Immigration and Integration: The Irish in Wales 1798-1922 (University of Wales Press - Studies in Welsh History)

Immigration and Integration: The Irish in Wales, 1798-1922 is the first book-length study of the Irish in modern Wales. Emigration has been one of the defining experiences of modern life for the Irish, and a significant number of the Irish diaspora settled in Wales during the nineteenth century. In this pioneering work Paul O'Leary examines the causes of emigration and seeks to understand the experience of Irish immigrants in Wales. Initially, there was little evidence of Celtic solidarity and the Irish often met with violent hostility from the Welsh. Nevertheless, by the late nineteenth century the tortuous process of integration was well underway and appeared to be relatively trouble free in comparison with the Irish experience in many other parts of Britain. The author considers key aspects of immigrant life in depth: pre-famine immigration; the role of the Irish in the labour force; criminality and drink; the establishment of community institutions, ranging from Catholic churches and schools to pubs and bookshops, from friendly societies to political organizations; the mobilization of support for Irish nationalist organizations; and Irish participation in the labour movement. In each case the author links the distinctive experiences of the Irish to developments in Welsh society. CONTENTS 8 EDITORS’ FOREWORD 6 LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS 10 PREFACE 12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 16 INTRODUCTION 18 I: VARIETIES OF IRISH IMMIGRATION, 1798–1845 32 II: PRE-FAMINE SETTLEMENT, SOCIAL LIFE AND POLITICS 61 III: THE DELUGE: THE GREAT FAMINE, 1845–1850 90 IV: ‘SECTIONAL COLONISTS’: PATTERNS OF IRISH SETTLEMENT, 1851–1871 124 V: THE IRISH IN THE LABOUR MARKET, 1850–1900 151 VI: ‘THIEVING LIKE AN IRISHMAN’: THE IRISH AND CRIME 178 VII: FRIENDLY SOCIETIES, TEMPERANCE AND RESPECTABILITY 203 VIII: A ‘DEVOTIONAL REVOLUTION’? RELIGION AND BELIEF IN IMMIGRANT CULTURE 230 IX: FROM FENIANISM TO FREE STATE: IRISH IMMIGRANTS AND POLITICS, 1860–1922 260 X: CONCLUSION 314 APPENDICES 331 I: Numbers of Irish-born in England, Scotland and Wales, 1841–1921 331 II: Numbers and cost of Irish paupers in Cardiff, 1846–1850 332 III: Expenses incurred by the Cardiff Union on account of cholera in 1849 332 IV: Birthplace of persons committed to Welsh prisons, 1856–1892 333 V: Birthplace of persons committed to Cardiff County Gaol and House of Correction, 1856–1893 334 VI: Statistics of Roman Catholics in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1839 335 VII: Religious practice among the Irish in Cardiff, 1841–1861 336 BIBLIOGRAPHY 337 INDEX 352 A 352 B 352 C 352 D 353 E 353 F 353 G 353 H 354 I 354 J 354 K 354 L 354 M 354 N 355 O 355 P 355 R 355 S 356 T 356 U 356 V 356 W 356 Y 357 __Immigration and Integration: The Irish in Wales, 1798-1922__ is the first book-length study of the Irish in modern Wales. Emigration has been one of the defining experiences of modern life for the Irish, and a significant number of the Irish diaspora settled in Wales during the nineteenth century. In this pioneering work Paul O'Leary examines the causes of emigration and seeks to understand the experience of Irish immigrants in Wales. Initially, there was little evidence of Celtic solidarity and the Irish often met with violent hostility from the Welsh. Nevertheless, by the late nineteenth century the tortuous process of integration was well underway and appeared to be relatively trouble free in comparison with the Irish experience in many other parts of Britain. The author considers key aspects of immigrant life in depth: pre-famine immigration; the role of the Irish in the labour force; criminality and drink; the establishment of community institutions, ranging from Catholic churches and schools to pubs and bookshops, from friendly societies to political organizations; the mobilization of support for Irish nationalist organizations; and Irish participation in the labour movement. In each case the author links the distinctive experiences of the Irish to developments in Welsh society. "Immigration and Integration: The Irish in Wales, 1798-1922 is the first book-length study of the Irish in modern Wales. Emigration has been one of the defining experiences of modern life for the Irish, and a significant number of the Irish diaspora settled in Wales during the nineteenth century. In this pioneering work Paul O'Leary examines the causes of emigration and seeks to understand the experience of Irish immigrants in Wales."--Jacket