Although our nation celebrates its 157th birthday this week, Canada is undoubtedly much older. Similar to our country’s history, Niagara-on-the-Lake has seen many different people settling here over the course of our history, with each one shaping our community in different ways. One such group were those of Irish descent. Some of the early settlers, including Col. John Butler, were Irish and helped to establish the town. By the 1830s, many came to Niagara to work in the shipbuilding industry here. When the Irish famine hit in the 1840s, at least 150 Irish immigrants came to Niagara-on-the-Lake. These new settlers lived in the least expensive part of town, an area that became known as Irish Town. This area was at the south end of Old Town: the Rye, Niagara, Green, and Flynn Street area. The families who settled there included the Murphys, O’Briens, McManns, Flynns, Lynches, Campbells and Fellows, among others.