Newfoundland Irish

The Irish language was once widely spoken on the island of Newfoundland before largely disappearing there by the early 20th century. The language was introduced through mass immigration by Irish speakers, chiefly from Counties Waterford, Tipperary and Cork. The Irish spoken in Newfoundland was said to resemble the dialect spoken in Munster in the eighteenth century.

The Irish language arrived in Newfoundland as a consequence of the English migratory cod fishery. While Humphrey Gilbert formally claimed Newfoundland as an English overseas possession in 1583, this did not lead to permanent European settlement. A number of unsuccessful attempts at settlement followed, and the migratory fishery continued to grow. By 1620, fishermen from South West England dominated most of the east coast of Newfoundland, with the French dominant along the south coast and Great Northern Peninsula. After 1713, with the Treaty of Utrecht, the French ceded control of the south and north shores of the island to the British, keeping only the nearby islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off the south coast.

Irish labourers were recruited for the fishery from southeast Ireland. Irish settlers were reported to be residing at Ireland's Eye, Trinity Bay, by 1675, at Heart's Content in 1696, and at St. John's by 1705.Thomas Nash, an Irish Roman Catholic, was one of the later pioneers of Irish settlement in Newfoundland. A native of Kilkenny, he arrived on the Southern Shore in 1765 and eventually settled in the Branch area.

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