Over the course of the past few centuries the racialization and treatment of the Irish people in Britain has changed dramatically. This is due in part, to the paradigm surrounding the dynamic and fluctuating relationship between both nations. From the colonization, subjugation and simeonization of the Irish people, as British subjects, during the eighteenth and nineteenth century; through to the dichotomy created around the question for the British government of, ‘What to do with the Irish?’, arising from the formation of the Irish Free State and further compounded by the subsequent Irish withdrawal from the commonwealth, during the time surrounding the formation of the Irish Republic in 1949. Subsequently, Irish people living in Britain were now newly perceived as ‘White’, and carelessly assimilated by ‘forced inclusion’, into a newly constructed and imagined homogenised British society, arising from the aftermath of WWW II (Hickman 1998). This paper intends, through the use of the historical element of the Sociological Imagination, to examine the impact of racialization on the ethnic Irish communities living in Britain. First the essay will define and elaborate the concepts of ‘race’ and ‘racialization’, and the relevance of this concept to ethnic groups. The paper will then continue by examining the mechanisms by which the Irish were radicalized, paying particular attention to the kinds of characteristics attributed to the Irish over the years. The essay will then elaborate on the findings from sociological research conducted around the impact of racialization on British residents of an Irish ethnic background, and their experiences through the manifestations of anti-Irish racism on an institutional and personal level.
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...uded and marginalised, despite their newly received ‘White’ status. Evidence of this can be seen in the institutionally unchecked signage which adorned some establishments in 1960’s Britain, ‘No Dogs, No Blacks and No Irish’. According to Hickman ‘there is considerable evidence that the Irish living in Britain experienced more ill-health, worse housing and more unemployment than can be explained by their demographic and socio-economic status alone’. Which is further compounded by the statistics showing that ‘Irish men are the only migrant group whose mortality in higher in Britain than in their country of origin’ (Hickman 1998). This is strengthen even further when the mortality rates of second-generation Irish men and women living in Britain are examined, revealing it to be ‘significantly higher than that of all men and women…’ living in the United Kingdom.
“Ireland must be governed in the English interest” as Document 1 states. The Irish and English relationship is one of ethnic superiority over the other and geographical divide. The English feel like it is their duty to make the Irish people like themselves and they believe that their religion is the crux of what makes them inferior and the Irish just want to be left alone. The geographical divide between the nations is the mainly protestant, Ulster, and the Catholic rest of the island as Document 9 suggests. This has caused many disputes because of the fact that Irish Nationalists want the whole island unified.
* Pearce and Adelman B believed that Ireland benefited from the Union, especially after 1829, and ‘maintenance of the Union therefore became the bedrock of British policy for almost the next 100 years’. * Policies were often based on ignorance of the situation – the British tended to try to get away with as little as possible. For example, the Maynooth Grant 1845, Land Acts 1870 and 1881, the attempt to push Home Rule on the Irish in 1920 * ‘Irish practical problems were turned into English political ones’ (e.g. land) – something that they were n’t. Legislation was considered and judged in an English context, not in an Irish one.
We see this most notably socially, but also politically. Very often, Irish describe the a form of abuse they endure at the hands of the “native” Americans. This is unfortunate, but the reality of immigrant live for the Irish in the 1800’s. At the core of “natives” concerns was a shift from political power in the hands of “natives” to political power in the hands of the Irish immigrants, who could be loyal to the pope in Europe. Despite this, the Irish still enjoyed the benefits of the United States nation state and celebrated in the benefits, far superior to those of Ireland at the time.vi As was seen in the movie Gangs of New York, many corrupt politicians persuaded immigrants for support in elections and often employed illegal and manipulative tactics on election day to cast multiple votes.vii There were even political cartoons included in immigration reading excerpts depicting the irish as barbaric monkeys and blaming them for election day violence as well as showing them tear apart the democratic system established by “native” Americans.viii These were likely intended for distribution amongst “native” Americans,
British- Irish relations over the past three hundred years have been troubled. There have been many tensions caused by religion in Northern Ireland and Britain's unfair rule of Northern Ireland. The British are guilty of many of the indignities suffered by the Irish people. They are also guilty of causing all of the religious and territorial conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
There is particular consideration given to the political climate in this story. It is incorporated with social and ethnic concerns that are prevalent. The story also addresses prejudice and the theme of ethnic stereotyping through his character development. O'Connor does not present a work that is riddled with Irish slurs or ethnic approximations. Instead, he attempts to provide an account that is both informative and accurate.
INTRODUCTION The history of Ireland "that most distressful nation" is full of drama and tragedy, but one of the most interesting stories is about what happened to the Irish during the mid-nineteenth century and how millions of Irish came to live in America (Purcell 31). Although the high point of the story was the years of the devastating potato famine from 1845 to 1848, historians have pointed out that immigrating from Ireland was becoming more popular before the famine and continued until the turn of the twentieth century. In the one hundred years between the first recording of immigrants in
In the beginning, life was not easy for the numerous Irish - Catholic immigrants who fled the Great Potato Famine of 1845 and, “. . . Protestant ascendancy, British colonialism and turbulence in their own country. . . “(2) Because of their lack of funds many Irish immigrants landed in less expensive Canadian ports, and then walked down into the United States.(3) Not only was the ocean voyage difficult, but once reaching the United States, most immigrants found that they were not welcomed with open arms, but rather pushed away because of their religious affiliations. Catholics found themselves the minority and targets of discrimination.(4) Settled Americans saw the new influx of Irish immigrants as a plague, dirtying their streets and neighborhoods, filling their jails and sanitariums, creating public disruption. “Negative stereotypes imported from England characterizing the Irish as pugnacious, drunken, semi-savage, were common and endured. . . “(5) A...
Stoddard, Eve Walsh. “Home and Belonging among Irish Migrants: Transnational versus Placed Identities in The Light of Evening and Brooklyn: A Novel.” Eire-Ireland 47.1 & 2 (Summer 2012): 147-171.
In the early twentieth-century, there was a scientific misconception of race that had a very present role in society. Racial differences played various parts in solidifying how different racial groups and cultures were not only viewed by the white omnipresent figures of that era, but also how they were treated. In England, a very specific and narrow-minded view of the Irish began to develop, characterizing this group of people as “hairy barbarous brutes” who were often compared to chimpanzees or apes. Ireland according to England, had established a different and “uncivilized” way of life, including their religious viewpoints and how they carried out their daily lives. Because the Irish believed in a more “hands on approach” with life, they
When many think of the times of immigration, they tend to recall the Irish Immigration and with it comes the potato famine of the 1840s' however, they forget that immigrants from the Emerald Isle also poured into America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The assimilation and immigration of the Irish has been difficult for each group that has passed through the gates of Ellis Island or South Boston. Like every group that came to America, the Irish were looked down upon; yet, in the face of discrimination, political, social and economic oppression, the Irish have been a testament to the American Dream as their influence in the political and business world increases with each generation. The tradition and family upbringings of the Irish culture has served as the bridge to allow the "great race" to both prosper and persevere through the hardest of times. Although Irish immigrants were mixed into and not originally part of American culture, they enriched their new country with their cultural contributions, active participation in politics, and their wealth of influential individuals.
Since the 1950s Ireland has moved from an old fashioned rural conventional country to a modern economy and society moving from church authority to a confident diversity. It has moved from an emigrant society. Where 1/3rd of a generation emigrated to find work to a diverse society.it has moved from a country with marginal social services to a modern welfare state. While the Irish social security system was initially considered as a pale copy of that of its nearest neighbor, the United Kingdom.
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
Mac Einri, P. 1997. Some Recent Demographic Developments in Ireland. [Online] Available from: http://migration.ucc.ie/etudesirlandaises.htm [Accessed 7th May 2012]
Tovey, H and Share, P. (2002). Sociology of Ireland. 2nd ed. Dublin: Gill & Macmillen.
During the twentieth century, Ireland was suffering through a time of economic hardship. “Economic growth was stagnant, unemployment was at a historic high and exceeded anywhere in the EU, except possibly Spain, and the state was one of the most indebted in the world” . Irish men and women who had received a formal education had immigrated to other nations due to the unavailability of jobs at home. This left Ireland in a state of further economic downfall, and the lack of skilled workers left Ireland stuck. The 1990’s were a turning point for Ireland. A rise in industry within the nation, as well as an increase in exports, led Ireland to become the “shining nation” in Europe. It became internationally linked with one of the biggest power nations, the United States, and international trade became Ireland’s new source for a booming economy. This brought the rise of what was known as the Celtic Tiger in Ireland.