encourage it or to direct its flow. For the sake of this thread, let us assume that the British government, seeing certain advantages in guiding the flow of people, begins to encourage Irish immigration to British colonial holdings as opposed to America.

In this TL's South Africa, an estimated 50-75,000 Irish eventually settle, the largest population of Irish in Britain’s colonies, and all in the space of rough 15 years (the famine period and the following decade). Now what impact do you all feel this would have on South African history?
Historically its my understanding that the Irish made up a surprising amount of the bureaucracy of South Africa and Natal considering their low numbers. This would suggest a certain amount of loyalty to the British colonial government. But with such high numbers coming over in this TL, and considering their reasons for coming leaving Ireland they might be highly sympathetic to the Boer cause of independence.
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Just what kind of Irish were they that made up the over-represented group? I suspect the Irish that made up the South African bureaucracy were Protestant. The vast majority of the Irish that left Ireland during the Potato Famine were Catholics.

I don't think that putting a lot of Irish Catholics into South Africa would necessary be a good thing for the British Administration. They wouldn't be accepted by either the British colonial authorities or the Boers. If the Boers can get over their Protestantism, then they and the Irish might become allies. Both have a deep dislike of the British and the native Africans.

I tend to think that the Irish will end up allied to the Boers against the British administration and men like Cecil Rhodes. With the settlement of Irish in the Boer Republics, perhaps the Republics are able to hold off British annexation?
 
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