Navvy

Many worked as navvies, labourers constructing canals, railways and other major works. Their labour supported the transport networks on which industry depended. Nevertheless, migrants also encountered resentment.

Many Irish migrants worked as navvies, digging canals and building railways, roads and sewers. This was physically demanding, dangerous work, and many workers faced low pay and insecure employment. Injuries or a worker's death could leave a family in poverty.

Many also worked as navvies, constructing docks, roads and railways. Their labour made it easier to move raw materials to factories and finished goods to customers. Building a railway supported more than the railway industry itself: it improved transport for the factories and businesses connected to it.