ABSTRACT
The pre-Famine Irish were employed in a wide variety of occupations, 77 different types of employment being listed for males and 19 for females. Though Irish beggars were often brought before the magistrates, this community posed no more of a problem for the Poor Law Guardians than did the non-Irish poor. Most of these characteristics were to alter within the next decade. By 1847 the increasing numbers of sick and destitute Irish passing through York began to alarm the authorities, who complained that about 45 persons daily were now being given assistance. In the mid-nineteenth century, York was still a largely pre-industrial Cathedral city – an important, though declining, social centre with a high proportion of gentry, clergy, professional classes and small craftsmen, many catering to the needs of the large surrounding agricultural area. Many Irish field labourers, therefore, were compelled to live in the city, and their choice of accommodation was limited by poverty.
