ABSTRACT
The British colonies were less significant for Irish emigration after the United States had asserted its independence from the empire. However, the Second British Empire became an important destination for Irish emigrants in the century after 1815. Donald Akenson asserts that Ireland's greatest boon to the British Empire 'was through the massive number of everyday settlers that it provided'. This assessment, if it is correct, identifies Irish migration and settlement within the empire as a key facet of British imperialism. With that issue very much in view, this chapter surveys the major episodes of Irish migration and settlement to various parts of the British Empire roughly between 1700 and 1914. Finally, the conclusion compares and contrasts Irish colonial migrants in this period with those who emigrated to the USA and Britain, which provides the basis for an assessment of some of Akenson's conclusions on Irish emigration and settlement within the British Empire.
