What was life like for the Irish in New York City in 1885?

Answer 1

It was very rough. Life for the Irish immigrants in New York City was very, very harsh and unforgiving, all throughout the 19th century. The majority of them fled Ireland during the great Potato Famine of the early to mid-19th century.

But their lives were not much better in America. They mostly lived in cramped, filthy slums, and, if they could find a job, it would be brutal, back-breaking labor for very little pay.

They suffered much discrimination and prejudice, not just because they were foreign, and because there were so many of them, but because they were Catholic instead of Protestant, like most of America.

A great many of them also died fighting in the U.S. Civil War. Some were drafted to fight only a few months, or even a few weeks, after arriving in the States.