Between 1820 and 1860 nearly two million Irish emigrated to North America. Motivated by economic hardship and food shortages, especially during the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852, many Irish immigrants looked to the rich natural resources and growing economy of the Great Lakes for a new start. Mackinac Island proved to be an attractive home for Irishmen and women seeking new opportunities. The island’s climate and geography were comfortably similar to home, the community provided a variety of employment opportunities, and Ste. Anne’s Church offered a spiritual haven in which to practice their Roman Catholic faith.

Charles O’Malley from Derradda, a small village near Newport, County Mayo, was the first Irishman to settle on Mackinac Island when he arrived in the mid-1830s. After briefly working for the American Fur Company, O’Malley established a successful mercantile business. In 1846 the citizens of Mackinac Island and the surrounding region elected him to serve in the Michigan legislature. After three terms, including a brief stint as speaker of the house, O’Malley resumed his business career on the island and constructed the Island House hotel in 1852.

Comfortably settled and prosperous when the famine hit Ireland, O’Malley encouraged his Irish relatives to join him at Mackinac and provided them with financial support. Word of potential opportunities at Mackinac soon spread and others from the northwest coast counties of Mayo and Galway soon joined O’Malley at Mackinac. Immigrants including members of the Chambers, Doud, Donnelly, Murray, Early, Bogan, McCarty, McNally, McIntyre, Mulchrone, and Sullivan families joined the exodus to Mackinac and by 1850 the island’s population of 956 included 181 Irish from twenty-six different families.