Irish New Zealanders

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The term Irish New Zealander (Irish: Gael-Nua-Shéalaigh) refers to New Zealanders of full or partial Irish ancestry. This includes Irish immigrants as well as New Zealanders of Irish descent. The term makes no distinction concerning religion and encompasses both Catholic and Protestant (including Anglo-Irish) immigrants and their descendants; nonetheless, the chief criterion of distinction between Irish immigrants, especially those who arrived in the nineteenth century, is religion.^[2]

Irish people have played a significant role in the history of New Zealand. The Irish diaspora in the nineteenth century reached New Zealand, with many Irish people immigrating to the country, predominantly to Auckland, Canterbury and the West Coast. With Irish immigration to New Zealand, the Irish people established Catholic churches and schools, especially in Auckland.^[3] Today, there are roughly 800,000 New Zealanders of Irish ancestry (approximately 15% of the total population). This is an estimated figure based on historical immigration patterns, with a much smaller proportion of the population self-identifying as Irish. Irish culture has influenced the wider culture of New Zealand.^[4]

The descendants of the Irish people and their culture have mixed with other New Zealand European cultures to form modern-day New Zealand culture. However, unlike many Scottish settlers in Otago and Southland Irish settlers were more spread out across the country, resulting in visible Irish communities throughout New Zealand that began to mix with other communities.^[5] Job opportunities for Irish-born New Zealanders were limited as a result of anti-Irish bias.^{[citation needed]} In the 1930s 40% of the New Zealand Police Force were of Irish ancestry.^{[citation needed]} One of the main reasons the Irish immigrated to New Zealand was because of the Great Famine and fear of yet another famine.^{[citation needed]}