I have seen several posts on social media which are pushing a narrative that says the Irish were enslaved and send to the new world by King James I and that by the mid 1600’s they were the dominate slave population in parts of the new world. They go on to make several other controversial claims but do not provide sources to back them up. I was hoping to learn if there were Irish slaves in the new world, if so, when were they brought over, how many, etc. If the Irish slave story is false, how did it come to be?