Rethinking the Irish Diaspora: After The Gathering (Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship)

This book provides scholarly perspectives on a range of timely concerns in Irish diaspora studies. It offers a focal point for fresh interchanges and theoretical insights on questions of identity, Irishness, historiography and the academy’s role in all of these. In doing so, it chimes with the significant public debates on Irish and Irish emigrant identities that have emerged from Ireland’s The Gathering initiative (2013) and that continue to reverberate throughout the Decade of Centenaries (2012-2023) in Ireland, North and South. In ten chapters of new research on key areas of concern in this field, the book sustains a conversation centred on three core questions: what is diaspora in the Irish context and who does it include/exclude? What is the view of Ireland and Northern Ireland from the diaspora? How can new perspectives in the academy engage with a more rigorous and probing theorisation of these concerns? This thought-provoking work will appeal to students and scholars of history, geography, literature, sociology, tourism studies and Irish studies. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 1: Introduction: Gathering Tensions 11 Works Cited 21 Part 1: Policy Contexts and Political Change 23 2: Diaspora Engagement in Ireland, North and South, in the Shadow of Brexit 24 The Irish Diaspora in the Shadow of Brexit 24 Profiling the Diaspora 29 The Strategic “Diaspora Turn” of the Twenty-­First Century 33 Diaspora Engagement in Ireland to 2000 37 The Strategic “Diaspora Turn” in Ireland 41 Diaspora Engagement: A Care Agenda? 44 The Gathering 2013 46 Conclusion: Sovereignty, Brexit and Diaspora Engagement 49 Works Cited 59 3: The Irish Government’s Diaspora Strategy: Towards a Care Agenda 67 Introduction 67 Biopower: The Age of Diaspora-Centred Development 70 The Irish Diaspora and Diaspora Engagement Strategy 73 The Irish Diaspora Strategy: Towards a Care Agenda 80 Conclusion 84 Works Cited 85 4: The Need for a “National“ Diaspora Centre in Ireland 88 Introduction 88 Establishing the Need 89 Running the Competition 91 ‘Diaspora’, ‘National’ Institutions and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, 1998 97 ‘National’ Museums, Libraries and Archives in Ireland 101 Conclusion: A ‘Cross-Border’ Proposal 105 Works Cited 111 5: Marriage Equality North and South: The Journey After The Gathering 115 Introduction 115 A Review of LGBTQ Rights and Legislation in Ireland 116 The Catholic Church, Society and Migration 118 The Irish Referendum Proposal 120 The Yes/No Campaigns 122 The Vote and the Diaspora 123 Hopes for the Future 125 Works Cited 130 Part 2: Echoes from History and Irish Imaginaries 136 6: Bringing It All Back Home: The Fluctuating Reputation of James Orr (1770–1816), Ulster-Scots Poet and Irish Patriot 137 Works Cited 158 7: Gathering Antipathy: Irish Immigrants and Race in America’s Age of Emancipation 161 Works Cited 185 Part 3: Hidden Diasporas 190 8: “Hidden” Diasporas? Second- and Third-­Generation Irish in England and Scotland 191 Dimensions of Hiddenness 196 Irish-Descent Identities in England 199 Irish-Descent Identities in Scotland 204 Conclusions 210 Works Cited 212 9: Placeless Patriots: The Misplaced Loyalty of “The Middle Nation” 216 Works Cited 227 10: Rafferty’s Return: Diaspora and Dislocation in Edna O’Brien’s “Shovel Kings” 229 Works Cited 244 11: “Coeval but Out of Kilter”: Diaspora, Modernity and “Authenticity” in Irish Emigrant Worker Writing 247 An “Out of Kilter” Irish 251 MacGill’s “Historical Event”: Writing the Despised Navvy 253 Tressell’s Oblique Irishness in the English “Painter’s Bible” 259 Hanley’s Gelton: A Diaspora at Sea 263 Conclusion 267 Works Cited 269 12: Epilogue 272 Works Cited 278 Index 280 Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction: Gathering Tensions (Johanne Devlin Trew, Michael Pierse)....Pages 1-12 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Diaspora Engagement in Ireland, North and South, in the Shadow of Brexit (Johanne Devlin Trew)....Pages 15-57 The Irish Government’s Diaspora Strategy: Towards a Care Agenda (Mark Boyle, Adrian Kavanagh)....Pages 59-79 The Need for a “National“ Diaspora Centre in Ireland (Brian Lambkin)....Pages 81-107 Marriage Equality North and South: The Journey After The Gathering (Danielle Mackle)....Pages 109-129 Front Matter ....Pages 131-131 Bringing It All Back Home: The Fluctuating Reputation of James Orr (1770–1816), Ulster-Scots Poet and Irish Patriot (Carol Baraniuk)....Pages 133-156 Gathering Antipathy: Irish Immigrants and Race in America’s Age of Emancipation (Brian Kelly)....Pages 157-185 Front Matter ....Pages 187-187 “Hidden” Diasporas? Second- and Third-Generation Irish in England and Scotland (Bronwen Walter)....Pages 189-213 Placeless Patriots: The Misplaced Loyalty of “The Middle Nation” (Ultan Cowley)....Pages 215-227 Rafferty’s Return: Diaspora and Dislocation in Edna O’Brien’s “Shovel Kings” (Tony Murray)....Pages 229-246 “Coeval but Out of Kilter”: Diaspora, Modernity and “Authenticity” in Irish Emigrant Worker Writing (Michael Pierse)....Pages 247-271 Epilogue (Johanne Devlin Trew, Michael Pierse)....Pages 273-280 Back Matter ....Pages 281-299 Annotation This text provides scholarly perspectives on a range of timely concerns in Irish diaspora studies. It offers a focal point for fresh interchanges and theoretical insights on questions of identity, Irishness, historiography and the academy's role in all of these. In doing so, it chimes with the significant public debates on Irish and Irish emigrant identities that have emerged from Ireland's The Gathering initiative (2013) and that continue to reverberate throughout the Decade of Centenaries (2012-2023) in Ireland, North and South. In ten chapters of new research on key areas of concern in this field, the book sustains a conversation centred on three core questions: what is diaspora in the Irish context and who does it include/exclude? Johanne Devlin Trew, Michael Pierse, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.