Irish-American History

Lesson 1: General Introduction to the Period .

Crime and Punishment

‘Transportation’ from Ireland , which was in effect deportation , continued for people who had in many cases committed trivial offences. These ‘criminals’ were sent to American penal colonies up until the mid 18th Century when the American States refused to accept any more of ‘the dregs of British Society.’

After this, Criminals were shipped to Botany Bay in Australia. During the Famine period it was not uncommon for people to commit ‘crimes’ in Ireland so that they may be ‘transported’. There was more chance of them staying alive in a Penal Colony than in the dying landscape that was Ireland.

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