PROTESTANT EMIGRATION FROM IRELAND.
The emigration (it has been argued) fell
chiefly on Roman Catholics. This mis-statement
is exposed by Dr. Handcock in his report to the
Lord-Lieutenant. He says the emigration affected
all alike - Celtic, English, and Scotch settlers
equally. Stastics prove this; for, from May, 1851,
to December, 1867, the emigrants from Ireland
were 1,832,000 and of those 480,000 came from
Ulster.
But, besides this, the emigration had affected
Protestant converts with peculiar force. Take as
an illustration one district - West Connaught -
the census shows that in a population of 131,529,
the increase of Protestants between 1834 and 1861
was 3,640, yet it would have been 6,000 but for
the emigration. To test this, the Rev. W. Plunket
traced the cases of 164 converts, and found that
88 had left the district, and that persecution
caused them to fly. - From "Progress of the
Church of Rome", by J. C. Colquhoun.
