Common Ground : Emigration

From the Norman Invasion in 1169 to the defeat in 1601 of the Irish armies and their Spanish allies, Ireland managed to absorb an alien ruling class and maintain her population. In 1609, accepting their day was over, many of the hereditary Gaelic chieftains went into exile in Europe, a trickle of emigration that would become a flood over the next two hundred and fifty years. At the end of that century, as industry and agriculture stifled under English rule, many emigrated in search of economic and religious liberty &emdash; the Catholics to Spain and France, the Protestants to the United States of America. Among these latter was William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania.

As the native Gaelic social order crumbled, and London through her Viceroys in Dublin tightened her grip on Ireland, great estates were assembled by the Anglo-Irish nobility and the majority of the native peasantry became tenant farmers, working holdings that became ever smaller as son inherited from father. In the mid 19th century, deteriorating economic conditions and the Great Famine 0f 1845-1847 came together in a single great disaster. The country buckled, and fell to its knees. In the first years after the Famine one and a half million emigrated. Over the next 40 years the haemorrhage continued, slowing down to about 100,000 emigrants a year at around 1885. These emigrants went mainly to English-speaking countries, many to Britain, many more to the United States of America, a smaller number to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Few went to continental Europe. Through this period, too, the Irish language crumbled before the twin imperatives of an education system which promoted the use of English aggressively, and the economic self-interest of a people who knew that the only living they could hope to make would be in the wider English speaking world. The harsh reality of common-sense was that the immigrant with a grasp of English was already a step up the ladder in the new country.

By and large these emigrants were the poorest of the poor. Like the Jews from the Pale of Settlement, the southern Italians, the Poles, Russians and Germans, these Irish emigrants had nothing to offer in their new homelands except their labour, their imaginations and what they could salvage of their culture.

As was the case in many other countries, millions at home depended on the remittances of emigrant sons and daughters. The choice facing young people was stark and brutal - suffocate at home, or take your chances in a land of better opportunity. Whether you stayed or went, the effect was demoralising. Ireland stagnated, bereft of her energetic generations; in the new countries, a fatal homesickness often proved equally warping.

Now more than 40 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry, 8 times the present population of the island. Like the emigrants of other countries, the Irish have contributed to the shaping of the economic and cultural identities of their adopted nations. Especially in the USA and to a lesser extent in Australia, Canada and Britain, Irish music in particular has made a home for itself at the heart of many styles. Irish writers have adopted, some would say transformed, the English language. We have given poets, singers, song makers, judges, businessmen and political leaders to the world &emdash; as have many other peoples. We have also given the men and women who laboured anonymously all the days of their lives to bear and raise children, to put bread on tables, to build their adopted lands, to sustain their homelands.

Now, in Ireland, we remember them all, we are calling them home.

Emigration continues, but the emphasis has changed. Ireland, North and South, is still unable to support her sons and daughters, but the new emigrants are better-educated than their grandparents or their parents; many will return to take up employment or start new businesses, even those who are destined to live in exile forever make frequent journeys home now. Current figures suggest that as many as 30,000 young people leave Ireland every year, with perhaps 10,000 previous emigrants returning either temporarily or permanently.


ARTISTS & SONGS		NOTES
MUSICIANS & INSTRUMENTS


From the Norman Invasion in 1169 to the defeat in 1601 of the Irish armies and their Spanish allies, Ireland managed to absorb an alien ruling class and maintain her population. In 1609, accepting their day was over, many of the hereditary Gaelic chieftains went into exile in Europe, a trickle of emigration that would become a flood over the next two hundred and fifty years. At the end of that century, as industry and agriculture stifled under English rule, many emigrated in search of economic and religious liberty &emdash; the Catholics to Spain and France, the Protestants to the United States of America. Among these latter was William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. As the native Gaelic social order crumbled, and London through her Viceroys in Dublin tightened her grip on Ireland, great estates were assembled by the Anglo-Irish nobility and the majority of the native peasantry became tenant farmers, working holdings that became ever smaller as son inherited from father. In the mid 19th century, deteriorating economic conditions and the Great Famine 0f 1845-1847 came together in a single great disaster. The country buckled, and fell to its knees. In the first years after the Famine one and a half million emigrated. Over the next 40 years the haemorrhage continued, slowing down to about 100,000 emigrants a year at around 1885. These emigrants went mainly to English-speaking countries, many to Britain, many more to the United States of America, a smaller number to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Few went to continental Europe. Through this period, too, the Irish language crumbled before the twin imperatives of an education system which promoted the use of English aggressively, and the economic self-interest of a people who knew that the only living they could hope to make would be in the wider English speaking world. The harsh reality of common-sense was that the immigrant with a grasp of English was already a step up the ladder in the new country. By and large these emigrants were the poorest of the poor. Like the Jews from the Pale of Settlement, the southern Italians, the Poles, Russians and Germans, these Irish emigrants had nothing to offer in their new homelands except their labour, their imaginations and what they could salvage of their culture. As was the case in many other countries, millions at home depended on the remittances of emigrant sons and daughters. The choice facing young people was stark and brutal - suffocate at home, or take your chances in a land of better opportunity. Whether you stayed or went, the effect was demoralising. Ireland stagnated, bereft of her energetic generations; in the new countries, a fatal homesickness often proved equally warping. Now more than 40 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry, 8 times the present population of the island. Like the emigrants of other countries, the Irish have contributed to the shaping of the economic and cultural identities of their adopted nations. Especially in the USA and to a lesser extent in Australia, Canada and Britain, Irish music in particular has made a home for itself at the heart of many styles. Irish writers have adopted, some would say transformed, the English language. We have given poets, singers, song makers, judges, businessmen and political leaders to the world &emdash; as have many other peoples. We have also given the men and women who laboured anonymously all the days of their lives to bear and raise children, to put bread on tables, to build their adopted lands, to sustain their homelands. Now, in Ireland, we remember them all, we are calling them home. Emigration continues, but the emphasis has changed. Ireland, North and South, is still unable to support her sons and daughters, but the new emigrants are better-educated than their grandparents or their parents; many will return to take up employment or start new businesses, even those who are destined to live in exile forever make frequent journeys home now. Current figures suggest that as many as 30,000 young people leave Ireland every year, with perhaps 10,000 previous emigrants returning either temporarily or permanently.