Irish Migrants in Modern Britain, 1750–1922

240 Pages·1999·21.989 MB·English

by  Donald M. MacRaild (auth.)

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IRISH MIGRANTS IN
MODERN BRITAIN,
1750-1922
Donald M. MacRaild
pal grave
macmillan
©Donald M. MacRaild 1999
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The author has asserted his right to be identified as
the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
First published I 999 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
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and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-67762-9 ISBN 978-1-349-27344-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-27344-7
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Published in the United States of America 1999 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
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ISBN 978-0-312-22032-7
For my parents, Wendy and Neil
CONTENTS
List of tables
lX
Acknowledgements
X
Introduction 1
1 Economy, Poverty and Emigration 9
Introduction 9
Ireland before the Famine 13
Population and Potatoes 15
Land and Inequality 23
The Limits of Industrial and Urban Growth 28
The Great Famine, I845-50 31
Beyond the Famine 35
Conclusions 40
2 Concentration and Dispersal: Irish Labour Migration
to Britain 42
Introduction 42
Itinerant Migration 44
The Emergence of Permanent Settlements 48
The Famine Emigration and its Aftermath 58
Beyond the Famine: the Far North of England 65
Conclusions 74
3 Spiritual and Social Bonds: the Culture of
Irish Catholicism 75
Introduction 75
Catholicism Renewed 77
The Catholic Church and the Irish in Britain 81
The Power of the Priest 86
Associationalism and Social Catholicism 91
Conclusions 98
Vll
Vlll Contents
4 The Protestant Irish 100
Introduction 100
Patterns of Protestant Migration to Britain 103
The Orange Order 109
The Meaning and Scope of Orangeism 117
Conclusions 122
5 Politics, Labour and Participation 123
Introduction 123
The United Irishmen and the Jacobite Tradition 124
Trade Unionism and Radicalism in the Age of
Repeal and Reform 127
Irish Migrants and Chartism 131
I848 136
Fenianism 138
Home Rule and Unionism 142
Sinn Fein, World War I and the Formation of the Free State 150
Conclusions 154
6 A Culture of Anti-Irishness 155
Introduction 155
The 'Condition of England' 156
The Question of Race 160
Crime and Violence 162
Workplace Tensions 165
Anti-Catholicism 169
Popular Protestantism and Orangeism 174
Later Victorian Violence 178
Conclusions 184
Conclusion 185
Notes 189
Bibliographical Essay 210
Index 220
TABLES
l.l Population of Ireland, 1821-1901 16
1.2 Population change in Ireland, by county, 1831-91 18
1.3 Emigration from Connacht and Munster in
the later nineteenth century 38
1.4 Total post-Famine emigration by province 39
1.5 M~or emigrations from Ireland, 1876-1900 40
2.1 The Irish-born population of England and
Wales and Scotland, 1841-1911 43
2.2 Irish occupations in Liverpool in January 1834 52
2.3 The proportion of the Irish-born settlers in the four
m~or urban centres of Britain, 1841-71 55
2.4 The Irish-born in the four English regions with
the largest Irish settlement, 1851 68
2.5 The Irish-born populations of three northern counties,
1851-91 68
6.1 Irish-born offenders summarily dealt with by magistrates,
1851-91 163
IX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A work of synthesis such as this inevitably rests heavily on the work of
other scholars. I hope such debts are adequately acknowledged in the
notes and in the bibliographical essay. However, I wish to make
additional remarks on the contribution of a number of close academic
friends and colleagues. I am deeply grateful to Colin Holmes and
David Martin, who read and commented on the entire typescript.
Enda Delaney, Sheridan Gilley, Tony Hepburn, Frank Neal, Alan
O'Day and Roger Swift each helped to improve individual chapters.
Thanks also to my colleagues Sylvia Ellis, Matt Perry and Peter
Waldron for their encouragement during the writing of this book. I
owe a significant debt to my special subject students of 1994-5 and
1997-8, who sharpened my thinking on the Irish in Britain. As this
book was written without any period of study leave, and with the
usual burden of teaching and administration, it is more important
than usual to acknowledge the love and support of my wife and son,
Lisa and Michael. All those evenings and weekends should have been
theirs; but any errors are mine.
X