the potato famine
The mass emigration with which Americans are most familiar was a result of a fungus that hit the Irish potato crops. Farmers in Ireland tended to live on rented land owned by wealthy Englishmen. The potato crop was their main food supply, and they paid their rent in potatoes. When the fungus hit in 1845, the Irish farmers had no means to survive. Famine followed, and as many as 2.5 million people died of starvation and disease. A second crop failure occurred in 1846, another in 1848 and another in 1851.  They had no choice but to leave. Over one million fled to America, and another half million came between 1860 and 1880. They arrived in America in worse condition than they were when they left Ireland. They were poorer, more undernourished and more desperate. In 1850, Fairfield’s Irish population was seven percent of Fairfield’s total population. Within 10 years it had jumped to 13 percent.



While the very early Irish, who came from the north as indentured servants, were Protestants, these new immigrants were mostly Roman Catholics. Many arrived in Fairfield. They were hired for menial jobs formerly held by African Americans. Discrimination against the Irish was harsh, because they were Roman Catholics. Anti-Catholicism was as old as the founding of the town, and it took a very long time to die out.

But, by the close of the 19th century, prejudice against the Irish, and particularly Catholics, had leveled off. Thomas Farnham, in his book Fairfield, the Biography of a Community, 1639-2000, notes that old-time Fairfielders were taking note of the good work being done by the Irish. As a result, locals were generous with donations to the Irish famine relief. More and more, the Irish were becoming part of the mainstream. It was around this time that the Irish convinced the town of Fairfield to recognize Christmas and Easter as holidays. (Prior to that, Christmas was largely ignored. In fact, on Christmas Day in the 1870s, schools were open and missing work on December 25 was grounds for dismissal.)

fairfield’s irishmen
William J. O’Dwyer, Jr. a former Fairfield resident, now in his eighties and living in Florida, comes from a long line of Irish Fairfielders. He recalled, “My father's parents were both born, raised and married in Tipperary, Ireland. They had nine children. A few were born in Ireland. They arrived at Ellis Island and settled in Norwalk, where they opened a tavern. In the early 1880s, if memory serves me correct, my grandparents moved to Southport into what was known as the Round House. (Actually it was octagon [al] in shape.) It was located at the corner of the Post Road and Center Street. My dad was born in Southport.”

O’Dwyer’s father weeded onions, including the famous Southport Globe Onion, grown in that section of town. He worked for “Chicken” Ben Buckley and many of the other onion farmers in Southport.

“He often noted that he believed he’d weeded every acre of Southport Onions during his youth,” says William Jr.  “He said weeding in the blistering hot sun-soaked fields required the need for drinking water. He said they carried it in buckets. But, first, they tossed in a handful of oat meal before adding the water from the well, in the belief it helped prevent heat stroke.” The senior O’Dwyer was typical of more and more Irish, eventually going into business and taking great interest in the community. William M. O’Dwyer, Sr. became a town official and was appointed Postmaster of Fairfield, a position he held until 1957.

The O’Dwyer family remains in Fairfield today. William Jr.’s two young granddaughters, Jennifer and Caroline, are musicians in town. They are the third generation living in Fairfield.