Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
St John's
Conception Bay
Avalon Peninsula
Ferryland
Trepassey
Mistaken Point
Figure 10.1. map of Avalon Peninsula, newfoundland, highlighting locations of places
discussed in the text. the heavy gray line marks the Irish shore.
appear out of the Earth until it be about the beginning of May,
nor fish in the sea, besides the air so intolerable cold as it is hardly
to be endured.
1
Much later, from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centu-
ries, the Irish, perhaps more attuned to harsh conditions, immigrated
en masse to Newfoundland and especially to the Avalon Peninsula. In
1836, a government survey revealed that half of the total population of
Newfoundland was of Irish descent, with most of them living around
St John's. One can still see the Irish influence today, especially in south-
eastern part of the peninsula, the so-called Irish Shore. Here, Irish music
is enjoyed and the residents speak with an Irish accent with such char-
