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Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ulster is well acquainted with those who leave their homes on boats for hope of a better life
At the heart of the Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh, Co Tyrone , is Camp Hill Cottage, the birthplace of Thomas Mellon. Born in 1813, Mellon and his family emigrated to the United States in 1818. Sailing from the port of Derry , the commencement of a journey that lasted 17 weeks, they were following in the footsteps of Mellon's grandfather and uncle who had settled in Pennsylvania two years previously. Mellon became a successful businessman and investor; he also served as a judge and became president of the People's Savings Bank in 1866, later establishing the bank of T Mellon and sons; the family in time became one of the wealthiest in America. Mellon did not return to Ireland to visit his humble birthplace until 1882; he referred to himself as a 'Yankee' and an 'Irishman' or a 'Scotch-Irishman', who was 'nurtured in the moral, social and religious sentiments of the Scotch'. Few prospered as grandly as Mellon, but he was part of a large wave of pre-famine emigrants from Ulster. In his 1993 book The Irish Diaspora, Donald Akenson, a renowned historian of Irish migration, highlighted surveys of Americans in the 1970s and 1980s who considered themselves Irish. Over 50 per cent of them were Protestants. It was a reminder that the story of the Irish exodus to America was far from just a Catholic, famine inspired journey. It is difficult to establish precise figures for those who emigrated from Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries, but historian Louis Cullen suggested the number who left Ireland before 1800 'represented a higher proportion of the total movement of people who crossed national boundaries within and out of Europe than did the 19th century outflow'. READ MORE Up to 250,000 people left Ulster before 1776. The Ulster Presbyterians who went to North America in the mid-18th century were mostly from Antrim, Derry, Donegal and Tyrone. As Irish Presbyterians made their presence felt in Philadelphia and Boston there was also increased concern with the poor and destitute arriving, prompting Irishmen of Ulster birth and ancestry to establish the Charitable Irish Society in 1737, the oldest Irish society in North America. The emigrants experienced mixed fortunes. In New York the same year, James Murray wrote to the Rev Baptist Boyd in Tyrone: 'Read this Letter, and look, and tell aw the poor Folk of your Place, that God has open'd a Door for their Deliverance ... I will tell ye in short, this is a bonny Country, and aw Things grows here that ever I did see grow in Ereland ... Trades are aw gud here'. The Charitable Irish Society was followed in time by other welfare organisations, including, in 1790, the Hibernian Society for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland. As well as distress, the archives documenting some of the emigrants' experiences highlight those faring well. Letters collected by Kerby Miller, another great chronicler of Irish migration during this period, and held in the University of Galway , include one from Alice Walsh from Dungannon, Co Tyrone. In 1823, she wrote to her husband, James Walsh, in Philadelphia, whom she had not heard from in almost seven years, requesting he either return home or send for her and their two children to come to Philadelphia, where she had heard he had obtained a 'very advantageous situation'. The distressing scenes in Moygashel, Tyrone , last weekend, as loyalists set fire to their bonfire topped with an effigy of migrants on a boat, are bitterly ironic given the centrality of the migrant boat to the history of Tyrone. It is estimated that about 293,000 long-term international migrants arrived in Northern Ireland between the years 2001 and 2023, initially from central and eastern Europe, but more recently from Africa and Asia. A paper prepared for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly by Raymond Russell earlier this year suggests that of those 293,000 migrants, 231,000 subsequently left, leaving a net total international migration flow of 62,000 people. Northern Ireland's 2021 census showed that the total number of people belonging to a minority ethnic group stood at 65,600 people (3.4 per cent of the population), meaning Northern Ireland is by far the least ethnically diverse part of the UK. [ Sharp divides in attitudes to immigration within Northern Ireland, and either side of Border Opens in new window ] Russell also notes that 'hate crime is more prevalent in Northern Ireland than generally realised, with the number of racist incidents and crimes regularly exceeding the number of sectarian crimes.' This is at a time when, with Northern Ireland's 'ageing population, and a growing shortage of young people moving into the labour market, a regular flow of young, international migrants will be essential to maintain public services and the economy in general'. Such realities get lost in hateful Tyrone July fires, as does any honest reckoning with an Ulster history that is filled with boats, hopes of a better life and contented settlement, and the precarity of the emigrant's voyage and challenge.
Irish Times
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Irish Times
Irish players find a home in ‘County Coogee' with Sydney club Randwick
News flash from Australia. For all the apparent doom and gloom around the fall of the Wallabies , the struggles of their provincial sides and Rugby Australia discarding the Melbourne Rebels, no less than in Ireland , club rugby appears to be alive and well. And the connections between the two have never been stronger. A day with the world-renowned Randwick club, adjacent to Coogee beach, last Saturday confirmed all of this. Coogee is home to the Irish diaspora in Sydney the way Croydon is in London. Depending on the time of the year, the Irish might account for 15 to 20 per cent of the local population, hence its local moniker 'County Coogee'. And game day at Randwick's Coogee Oval which, as the banner on the entry gate says, is the 'Home of the Galloping Greens' is indeed a full day. The quadruple-header, as it were, begins with Randwick 4s v Sydney University at 10am, continuing through 3 v 3s and 2 v 2s before culminating in the Randwick 1s v Sydney Uni 1s in the Shute Shield at 3pm. You wonder why the Irish clubs don't do the same. They mightn't have the numbers for a four-match billing, but even a double-header between the same clubs, concluding with an AIL firsts game, perhaps kicking off at 3pm as well, would only enhance match days. READ MORE Admittedly, it also helps when its 20 degrees on a sunny winter's Saturday and there's a firm grassy pitch. Even so, the teams hang around this quaint, picturesque ground, which is also home to the Randwick Petersham Cricket club, after their games, thus building to a nice atmosphere in front of 2,000 or so committed, community-based fans. Ireland impress as the Lions struggle Listen | 26:21 A chunk of the Oval ground is halved to make for a more intimate and natural square-shaped pitch, which is lined by apartments and trees, three stands or coverings on the same side as the dressingrooms, and an unclosed, temporary stand on the opposite side. Some players double up by perhaps starting one game and 'benching' on another. The Randwick 3s feature Paddy Fox (a back three player with Navan), Ed Brennan (Clontarf backrower), Alex Molly (Old Wesley centre), Darren Brady (an eight with Virginia in Cavan) and Nick Quirke (a Greystones centre). In the Randwick 2s' team are Emmet Burns (a UCD prop, once of Connacht), Mick Courtney (a Clontarf centre) and the Terenure outhalf Callum Smith. The latter was a massive part of Terenure's historic AIL triumph in the 2022/23 season after joining from Malone, and although unable to placekick due to a foot injury, is the game's standout player, scoring a try in their 52-28 win. Smith isn't playing for the firsts primarily because the promising James Hendren, contracted to the Waratahs, is continuing his education at outhalf. Smith's sometime half-back partner Alan Bennie played for Sydney Uni in that 2s game as well and would have benched for their 1s but for a slight niggle. Their 1s also have Declan Moore, a former hooker with Ulster and Munster. Randwick's banner at the Coogee Oval in Sydney. Maintaining the strong Terenure theme, the Randwick 1s, coached by the former Leinster player Shaun Beirne, feature prop Campbell Classon and lock Mick Melia, as well as the Old Wesley number eight Matthew Bursey. The strength in depth is superior to Irish clubs, but the standard of the Shute Shield and AIL Division 1A looks similar, if different in style. The former is less structured. When Randwick fullback Brooklyn Hardaker gathers a missed Sydney Uni penalty in his own ingoal area, he runs to his own 22, but rather than clearing the ball he opts for a chip. It doesn't come off but there's no chastising him from the sidelines. Hendren glides in for one try, and outside centre Hamish Comonte for another, in an important 40-17 win for Randwick which moves them above Sydney Uni into sixth, the last playoff place, after 13 rounds and five games remaining. The glue for this group of temporary exiles is Conor Pender. A passionate rugby man, he's hung up his playing boots having started out playing mini rugby at Terenure, returning there with the under-20s and seconds while also winning a few AIL caps. His grandfather, Michael Pender, captained Terenure many moons ago. Among the crowd is Omar Hassenein, the Dublin-based former head of the Irish Rugby Players Association, who has been filling the same brief the international equivalent. He renews acquaintances with former team-mates from Randwick's Grand Final triumph in the early Noughties. There's a trophy for nearly every match, which on this day is presented by Simon Poidevin, aka 'The King', having been part of eight winning finals of the 11 in which he played. The Randwick rugby manager, his preferred title as opposed to Director of Rugby, is Andrew 'Bowie' Bowman. He played a season with Old Belvedere at the same time as Michael Cheika and David Knox first pitched up in Leinster. By coincidence, Bowman points to Knox walking across the pitch into the distance after watching from his perch on the stand side underneath a tree which Knox calls the 'indigenous umbrella'. Bowman was also part of that Shute Shield team in 2000 and although Randwick sadly sold their clubhouse, meaning all their memorabilia has been stored away, he believes the club is in a great place, with their strong Irish connection serving as an integral part. The Randwick 1s after their game against Sydney Uni. 'There's a big Irish contingent in the location and in the club. County Coogee is well and truly alive. We've got a team song that's been around for 50, 60 years, which is McNamara's Band. It's an old Irish folk song.' It was adopted after Randwick toured Ireland in the 60s and, right on cue, the players' rendition is aired through the speakers from the dressingroom before they emerge. Classon believes the standard of rugby between the AIL 1A and the Shute Shield is very similar. 'The calibre of players is higher. They all are in shape. They're all looking after their bodies and good athletes, because the weather's so good. That makes a big difference. But they're not as structured, so their detail isn't as high, I would say, when it comes to the scrum. It's not as detail-focused as Terenure.' Melia, who has been with Randwick a year longer, jokes: 'When we heard in Terenure that we had a new prop called Campbell Classon, we thought he would be a big scrummaging South African tighthead, not a ball-playing loosehead from Donegal!' They and other Irish rugby players, especially those in their late 20s, moved to Australia for a life-enhancing experience, and playing rugby gives their week structure, keeps them fit and maintains their bond. Colm de Buitléar is also close to playing again after overcoming a torn Achilles tendon. 'It's a good Terenure contingent, and we all stick together. I don't think you get that in any other club,' Classon adds. 'I think the camaraderie we have is amazing. It's amazing that the Irish connection here in this club. It's always been there, and it's stronger than ever. Randwick even wears green, and they sing McNamara's Band.' Melia has another motive to keep playing: 'My old man's junior vice-president in the club. So he'll be president I think, in 2027 or '28. To be honest with you, it's nearly the only reason that I keep playing over here. Every season, I go, but I keep going, and I need to play once more for Terenure.'
Irish Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
A belated appreciation of one of Britain's oldest ethnicities: the Irish ‘elders'
Irish-Americans have always been somewhat feted in their homeland, like a national gold card sitting proudly in the wallet of the State. It hasn't always been the same for the Irish in Britain , due to reasons rooted in Ireland 's complex historic relationship with its nearest neighbour to the east. Irish emigrants to Britain were not as celebrated back home and many knew it, according to older members of the community to whom I have spoken over the past 2½ years. 'It's a fair point,' said Neale Richmond , the Minister of State for Diaspora, as we supped coffee on Monday afternoon in the good room on the top floor of the Irish embassy. READ MORE He was in London to launch the Global Irish Survey, a Government initiative to canvass the views of Irish emigrants and their descendants across the world, in advance of the publication next year of a new five-year strategy for the diaspora. According to Richmond, a key component will be to demonstrate to the Irish in Britain that the State values them. The Minister said he believed President Michael D Higgins 's 2014 State visit to Britain was positive on a number of levels. He says it prompted the beginning of a 'real release, a reawakening' among Irish people back home of their relationship with their Irish-British kin across the water. The Irish who settled in Britain over past decades are now an aged community. They are one of the oldest ethnicities in Britain, according to census data. More than 32 per cent of those who ticked the 'white Irish' box in the England and Wales census of 2021 were over 65. This compared with an average of 18 per cent for the rest of the population. There were also 160 Irish centenarians in England and Wales in 2021, a proportion that was 1½ times more than the rest of the population. Anyone who is familiar with London's old Irish haunts such as Kilburn, Cricklewood and Archway can attest to the ageing of the local embedded Irish population. It is a similar story elsewhere in Britain, perhaps most notably in Coventry, where there is a particularly old Irish community that was curiously underappreciated back home. Richmond said the State wants to send out the message to the Irish in Britain that 'yes, they are celebrated' by the rest of us. He also made them a promise, as politicians do: 'Using money from the Emigrant Support Programme, we will make sure their needs, particularly as they are later in life, are fully funded. The networks will be there, the lunch clubs, the bingo . . .' Irish community groups in Britain, meanwhile, toil to help their members. Many operate under the umbrella organisation Irish in Britain, which is supported by the Irish Government. Most individual groups operate on a mix of State cash and their own fundraising. Some Government funding is directed towards organisations such as the Irish Elderly Advice Network, which runs lunch clubs, and the London Irish Centre in Camden, which operates extensive community outreach to the ageing Irish in the city. So does the Irish Cultural Centre (ICC) in Hammersmith, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Wear away, don't rust away — John Hurley The ICC last Thursday held an extravaganza to celebrate local Irish 'elders'. It comprised an intergenerational project in which teenagers from the local Sacred Heart Catholic High School interviewed older Irish immigrants to London about the lives they built in the city and the lives they left behind. The children sang songs and read poetry about their new older Irish friends. They screened an hour-long documentary they made about the elders. We heard from 80-year-old Margaret Curran from Dublin, who moved to London 63 years ago and worked in the fashion industry. Her bridal designs used to make the front cover of Wedding and Home magazine. Justa Madden, originally from Co Sligo, was also among the celebrated elders. After a sojourn in Chile, she moved to Britain and became a teacher. It is important to give students 'awe and wonder', she said. [ Government fears referendum to give Irish diaspora vote in presidential elections 'could be lost' Opens in new window ] Mary Leslie (90), originally from Athenry, Co Galway, advised the Sacred Heart students at the ICC to 'be positive and you will see the bright side of life'. Mary Hamrogue (86), from Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, came to London in 1958. She is now a stalwart of the ICC knitting club. She lamented that she no longer knows many of her neighbours in Hammersmith. Mary Swan (90) was born in England to Irish parents but moved to Ireland aged four at the outbreak of the second World War in 1939. She returned to London aged 19 when she got married. In 2020, she was voted the Belle of Soho. Cork man John Hurley (89), who moved to London aged 17, also shared his wisdom at the ICC project launch. He began writing at the age of 74 and has since published two novels, and also writes poems daily. His advice? 'Wear away, don't rust away.'
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Government fears referendum to give Irish diaspora vote in presidential elections ‘could be lost'
There is a significant concern that the Government could lose a referendum to extend the vote in presidential elections to Irish citizens living abroad, the Minister of State for Diaspora has said. Neale Richmond said he was personally in favour of giving the right to vote in presidential elections to the Irish diaspora 'anywhere ... if they are entitled to Irish citizenship'. He said it should not just be limited to Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland . [ Should people in Northern Ireland vote in Irish presidential elections? Opens in new window ] 'It is my personal opinion, my party's policy and it is the Government's policy that we will introduce voting for the Irish abroad for presidential elections,' said the Fine Gael TD during a visit to London. READ MORE Mr Richmond noted the Government recently accepted an opposition Dáil motion on the issue. 'But it's a tricky debate,' he said. However, he complained of 'deliberate disinformation from the commentariat', which he suggested had misled some to believe that extending presidential votes could also bring into play voting for the Oireachtas or local councils. He said there is a 'major concern' a poll on giving the diaspora votes for the presidency could be defeated 'if we hold this referendum without a proper debate, without a proper consultation and without letting people know what this means'. In response to the suggestion that there was relative political unanimity on the issue, he said: 'We had relative unanimity on the last two referendums [held last year on expanding the definition of the family and on references to a woman's place in the home] and we lost those spectacularly badly.' The Dublin Rathdown TD said he was not trying to be a 'killjoy' on the issue. 'But as a politician, I don't want to run a referendum and lose it because then you can't have another referendum on this issue for a generation.' Why does Ireland's presidential race still have no one at the starting line? Listen | 42:06 The Minister was speaking at the Irish Embassy in London at the launch of the Global Irish Survey, a Government survey of the diaspora that is available at and will run until the end of August. He said the Government wanted to canvass the views of Irish people living abroad before formulating a new strategy for the diaspora; the existing five-year strategy runs out at the end of the year. Mr Richmond said he hoped a new strategy would be in place by next April. In addition to maintaining connections with people who had recently left the Republic, he said it would also seek to 'go deeper' with second, third and fourth generation descendants. In addition to launching the survey, he was also due to hold talks with Jenny Chapman, the British Labour government's development minister.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Thinking Allowed The Irish in the UK
Laurie Taylor talks to Louise Ryan, Professor of Sociology at the London Metropolitan University, about her oral history of the Irish nurses who were the backbone of the NHS for many years. By the 1960s approximately 30,000 Irish-born nurses were working across the NHS, constituting around 12% of all nursing staff. From the rigours of training to the fun of dancehalls, she explores their life experiences as nurses and also as Irish migrants, including those times when they encountered anti Irish racism. They're joined by Bronwen Walter, Emerita Professor of Irish Diaspora Studies at Anglia Ruskin University, who discusses the way that Irish migration offers an unusual opportunity to explore wider questions about the experience of immigrants and how ethnic identities persist or change over time. Producer: Jayne Egerton
