Emigrant Letters
Emigrant Letters
The EMILE (early EMIgrant LEtter) project, was a Culture 2000 project funded by the European Union. The project aimed to document the immense flow of emigration to America from 1820 – 1920 by comparing and contrasting the experiences of Èuropean emigrants through the letters they sent home. These letters are a vital part of Europe’s common history and can shed light on an era of great impact on both Europe and America. Participants in the project included museums and libraries in Sweden, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic with Mayo County Library representing Ireland.
Irish history has been marked by great waves of emigration. As a country our population has been more than halved by emigration over time. Mayo was one of the counties worst affected by emigration in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Between 1841 and 1851 the population declined from 388,887 to
274, 830 and has continued to fall ever since. It was only towards the end of the twentieth century that the decline was halted and the numbers began to increase. Today with a population of 123,839 Mayo is a prosperous and vibrant county, but its turbulent history is preserved in the archives of Mayo County Library.
Following is the documentation submitted by Mayo County Library to the EMIgrant LEtters Project
A general introduction to European emigration to America can be viewed at http://www.kulturarvostergotland.se/emile/
