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Tweets from Global Irish Economic Forum

Friday, October 9th, 2009

I’ve just been looking at ways of backing up my Twitter postings. From the archives, this is a roundup of my Tweets from the Global Irish Economic Forum held in Farmleigh on September 18 and 19th:

Martin: “set Ireland’s relationship with global community on a new exciting course” – looking forward to seeing results. #gief – 3:57 PM Sep 19th from web

Martin says #gief caught the public’s imagination.. Not sure it’s caught the Irish media’s – will get better press outside of Ireland #gief – 3:53 PM Sep 19th from web

McW thanks Joe Hackett of Irish Abroad Unit and all at DFA for organising. – 3:50 PM Sep 19th from web

Shame that this conference was so closed – both to press and other willing participants! 180 people out of diaspora of 70 million #gief – 3:49 PM Sep 19th from web

Martin, McW say it should be open – conscious of those watching online #gief – 3:48 PM Sep 19th from web

Dubai-based person suggests keep the discussion going on small website solely for participants, with password. Open it up, I say! #gief – 3:47 PM Sep 19th from web

@IrishArtsCenter – I agree. Can’t beat the dynamism. No twitter presence here yet, if you mean gief. – 3:45 PM Sep 19th from web

Have to send our politicians abroad on St Patrick’s Day – they get access. – 3:44 PM Sep 19th from web

Israel again: Birthright programmes – aim educational programmes at younger than college. McW makes analogy w/ gaeltacht summers #gief – 3:37 PM Sep 19th from web

3rd-gen Irish-American: self-selection of culture-carriers. Not pulled back to any centralised entity. Pay attention to next gen. #gief – 3:35 PM Sep 19th from web

Malaysian-Irish business organisation founder: diaspora in reverse. Pay more attention to those connections! #gief – 3:33 PM Sep 19th from web

Hartnett: need people in this room to get in the game re internet. share ideas, thoughts #gief – 3:30 PM Sep 19th from web

Martina Newell McLoughlin: need to get past tribalism. make sure we’re risk-averse. visionaries and dreamers will take us there #gief – 3:29 PM Sep 19th from web

comment about Irish-American bus driver dad – let’s hear it for the bus-driver daddies. Mine was one too! #gief – 3:26 PM Sep 19th from web

O’Brien: applause for comment that we need a yes vote – Lisbon “the elephant in the room” – 3:24 PM Sep 19th from web

Martin pulls back from Israel model – “we’re not in that space” #gief – 3:22 PM Sep 19th from web

McWilliams raises question of diaspora bonds – to finance some of these projects – cash ringfenced. Israel model again #gief – 3:21 PM Sep 19th from web

McColgan: calls for umbrella website that Team Ireland speaks with one voice, wants “best website in world”. #gief – 3:19 PM Sep 19th from web

Martin asks for feedback from Asia, Russia, other places with no embassies – how to harness diaspora? O’Brien says internet #gief – 3:15 PM Sep 19th from web

Martin coming in on culture point: we’re world-class at that. “We don’t support it enough internationally, to be blunt about it.” #gief – 3:09 PM Sep 19th from web

applause for dermot desmond on that one. #gief – 3:06 PM Sep 19th from web

Dermot Desmond: How can we monetise our culture? Should build greatest university in world for performing arts #gief – 3:05 PM Sep 19th from web

Commentator: outcome should be clear identification of key strengths and then go execute them #gief – 3:03 PM Sep 19th from web

McWilliams: Ireland is recharging battery for the Irishness of the diaspora #gief – 3:01 PM Sep 19th from web

Hartnett uncomfortable with term “diaspora” – “You feel like you’re a little alien. I’m from Limerick.” #gief – 2:55 PM Sep 19th from web

Casey: international support structure for people going abroad should be developed – done locally already -what kind of platform? #gief – 2:53 PM Sep 19th from web

much talk of raising the game #gief – 2:51 PM Sep 19th from web

Martin: looking for sustainable global Irish network – #gief – 2:50 PM Sep 19th from web

O’Brien: use Israeli model for soft power in US, open more embassies, better resource Enterprise Ireland #gief – 2:43 PM Sep 19th from web

O’Brien – need 10-20 year plan to connect with 70 million of diaspora – with culture at the heart. IF diaspora strategy rprt template #gief – 2:40 PM Sep 19th from web

Panel: Micheal Martin, American Ireland Fund, entrepreneur Liam Casey, Digicel chair Denis O’Brien, ITLG John Hartnett #gief – 2:38 PM Sep 19th from web

Start of final session: McWilliams explains “Jack Charlton theory of economics” #gief – 2:32 PM Sep 19th from web

Emigration has provided a “base” for creation of “some sort of formal structure” – “what was a weakness becomes a base”: Swanson #gief – 1:42 PM Sep 19th from web

Swanson assumes since government “went to trouble” of bringing everyone here “they’ll take some good order of what they’re hearing”: #gief – 1:39 PM Sep 19th from web

Dennis Swanson, Fox Pres: Culture discussion panel this morning was “passionate” – “Culture always has to fight for its place” #gief – 1:37 PM Sep 19th from web

@janeruffino suspect the closed discussions may be franker than #gief participants are saying publicly. – 1:34 PM Sep 19th from web

Going out in hope of getting informal updates from participants as they break for lunch. #gief – 12:52 PM Sep 19th from web

Entertaining take on #gief and our “seriously serious” times from Indo: http://url.ie/2gql – 12:08 PM Sep 19th from web

3 breakout groups now: Innovation island, Promoting Brand Ireland, Ireland’s image abroad – what role can new media play? #gief – 10:40 AM Sep 19th from web

Back in Farmleigh – no open forum till panel at 2:30: Ireland and Diaspora: harnessing a unique resource. David McWilliams moderating #gief – 10:37 AM Sep 19th from web

Leaving Farmleigh now – blog post with quick roundup of some participants’ thoughts on day http://url.ie/2gnr #gief – 7:09 PM Sep 18th from web

Blog post – some initial thoughts on Global Irish Economic Forum – http://url.ie/2gn0 — #gief – 5:38 PM Sep 18th from web

@janeruffino I agree on importance of looking internally as well! – 2:41 PM Sep 18th from web

@janeruffino I think people have left in past due to frustration, yes – and also Ireland has been utterly dismissive of diaspora in past – 2:40 PM Sep 18th from web

@janeruffino – I hear you. I think it’s an attitude many in diaspora would have faced in the past. Remains to be seen if it will change. – 2:34 PM Sep 18th from web

@janeruffino Interesting question as to whether desire for wisdom of Irish diaspora is based on more than its value as economic unit – 2:25 PM Sep 18th from web

“We need your help defining economic opportunities” – Taoiseach #gief – 2:21 PM Sep 18th from web

“start of important new phase in our relationship with Irish people across the world” – Taoiseach #gief – 2:19 PM Sep 18th from web

taoiseach: giving assertion of Article 2 a “renewed impetus” this weekend #gief – 2:13 PM Sep 18th from web

Incorporating North – Martin and Cowen have referred to 6 million on island of Ireland – with island at centre of 70 million pop #gief – 2:10 PM Sep 18th from web

Taoiseach: Diaspora “part of our history, part of our nation – the new article two of our constitution confirms that” #gief – 1:30 PM Sep 18th from web

Taoiseach says Global Irish Forum not just a weekend – “a structured dialogue” with diaspora on “ongoing basis” #gief – 1:29 PM Sep 18th from web

Kingsley Aikins on diaspora strategy, Global Irish Economic Forum in Irish Times: http://url.ie/2gi3 #gief – 1:43 AM Sep 18th from web

Commentator: Irish don’t get it – Israel gives back to diaspora

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Here’s an interesting perspective on recent Irish outreach to the diaspora – in an article on the Jerusalem Post, commentator Rob Brown  says Ireland doesn’t get what makes the Israeli diaspora different.

The central distinction, says the former media editor of The Independent in London, is that Ireland simply isn’t the hub for its diaspora in the way that Israel is for the global Jewish community:

Since the foundation of the Free State in 1922, there has been no great ingathering of the sons and daughters of Erin – not even after Ireland got rich in recent decades and could no longer plead poverty as an excuse. A recent head of state, Mary Robinson, kept a light burning for emigrants in a window of the presidential palace in Phoenix Park, but that was a purely symbolic gesture. There have been no dramatic airlifts of frightened Irish emigrants out of Africa or anywhere else, and generations of Irishmen have never prayed: “Next year in Dublin!”

Sure, if they’ve downed a few too many whiskeys, they might refer fondly to the “oul’ sod.” But they don’t regard Ireland as the center, the spring, the source from whence they came. The Republic of Ireland isn’t their Promised Land.

He says the Global Irish Economic Forum seems “a smart business move”, but adds “there’s a whole lot more to the Israeli relationship with Jews around the globe than just that”. Jews have a real home in Israel:

The Jewish state is every Jew’s guaranteed place of refuge, and seeks to serve as the center of a revived Jewish civilization. This state doesn’t yell at Jews, as Bob Geldof famously yelled at the whole world during the first Band Aid telethon: “Just give us your f***ing money!”

The Jewish state doesn’t simply get from, but gives to, Jews around the world. If the Irish don’t get that, even they don’t really get Israel.

Brown is touching on a painful truth here: for most of its history, Ireland turned its back on our emigrants.  It was always happy to take the money – whether it was from remittances, Irish-American-influenced foreign investment, or tourist dollars – but traditionally Irish people in Ireland didn’t seem to be that interested in discovering what the Irish abroad might like to get back from “the old country”.

When it achieved prosperity, the government did make an attempt to assist emigrants in dire straits around the world, particularly in Britain; the 2002 Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants was a serious new departure as Ireland took responsibility for the welfare of its citizens abroad. But Ireland has never seriously posited itself as a homeland for the diaspora, and the relationship between Ireland and those who live abroad is fraught with tension.

Many in Ireland seem uninterested in the experience of the Irish abroad, and it’s not unusual for returning emigrants or visiting Irish-Americans to pick up on less-than-warm undertones to the welcome. Recent newspaper articles by Terry Prone and Kevin Meyers highlight the way the Irish elite often responds to Irish communities abroad with gaping incomprehension.

In recent decades Ireland has even tightened the ability of the global Irish to live and work in Ireland: it was only in the 1980s that the right to claim Irish citizenship was taken from most of those whose ancestry stretched back to great-grandparents – I don’t know why this was done, but it’s ironic that it was around the same time that Irish politicians were coming to the US looking for American visas for the Irish undocumented – a mission that was greatly assisted by the Irish-American community.

There has been a lot of great thinking about redefining the relationship between Ireland and the global Irish lately, but Brown’s point about the importance of giving to the diaspora is a good reminder of how much more effective our efforts could be if we think more about what Ireland can offer to the diaspora.

Read Brown’s full article at JerusalemPost.com:  Calling All Countrymen.

Terry Prone: Diaspora “a weird lot”

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

PR maven Terry Prone is not the most astute analyst of diaspora relations.

Cleverly coining a new phrase, “diasporation”, in response to the recent Global Irish Economic Forum, Ms Prone declares that all attempts to look to the Irish abroad for any wisdom to guide us out of this crisis are doomed to failure.

The reason? The Irish diaspora are “a weird lot”. Sure there are some Irish millionaire philanthropists who can be reliably counted on to cough up the cash. But the rest of them? No use at all.

“The rest of the diaspora is a write off and always has been. One of the best histories of the emigrant Irish makes the point that whereas Italians and other Europeans who, through poverty, had to emigrate to the United States always planned to get home as soon as they made a few bob, the Irish concentrated on singing miserable songs filled with homesickness while staying in Detroit or Dakota or downtown Manhattan.”

Ms Prone seems to forget that Ireland’s economic boom is of rather late vintage. When there was a need for emigrant labour in the 1990s, the Irish did come back – by the hundreds of thousands. What did an Irish person have to return to, in say, 1870?

And as for remittances, Ms Prone seems to think they are the object of folklore:

And, while we’ve all heard the stories of envelopes coming to our great-grandparents with the few bob from the emigrant son or daughter allowing the folks at home to put in a toilet instead of visiting the local field, the fact is that a huge proportion of those who left used their emigration to break all ties with folks from home.

Proving nicely the old adage that eaten bread is soon forgotten, Ms Prone doesn’t seem to realise that millions of pounds in remittances were reaching Irish homes as lately as the 1960s. But then actual facts don’t seem her forte. This comes from the Supporting the Irish Abroad website:

In 1961 the education budget for Ireland was fourteen million pounds, that year emigrants remittances that could be calculated form official sources came to thirteen and a half million.

If we owe the Irish emigrants of the past anything – and we do – surely it must begin with remembering their sacrifices and what they gave to the Irish at home.

But not for Ms Prone, who clearly resents the Irish diaspora for committing the sin of sentimentality while keeping their money in their pockets. They should visit more, she insists – even as Irish-born people realise that it’s cheaper to holiday just about anywhere else.  And perhaps worst of all, they don’t buy the shamrock-themed tat that she tries to help Irish marketers shill.

As a corrective, here’s what the 2002 report of the government’s Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants has to say:

We owe much to our emigrants. Many of them helped their families who remained behind through generous remittances sent home from their hard earned incomes. In recent years, the establishment of voluntary funding organisations abroad and the personal generosity of individual Irish people who have achieved success, notably in the US, have led to the investment of large sums of money in Ireland. Moreover, people who returned to Ireland having gained experience abroad, have contributed significantly to the country through learning and innovation. The Task Force acknowledges this debt and recognises the sacrifices made by generations of emigrants to the economic benefit of Ireland.

Read Ms Prone’s article:

Herald.ie: Don’t rely on the Diaspora to rescue us

Monuments

Monday, July 27th, 2009

A 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

• Images on Flickr
  

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

See it on Flickr.

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

• See it on Flickr.
• Departing emigrant of the 1950s

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

Cork City Council

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

The Irish In Britain: UCD John Hume Institute, 23 Nov. 2009

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

The Irish Diaspora conferences that took place in New York in 2007 and Dublin in 2008 will be followed up in 2009 with a London event. The John Hume Institute for Irish Studies has announced the preliminary schedule for “The Irish in Britain: A Conversation with the Diaspora”, which will be held at the Royal Society in London on Monday, 23 November, 2009.

Organisers say:

In 2007 we started a conversation with the Irish Diaspora with an event in New York.  1000 people came along and participated in a lively, informative and entertaining debate.  Last year we brought the discussion to Dublin and this year we would like to continue that spirit of lively interaction with the Irish in Britain.  This special event takes as its premise that lasting transformations within Ireland and of Irish Society, whether political, cultural, social or economic have been shaped and informed by the Irish abroad.  This event is about exploring that proposition by looking at three significant issues in our relatively recent past and drawing on the strands arising from that exploration to inform and frame an open floor discussion on the Irish in Britain today and tomorrow.

One curious thing about the programme as it has been initially released is that there seems to be a lack of involvement of the Irish in Britain as speakers, but perhaps that will be rectified by the time the final lineup is announced.

Outline Programme
08:30 a.m. Registration

09:00 a.m. Welcome: Hugh Brady, President of UCD

09:15 a.m.
Session One: Towards 2016

This session takes as its theme the notion of the Irish abroad as the significant engine of political change. Contributions will look at the influence of the “Irish” cities of Britain and America on the formation of key figures involved in 1916 and the years that followed, the role of the Irish abroad in the formation and sustaining of a republican movement, the relationships between the new state and the Irish abroad and the consequences of the legacies of historic events and their commemoration for the present and future generations.

Participants will include Mary Daly, Diarmaid Ferriter, Michael Kennedy and Bob Schmuhl

10:30 a.m. Coffee

11:00 a.m.
Session Two: Joyc(e)ity

The theme of this session will be the Diaspora as creative impulse. In particular contributions will explore aspects of the Aesthetic of Exile, Joyce and the contribution of the Irish to “Modernism” and the phenomenon of a diaspora of cultural artefacts.

Participants will include Luca Crispi, Anne Fogarty, Declan Kiberd, and Frank McGuinness

12:30 a.m. Lunch

2:00 p.m.
Session Three: Ties That Bind

The session will explore cultural branding, identity and social cohesion in Britain and Ireland.  It will take as a starting point two iconic identifiers of “Irishness”, the GAA and Guinness, both of whom celebrate milestone anniversaries in 2009

Participants will include Cormac O’Grada and Paul Rouse

3:00 p.m. Coffee

3:30 p.m.
Session Four: What does the future hold for Ireland and its Diaspora?

An open floor discussion will be led by a special guest panel.

5.00 p.m. Closing remarks: Hugh Brady

7:30 for 8:00 The Forum will be followed by a dinner and the presentation of The John Hume Medal

Related webpages:

• The Irish in Britain on UCD John Hume Institute website
• Irish Diaspora Forum on Global Irish Institute website
• Ean: US-Ireland Forum focuses on relations

Oral histories

Friday, July 24th, 2009

There has been a wonderful trend in recent years of collecting emigrants’ oral histories. Many of those contributing their memories are elderly, and these books, films and websites are an invaluable record of the struggles and triumphs of ordinary people, many of whom have extraordinary stories. Know of any other oral history projects? Drop me a line or fill in the comment box…

Britain

Irish Oral History Archive – a reference archive and resource for the contemporary and historical spoken narratives of Irish people at home and abroad, especially as they relate to the story of emigration.

MovingHere.org.uk: Luton Irish Forum – a variety of individuals detail their moves to England

I Only Came Over For a Couple of Years… 2005 – Interviews with Irish elders in England who arrived between the 1930s and 1960s. (Half-hour documentary, £7 plus postage and packaging)

Irish Elders Now project

Dunne, Catherine. An Unconsidered People: The Irish in London. Dublin: New Island, 2003 – a book detailing the experience of older emigrants.

Canada

A story to be told: Personal Reflections on the Irish emigrant experience in Canada (book)

Memories of the Past: Reflections from Ottawa’s Irish Drop-In group – a collection of memories and recipes

United States

Archives of Irish America – Interviews with a range of notable people in the New York Irish community, discussing their life history and sense of identity.

When Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again – the stories of 35 people who moved to New York between 1927- 1964. Available as both book and DVD.

An Irish (American) Story (film, 1997) – The 96-year-old grandmother of the filmmaker recalls her emigration as a 17-year-old in 1911.

The Gathering: Collected Oral Histories of the Irish in Montana – Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, this project is based in the University of Montana.

Irish Dance in Arizona – Tracing the history of Irish dance in the American southwest since 1942.

Crossroads Irish Oral History Project Archives of the San Francisco Bay Area – Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the project looks at the Irish and Irish-American communities of the San Francisco Bay area.

Molloy College – documenting the Irish of Long Island and the greater New York area.

University of Notre Dame – Director of Notre Dame’s Department of Anthropology Deb Rotman is working on a developing an online archive of Irish-American oral histories.

Australia

The National Library of Australia – has a number of Irish-related recordings in its oral history catalog.

New Zealand

National Library of New Zealand – has several oral history collections; contact them for Irish-related materials.

Global and Irish-based

GAA Oral History Project – recording what the GAA has meant to the Irish people, in their own words.

Breaking the Silence: Staying at home in an emigrant society – examines the impact of emigration on those who stayed through 78 oral narratives and 12 text contributions.

Returning to Ireland

Narratives of Migration and Return – Stories of returning emigrants

Coming Home: “Stories of young men and women who left Ireland and, after many years in exile, closed the circle of emigration by coming home again� – produced by the Safe Home project – also see their True Lives page.

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