UK Irish organisations gear up to help new arrivals
Thursday, August 20th, 2009The Irish Post is reporting that UK-based Irish organisations are stepping up their efforts to assist new arrivals in the face of increasing demands for their services.
The paper reports that a number of community centres, county organisations, and GAA clubs are willing to assist newcomers to Britain. For example, John Shea from London’s Kerry Association told the paper:
“We are telling people to contact us before you come. Let us know what type of work you are looking for and what you plan to do and we can make calls on your behalf.
“It’s a frightening experience to be in London with little or no support and we’re here to help.�
Read the article on the Irish Post website:
Book on immigration to Canada republished
Thursday, August 20th, 2009A revised edition of a 1991 book detailing Famine-era migration from Ireland to Canada has just been published. “Flight from Famine: The Coming of the Irish to Canada” was written by Donald MacKay.
In an interview with the Chronicle Herald, the author says that he was inspired to write the book on a visit to Ireland, when he realised that the Famine emigration was a seldom-discussed topic.
“We were in Ireland one summer in the late 1980s and we had noticed that nobody ever talked much about the famines and the migrations. We couldn’t find much about those events and my wife said I should write a book about them.”
Journalist Lorna Inness continues:
As he noted in the epilogue to the revised edition, the general atmosphere of silence, both here and in Ireland, has changed over the past 20 years.
In 1995, then-president Mary Robinson, speaking to the Irish Parliament, broke “the great silence” and the result was “almost as if a barrier had dropped . . . on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Read the articles on the Chronicle Herald website:
Screening the Irish in Britain: Trinity College Dublin, 26 Sept 09
Thursday, August 20th, 2009The provisional schedule for “Screening the Irish in Britain”, a film conference being hosted at Trinity College Dublin on 26 September, has been announced.
The conference is being held in the Samuel Beckett seminar room at the Samuel Beckett Centre.
This project is supported by the Trinity College Dublin Long Room Hub Research Initiative Funding Scheme, and there is no attendance fee.
If you would like to be kept up to date with the project, please email your name to the project director, Dr Ruth Barton (ruth.barton@tcd.ie)
Provisional Schedule
9.15: Seminar opening
9.30�10.50:
Dr Marcus Free, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick:
On the Edge: the Irish in Britain as a Troubled and Troubling Presence in the Work of Jimmy McGovern and Alan Bleasdale
Dr Paula Gilligan, IADT:
‘Free Agents-mobile reflexive and white’; Representation of the
‘Professional’ Irish Women in Contemporary Popular English TelevisionDrama.
Dr Pat Brereton, Dublin City University
Fictional representations of the Irish in Contemporary British TV Drama: A case study of EastEnders [1997 special set in Ireland] and Father Ted et al.
10.50�11.15: Coffee break
11.15�12.15
Prof Charles Barr, University College Dublin
Ealing’s View of Ireland
Daniel Fitzpatrick
Reexamining Sister Clodagh’s ‘Irishness’ in Black Narcissus (1947)
12.15�1.15:
Dr Lance Pettitt, Leeds Metropolitan University:
Between Archive and Anecdote: Towards an Exilic History of Irish Cinema in England
1.15�2.15 – Lunch break
2.15�3.35
Prof John Hill, Royal Holloway, University of London
The Irish and Working-class ‘Authenticity’ in the films of Ken Loach
Prof Bronwen Walter, Anglia Ruskin University
Including the Irish: taken-for-granted representations of the Irish in England
Prof Martin McLoone, University of Ulster
Why Didn’t Kevin Keegan play for Ireland? Contrasting Narratives of the Irish in Britain
3.35�3.55: Coffee Break
3.55 – 5.15
Zélie Asava, University College Dublin
‘No blacks, no dogs, no Irish’: being black and Irish in Neil Jordan’s Britain
Emmie McFadden, Sheffield Hallam University,
Hyde and Seek: English-Irish Hybridity in Stephen Frears’ Mary Reilly
Padraic Killeen, Trinity College Dublin
Stained Flesh – Ireland As Idyll / Damp Patch in Mike Leigh’s Naked
5.15�6.45:
Deirdre Lynch, Dublin Institute of Technology:
‘ReConfiguring Elderly Male Irish Immigrants in London through
Ethnographic Film Practice’
Screening: I Only Came Over for a Couple of Years… (2003)
Dir: David Kelly, Prod: Tony Murray
This film will be introduced by Dr Tony Murray, London Metropolitan University
Visit related websites:
- Screening Irish-America
- Screening Irish America: Representing Irish-America in Film and Television: book by Ruth Barton
- Screening the Irish in Britain – event notice
Frontier focus as Ulster-American Folk Park expands
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009The Ulster-American Folk Park will transform 30 additional acres into scenes from America’s western frontier, thanks to a £2.4 million expansion announced today. The living history museum tells the story of emigration from Ulster to America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The expansion will feature houses, barns and other buildings constructed by early Irish settlers.
Launching the project, Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure minister Nelson McCausland said:
“The Ulster American Folk Park is a wonderful exploration of Ulster’s own rich history as well as the role that Ulster emigrants played in shaping American life and culture.
“This investment from DCAL will further improve visitor experience at the museum and allow the Ulster American Folk Park to expand the New World area.�
The project is expected to last ten years, with the first phase being completed in 2011. The museum attracts 160,000 visitors a year.
Related websites:
Researcher seeks Irish in Continental Europe
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009A researcher based in France has teamed up with EuropeanIrish.com to conduct a survey of Irish people living in Continental Europe. The site says:
Gráinne O’Keeffe-Vigneron is a lecturer at the Université Rennes 2, Brittany, France. Originally from Co. Tipperary, Ireland, she has been based in France for over 10 years and completed a PhD on the Irish in England in 2005. Her research interests are principally focused on Irish people as an immigrant minority.
“Being part of the “Irish in Europeâ€? myself, I have come to realise that very little is known about Irish people based in continental Europe. I hope to shed some light on those of us who have been largely ignored in research on the Irish diaspora”.
The survey is looking at the experience both of Irish people living in Continental Europe now and those who have returned.
Monuments
Monday, July 27th, 2009A number of monuments to emigration exist in Ireland; one or two of these are well-known, while many of the rest of them have more of a local appeal.
Let me know if you know of any others to add to this list, either in Ireland or around the world.
Larne, Co. Antrim – “Emigrants to America�
- See it on Flickr.
- bbc.co.uk – A stroll through Larne – “Migration from Larne”
- Larne.gov.uk tourism site
This memorial depicts a family emigrating in 1717, and their appearance is in marked contrast to the more common depictions of famine-era emigrants. They are well-dressed and relatively prosperous-looking; the woman is carrying a Bible and the boy is carrying his shoes. Their positioning, in which they look forward into the distance, suggests a sense of possibility and even pride. The figures appear to be a literate, reasonably well-off family looking forward to the future.
The inscription on the monument reads:
This memorial, unveiled on 16th May 1992 by Professor Bobby Moss PhD of South Carolina, is dedicated to the memory of those first Ulster emigrants who sailed from Larne in May 1717 upon the “Friends Goodwill” bound for Boston. They were to be the first of many.”
“There is no other race in the United States that can produce a roll of honour so long and so shining with distinction. And who shall deny our claim to have done more, much more than any others to make the United States”.
Two related monuments:
- Coffin ship, National Famine Monument at Murrisk, Co Mayo. John Behan – See it on Flickr.
- Arrival, United Nations, New York City. John Behan- See it on Flickr.
These are closely linked memorials that tell different stories.
- “Coffin Ship” places the emphasis on death and suffering tied in with the departure -skeletons form the structure of the ship, and the figures are lying down. It is significant that this monument is in Ireland, where the Famine’s toll of suffering and death was acute.
- “Arrival” emphasises the successful completion of the journey- the figures are upright, and some of them are leaving the boat. Additionally, these are fully-fleshed out buildings and the figures on the boat have individual features. The sculpture’s location in New York and its more positive tone reflects the fact that for those who made the journey, there was the possibility of a new life. It also reflects the different meaning of the famine for the two countries: While for Ireland, the Famine was synonymous with despair, emigration and death; in the New World, however, discourse about Famine emigration, while acknowledging many of its tragic aspects, also reflects the fact that the large-scale migration was a starting point for much of Irish-American history.
Famine Monuments, Ireland and Canada – Rowan Gillespie
Famine Monument, Dublin
Ireland Park, Toronto
- Images on Flickr
- Ireland Park Foundation
- Explanation of each sculpture
- Video presentation on the park
The Toronto memorial is unusual in that it focuses on the mindset of the immediate arrivals.
Falcarragh, Co. Donegal – The Bridge of Tears and monument stone
The translation of text on the stone: “Friends and relations of the person who was emigrating would come this far. Here they separated. This is the Bridge of Tears.�
- See it on Flickr.
- See the bridge on ancestry.com
- A photo of the bridge emphasising the desolation of the area
- The stone
Derry –”The Emigrants” Eamon O’Doherty’s sculpture at Waterloo Place
- See it on Flickr.
- About the sculptor
- “The Emigrants” (Arts Council of Northern Ireland)
This monument depicts a couple departing with their children and two grandparents saying farewell. Two of the figures in the departing family look backward at the grandparents, while two look forward, toward the port.
The sculptor is showing the relationship between the emigrants’ past and future and the people left behind. The depiction of two figures looking back and two looking forward highlights both the pain of departure and the possibilities inherent in migration. The boy has a musical instrument, and the young girl is carrying a book; both of these signify the culture they will bring with them to their new land.
The clothing and the figures are highly stylised, so it seems that the sculptor is trying to represent the idea of emigration itself rather than commemorate a particular set of emigrants.
Sligo Famine Memorial
This sculpture shows the vulnerability of the Famine emigrants – yet the figures are also demonstrating tenderness and concern for each other. In contrast to the family at Larne, they are focused inward – emigration is not for them a matter of looking forward to a bright future. The young girl is pointing out toward the harbour, and ultimately to her future in America.
Annie Moore
Annie Moore with her brothers, Cobh – Images on Flickr
Annie Moore at Ellis Island, New York – Images on Flickr
Annie Moore was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island in New York, which was opened on January 1, 1892. She and her brothers were joining her parents, who had emigrated in 1888.
Kiltimagh – “I’ll send you the fare” – Sally McKenna, 2006
The plaque on the ground reads,
“This sculpture is dedicated by Bill Durkan to the memory of the young men and women who emigrated from Kiltimagh, Bohola and the surrounding areas during the 1950s.”
Many young men and women emigrated alone in the 1950s. This is an extremely poignant depiction of emigration: the figure is almost ghost-like in its positioning on the footpath of a town street, as he trudges along, accompanied by no one. The small suitcase seems to highlight his vulnerability, heightening the notion that he may be ill-prepared for such a life-changing journey. The lack of pedestal gives a greater sense of immediacy or intimacy to the figure.
This is a monument to the ordinary, unheralded emigrant, yet it is also very specific in its reference to a particular place and time. It is unusual in memorialising such a recent migration; many of those it is meant to memorialise are still alive.
Cork Listening Posts
The Listening Posts are an innovative use of oral history. The repeating voices of the posts are like ghostly presences inhabiting the quays.
This monument is different from the others in its visual minimalism, as it would be impossible to tell from the appearance of the sculpture what it is meant to memorialise.
Other monuments and memorials:
- Irish Memorial, Philadelphia – Flickr
- Famine monument, Cambridge, Massachusetts – Flickr
- New Basin Canal Irish Memorial, New Orleans, Louisiana – Flickr
- Famine memorial – Sydney, Australia – Flickr
- New Basin Canal Irish Memorial – Flickr
- Irish Veteran Memorial Project – website
- Shot at Dawn Memorial – Flickr
International – monuments crated by other nations to commemorate various migrations
- Emigration Stone – Cromarty, Scotland – Flickr
- Emigration monument, Hanko, Finland – Flickr
- Monleone, Cicagna, Italy – Flickr
- Emigrant’s Monument, Feltre – Flickr
- Garden of Exile – Berlin Flickr, web, Flickr, Youtube
- Monument of mass emigration, The Three Changjiang River Gorges, China – Flickr
- Chinese coolie, Singapore – Flickr
- Lampedusa, Italy – monument to migrants who died at sea trying to reach Europe – web article, Flickr
- Migrant children, Fremantle, Australia – Flickr, more Flickr
UNESCO – Migration and World Heritage Sites
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