Mass Irish Emmigration To Africa?

[Kerguelen]

After reading about the history of the Afrikaners and the Great Irish Famine, I've started to wonder: what if the British began encouraging Irish immigration to their African colonies? The Irish diaspora caused by the potato famine is well known, as starving farmers traveled from Boston to Liverpool to escape their dire conditions. However, what if London decided that a group of people, desperate to leave their homes for greener pastures were perfect candidates to settle their new colonies in Africa. From my understanding, a large number of Irish Protestants were already well established in Natal, so would it be plausible for the British to persuade a bunch of Catholic potato farmers to move to Gambia or the Cape? And if so, how would this affect the New Age of Imperialism in the years to come?

 

[JohnBull]

I think it's hard. London always hated to deal with settlers and natives conflicts. West Africa is already densely occupied, no room left for immigrant farmers.

And also, there's the equatorial climate: very difficult for European subsistence agriculture.

 

[Revachah]

They'd die in droves.

 

[Deleted member 109224]

They'd die in droves.

Not in South Africa. The climate and disease situation there was a lot better than in most of the rest of the continent.

 

[riggerrob]

ATL Another question is whether the Church of England and Dutch Protestant Church would want more Catholics to settle in South Africa.

ATL The best way to avoid tropical diseases is settling the plateaus of South Africa, Rhodesia and Kenya.

OTL Even in Quebec, there were harsh social and economic divisions between Irish Catholics and Orangemen.
One of my Orange ancestors led the Irish invasion of Canada in 19840.

 

[Revachah]

Not in South Africa. The climate and disease situation there was a lot better than in most of the rest of the continent.

East of the fish river they will

 

[FleetMac]

East of the fish river they will

Did the Trekboers die in droves IOTL? Because there's no way they or their ancestors were any more suited to living in Africa (albeit southern Africa) than the Irish would be.

I don't think this would really happen anyway though, I don't see the Brits populating a frontier like in Africa with a possibly hostile population, at least in Australia they were pretty well stranded compared to other locations and thus dependent on London's tender mercies. I don't think the OP would be infeasible with an earlier (say, pre-1800) POD however.

 

[GameBawesome]

What about a penal colony? Maybe, send a bunch of Irish criminals, as manual labor, to clear about dense jungle, for actual settlers?

 

[Nephi]

They could probably move a lot of them to south Africa to the cape it causes ethnic strife later and rips apart south africa between competitive white groups.

 

[Mad Bad Rabbit]

UV index in Dublin ranges from 0 to 6
UV index in South Africa ranges from 3 to 12.
Zimbabwe is pretty much 12 all year.

 

[cra0422]

What about a penal colony? Maybe, send a bunch of Irish criminals, as manual labor, to clear about dense jungle, for actual settlers?

Not sure on that. Australia was used because it was so out of the way and not exactly on the sailing routes to India and the East Indies. If said colony was located in West Africa, would British merchants want to have to sail past it on their way around Africa (if the Suez Canal hasn't been dug yet)?

 

[FleetMac]

UV index in Dublin ranges from 0 to 6
UV index in South Africa ranges from 3 to 12.
Zimbabwe is pretty much 12 all year.

And the UV index in Amsterdam is also 0-6, didn't stop them from establishing a base population large enough to sustain itself. Again, while I don't think the OP works for the given timeframe, explain how the Irish are somehow more likely to become ill/die on the veldt than the Dutch-descended Boers.

EDIT: Not to mention that Australia, which often sees UV indices north of 12 and up to 17 in some parts, did receive Irish immigration and they didn't die off there.

 

[Gloss]

And the UV index in Amsterdam is also 0-6, didn't stop them from establishing a base population large enough to sustain itself. Again, while I don't think the OP works for the given timeframe, explain how the Irish are somehow more likely to become ill/die on the veldt than the Dutch-descended Boers.

EDIT: Not to mention that Australia, which often sees UV indices north of 12 and up to 17 in some parts, did receive Irish immigration and they didn't die off there.

Plus if people want to point out skin cancer in Europeans in Australia, remember that the modern craze for tanning and disregard for skincare is a big part of it and culture can fix a lot of the problems with that, plus skin cancer starts becoming a problem only later in life, so it's not like it's physical impossible for people to live there even if long term there is selection for either darker skin or more likely skin better able to tan, which some irish don't have.

 

[Sunstone77]

Unlikely as because "the melting point of an Irishman is 25 degrees" as confirmed by Dara O'Briain

A lot of Irish moved to America to america in large numbers as opposed to other parts of the world because there was already established communities there which made emigrating there more appealing, as well as a belief that most of the climate there was close enough to irelands that their farming skills would be appliable there as aopposed to the hot dryer climates in africa they'd likely struggle to adapt to.

 

[Revachah]

Did the Trekboers die in droves IOTL? Because there's no way they or their ancestors were any more suited to living in Africa (albeit southern Africa) than the Irish would be.

Afrikaners all have some degree of admixture and had slowly progressed since settlement, but also died in droves as they migrated.

 

[Gabingston]

What about a penal colony? Maybe, send a bunch of Irish criminals, as manual labor, to clear about dense jungle, for actual settlers?

That'd end up with a a lot of these:

 

[Kerguelen]

Apparently, the British government considered creating a penal colony on the Das Voltas Bay in South West Africa, before the idea was rejected due to fears of coming into conflict with the Dutch. But what if instead of choosing Sydney as the colony's location, as what happened in OTL, the British decided that the Orange River would be a perfect place to relocate their prisoners following the Irish Revolutions. And when the potato famine comes around, more Irish farmers are encouraged to move to the Cape and Natal to assimilate themselves into preexisting Irish communities across South Africa.

 

[John7755 يوحنا]

Plus if people want to point out skin cancer in Europeans in Australia, remember that the modern craze for tanning and disregard for skincare is a big part of it and culture can fix a lot of the problems with that, plus skin cancer starts becoming a problem only later in life, so it's not like it's physical impossible for people to live there even if long term there is selection for either darker skin or more likely skin better able to tan, which some irish don't have.

Well, even in ancient times, the custom for peoples in the Mid East was to cover your skin from head to toe unless you were a slave. The idea, that you were guarding your more fair skin tone against the sun. All Europeans need to do, is redevelop and or maintain a custom whereby they wear turbans in menial labor tasks, with long flowing often wetted clothing underneath. Completely feasible.

It should be noted, turbans seem to have been common amongst the population in the medieval age. So it is assuredly possible to develop.

 

[Gloss]

Afrikaners all have some degree of admixture and had slowly progressed since settlement, but also died in droves as they migrated.

I personally doubt the less than 10% non-European admixture affected the process that much and even despite higher mortality the Boers were a self-sustaining community, contrary to British soldiers in West Africa.
Insofar as most of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana are concerned, a self-sustaining and growing Irish community should be possible if the right measures are taken against environmental challenges.

Well, even in ancient times, the custom for peoples in the Mid East was to cover your skin from head to toe unless you were a slave. The idea, that you were guarding your more fair skin tone against the sun. All Europeans need to do, is redevelop and or maintain a custom whereby they wear turbans in menial labor tasks, with long flowing often wetted clothing underneath. Completely feasible.

It should be noted, turbans seem to have been common amongst the population in the medieval age. So it is assuredly possible to develop.

I believe similar practices existed among East Asians, at least women.

BTW what exactly are you referring to when you talk about turbans? You mean Europeans were wearing them?

 

[Legofan4]

I think that the main problem is that you have to make immigration to Africa more attractive than to the US. This seems hard because of the already larger existing community in the US and disease.