Here are a few threads on it from the FAQ. But short answer is that it was indentured servitude, not chattel slavery.

This has become a pretty controversial topic in the past few decades for political and racial reasons (somewhat out of my expertise, I do the other kind of slavery) but in No Way did the Irish have it worse than the African slave. Both lived in horrible conditions but Indentured servitude does not equal Chattel slavery. Here are some answers from the FAQ

Were there Irish slaves in America in the same way there were African slaves?

Were Irish brought to the Americas as slaves by the British in the 17th and 18th centuries? What were their relative conditions compared to African slaves?

Were there Irish slaves that were legitimate chattel?

Were the Irish slaves of the 1600s British colonies technically slaves or were they prisoners (of war), servants etc. living in slave-like conditions?

Were there Irish slaves owned by black people?

To add to this: What are the meaningful differences between slavery and indentured servitude? How would day to day life of a slave differ from that of an indentured servant?