36,000,000 (self-identified, figure includes both Irish nationals and expats living in America, along with Americans that have either primary or partial Irish ancestry)[5]
The population of Ireland is about 6.9 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have varying degrees of Irish ancestry. Historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are found mainly in English-speaking countries, especiallyGreat Britain, theUnited States,Canada,New Zealand andAustralia. There are also significant numbers inArgentina,Mexico,Brazil,Germany, andThe United Arab Emirates. The United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country outside Ireland.[21] ManyIcelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic ancestors due to transportation there asslaves by theVikings during their settlement ofIceland.[22]
During the past 33,000 years,[23][24] Ireland has witnessed different peoples arrive on its shores.
Pytheas made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe in about 325 BC, but his account of it, known widely inAntiquity, has not survived and is now known only through the writings of others. On this voyage, he circumnavigated and visited a considerable part of modern-dayGreat Britain andIreland. He was the first known scientific visitor to see and describe theCeltic andGermanic tribes.[25]
The termsIrish andIreland are probably derived from the goddessÉriu.[26] A variety of tribal groups and dynasties have inhabited the island, including theAirgialla,Fir Ol nEchmacht,Delbhna, the mythicalFir Bolg,Érainn,Eóganachta,Mairtine,Conmaicne,Soghain, andUlaid. In the cases of the Conmaicne, Delbhna, and perhaps Érainn, it can be demonstrated that the tribe took their name from their chief deity, or in the case of the Ciannachta, Eóganachta, and possibly the Soghain, a deified ancestor. This practice is paralleled by theAnglo-Saxon dynasties.
One legend states that the Irish were descended from theMilesians, who supposedly conquered Ireland around 1000 BC or later.[27]
The key traits of the Irish genome have been borne by people in Ireland since the earlyBronze Age, around 4,000 years ago.[28] The world's highest frequencies of theR-L21Y-chromosome haplotype andlactase persistence (the ability to digest milk into adulthood) are found among people in Ireland.[28]
Haplogroup R1b is the dominant haplogroup among Irish males, reaching a frequency of almost 80%.[29] This is also the dominant haplogroup in most of Western Europe.R1b-L21 is the dominant sub-clade throughout Ireland, reaching a frequency of 65%. This subclade is also dominant in Scotland, Wales and Brittany and descends from a common ancestor who lived in about 2,500 BC.[30]
A recentarchaeogenetics study of ancient remains from Ireland found that the older Neolithic farming population was most similar to present-daySardinians. Meanwhile, three Bronze Age men buried onRathlin Island between 2000–1500 BC were most similar to present-day Irish people. They all belonged toHaplogroup R-L21 and had the gene forlactase persistence. This shows strong genetic continuity in Ireland from the Bronze Age to the modern era.[34][28]
It is most likely that these Bronze Age people of the R-L21 haplogroup brought theBell Beaker culture to Ireland, and it is suggested that they also brought anIndo-European language that was an ancestor to theInsular Celtic andGaelic languages.[28] Today, R-L21 is the dominant haplogroup throughout the island of Ireland as well as western Scotland, Wales and Brittany. It is therefore associated with theInsular Celtic peoples.[28]
A 2017 genetic study shows that the Irish population can be divided into ten geographic genetic clusters; seven of 'Gaelic' Irish ancestry, and three of shared Irish-British ancestry. The differences between the 'Gaelic' clusters are small, and are "surprisingly faithful to the historical boundaries of Irish provinces and kingdoms". The largest difference is between native 'Gaelic' Irish populations and those of Ulster Protestants known to have recent, partial British ancestry. They were also found to have most similarity to two main ancestral sources: a 'Northwestern France' component which reached highest levels in the Irish and other Celtic populations (Welsh, Highland Scots and Cornish); and a 'West Norway' component related to the Viking era.[35][36]
Irish people have the least amount of ancestry from theAnglo-Saxons in theBritish Isles at around 10%, which is significantly lower than theirCeltic neighbours inScotland andWales who have got around 30% of their respective genomes being of Anglo-Saxon origin.[37][38]
As of 2016, 10,100 Irish nationals of African descent referred to themselves as"Black Irish" in the national census.[39] The term "Black Irish" is sometimes used outside Ireland to refer to Irish people with black hair and dark eyes. One theory is that they are descendants of Spanish traders or of the few sailors of theSpanish Armada who were shipwrecked on Ireland's west coast, but there is little evidence for this.[40]
Irish Travellers
Irish Travellers are anethnic people ofIreland. ADNA study found they originally descended from the general Irish population, however, they are now very distinct from it. The emergence of Travellers as a distinct group occurred long before theGreat Famine, agenetic analysis shows. The research suggests that Traveller origins may in fact date as far back as 420 years to 1597.The Plantation of Ulster began around that time, with native Irish displaced from the land, perhaps to form a nomadic population.[41]
One Roman historian[which?] records that the Irish people were divided into "sixteen different nations" or tribes.[42] Traditional histories assert that the Romans never attempted to conquer Ireland, although it may have been considered.[42] The Irish were not, however, cut off from Europe; they frequently raided the Roman territories,[42] and also maintained trade links.[43]
...such beautiful fictions of such beautiful ideals, by themselves, presume and prove beautiful-souled people, capable of appreciating lofty ideals.[44]
The introduction of Christianity to the Irish people during the 5th century brought a radical change to the Irish people's foreign relations.[45] The only military raid abroad recorded after that century is a presumed invasion ofWales, which according to a Welsh manuscript may have taken place around the 7th century.[45] In the words of Seumas MacManus:
If we compare the history of Ireland in the 6th century, after Christianity was received, with that of the 4th century, before the coming of Christianity, the wonderful change and contrast is probably more striking than any other such change in any other nation known to history.[45]
Following the conversion of the Irish to Christianity, Irish secular laws and social institutions remained in place.[46]
The 'traditional' view is that, in the 4th or 5th century, Goidelic language and Gaelic culture was brought to Scotland by settlers from Ireland, who founded the Gaelic kingdom ofDál Riata on Scotland's west coast.[47][48] This is based mostly on medieval writings from the 9th and 10th centuries. The archaeologistEwan Campbell argues against this view, saying that there is no archaeological or placename evidence for a migration or a takeover by a small group of elites. He states that "the Irish migration hypothesis seems to be a classic case of long-held historical beliefs influencing not only the interpretation of documentary sources themselves but the subsequent invasion paradigm being accepted uncritically in the related disciplines of archaeology and linguistics."[49] Dál Riata and the territory of the neighbouringPicts merged to form theKingdom of Alba, and Goidelic language and Gaelic culture became dominant there. The country came to be calledScotland, after the Roman name for the Gaels:Scoti. TheIsle of Man and theManx people also came under massive Gaelic influence in their history.
Common to both the monastic and the secular bardic schools were Irish andLatin. With Latin, the early Irish scholars "show almost a like familiarity that they do with their own Gaelic".[51] There is evidence also thatHebrew andGreek were studied, the latter probably being taught at Iona.[52]
"The knowledge of Greek", says Professor Sandys in his History of Classical Scholarship, "which had almost vanished in the west was so widely dispersed in the schools of Ireland that if anyone knew Greek it was assumed he must have come from that country."'[53]
Since the time ofCharlemagne, Irish scholars had a considerable presence in theFrankish court, where they were renowned for their learning.[54] The most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period was the 9th centuryJohannes Scotus Eriugena, an outstanding philosopher in terms of originality.[54] He was the earliest of the founders ofscholasticism, the dominant school ofmedieval philosophy.[55] He had considerable familiarity with the Greek language, and translated many works into Latin, affording access to theCappadocian Fathers and theGreek theological tradition, previously almost unknown in the Latin West.[54]
The influx ofViking raiders and traders in the 9th and 10th centuries resulted in the founding of many of Ireland's most important towns, includingCork, Dublin,Limerick, andWaterford (earlier Gaelic settlements on these sites did not approach the urban nature of the subsequent Norse trading ports). The Vikings left little impact on Ireland other than towns and certain words added to the Irish language, but many Irish taken as slaves inter-married with the Scandinavians, hence forming a close link with theIcelandic people. In the IcelandicLaxdœla saga, for example, "even slaves are highborn, descended from the kings of Ireland."[56] The first name ofNjáll Þorgeirsson, the chief protagonist ofNjáls saga, is a variation of the Irish nameNeil. According toEirik the Red's Saga, the first European couple to have a child born in North America was descended from the VikingQueen of Dublin,Aud the Deep-minded, and a Gaelic slave brought to Iceland.[20]
The Irish were among the first people in Europe to use surnames as we know them today.[57] It is very common for people ofGaelic origin to have the English versions of their surnames beginning with 'Ó' or 'Mac' (Over time however many have been shortened to 'O' or Mc). 'O' comes from the Irish Ó which in turn came from Ua, which means "grandson", or "descendant" of a named person. Mac is the Irish for son.
Names that begin with Mac or Mc include: Mac Cárthaigh (McCarthy), Mac Diarmada (McDermott), Mac Domhnaill (McDonnell), and Mac Mathghamhna (McMahon) Mac(g) Uidhir (Maguire), Mac Dhonnchadha (McDonagh), Mac Conmara (MacNamara), Mac Craith (McGrath), Mac Aodha (McGee), Mac Aonghuis (McGuinness), Mac Cana (McCann), Mac Lochlainn (McLaughlin) and Mac Conallaidh (McNally). Mac is commonly anglicised Mc. However, "Mac" and "Mc" are not mutually exclusive, so, for example, both "MacCarthy" and "McCarthy" are used. Both "Mac" and "Ó'" prefixes are both Irish in origin, Anglicized Prefix Mc is far more common in Ireland than Scotland with 2/3 of all Mc Surnames being Irish in origin[58] However, "Mac" is more common in Scotland andUlster than in the rest of Ireland; furthermore, "Ó" surnames are less common in Scotland having been brought to Scotland from Ireland.[59] The proper surname for a woman in Irish uses the feminine prefix nic (meaning daughter) in place of mac. Thus a boy may be called Mac Domhnaill whereas his sister would be called Nic Dhomhnaill or Ní Dhomhnaill – the insertion of 'h' follows the female prefix in the case of most consonants (bar H, L, N, R, & T).
A son has the same surname as his father. A female's surname replaces Ó with Ní (reduced from Iníon Uí – "daughter of the grandson of") and Mac with Nic (reduced from Iníon Mhic – "daughter of the son of"); in both cases the following name undergoes lenition. However, if the second part of the surname begins with the letter C or G, it is not lenited after Nic.[citation needed] Thus the daughter of a man named Ó Maolagáin has the surnameNí Mhaolagáin and the daughter of a man named Mac Gearailt has the surnameNic Gearailt. When anglicised, the name can remain O' or Mac, regardless of gender.
There are a number of Irish surnames derived from Norse personal names, includingMac Suibhne (Sweeney) from Swein and McAuliffe from "Olaf". The nameCotter, local toCounty Cork, derives from the Norse personal name Ottir. The nameReynolds is an Anglicization of the Irish Mac Raghnaill, itself originating from the Norse names Randal or Reginald. Though these names were of Viking derivation some of the families who bear them appear to have had Gaelic origins.
"Fitz" is an old Norman French variant of the Old French wordfils (variant spellingsfilz,fiuz,fiz, etc.), used by the Normans, meaningson. TheNormans themselves were descendants ofVikings, who had settled inNormandy and thoroughly adopted the French language and culture.[60] With the exception of the Gaelic-IrishFitzpatrick (Mac Giolla Phádraig) surname, all names that begin with Fitz – includingFitzGerald (Mac Gearailt),Fitzsimons (Mac Síomóin/Mac an Ridire) and FitzHenry (Mac Anraí) – are descended from the initial Norman settlers. A small number of Irish families ofGoidelic origin came to use a Norman form of their original surname—so that Mac Giolla Phádraig became Fitzpatrick—while some assimilated so well that the Irish name was dropped in favour of a new, Hiberno-Norman form. Another common Irish surname ofNorman Irish origin is the 'de' habitational prefix, meaning 'of' and originally signifying prestige and land ownership. Examples include de Búrca (Burke), de Brún, de Barra (Barry), de Stac (Stack), de Tiúit, de Faoite (White), de Londras (Landers), de Paor (Power). The Irish surname "Walsh" (in IrishBreathnach) was routinely given to settlers ofWelsh origin, who had come during and after the Norman invasion. The Joyce and Griffin/Griffith (Gruffydd) families are also of Welsh origin.
The Mac Lochlainn, Ó Maol Seachlainn, Ó Maol Seachnaill, Ó Conchobhair, Mac Loughlin and Mac Diarmada families, all distinct, are now all subsumed together as MacLoughlin. The full surname usually indicated which family was in question, something that has been diminished with the loss of prefixes such as Ó and Mac. Different branches of a family with the same surname sometimes used distinguishing epithets, which sometimes became surnames in their own right. Hence the chief of the clan Ó Cearnaigh (Kearney) was referred to as An Sionnach (Fox), which his descendants use to this day. Similar surnames are often found in Scotland for many reasons, such as the use of a common language and mass Irish migration to Scotland in the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries.
Late Medieval and Tudor Ireland
A 16th century perception of Irish women and girls, illustrated in the manuscript "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel". Painted byLucas d'Heere in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Preserved in theGhent University Library.[61]
The Irish people of the Late Middle Ages were active as traders on the European continent.[62] They were distinguished from the English (who only used their own language or French) in that they only usedLatin abroad—a language "spoken by all educated people throughout Gaeldom".[63] According to the writerSeumas MacManus, the explorerChristopher Columbus visited Ireland to gather information about the lands to the west,[64] a number of Irish names are recorded on Columbus' crew roster preserved in the archives ofMadrid and it was an Irishman named Patrick Maguire who was the first to set foot in theAmericas in 1492;[64] however, according toMorison and Miss Gould[clarification needed], who made a detailed study of the crew list of 1492, no Irish or English sailors were involved in the voyage.[65]
An English report of 1515 states that the Irish people were divided into over sixty Gaelic lordships and thirty Anglo-Irish lordships.[46] The English term for these lordships was "nation" or "country".[46] The Irish term "oireacht" referred to both the territory and the people ruled by the lord.[46] Literally, it meant an "assembly", where theBrehons would hold their courts upon hills to arbitrate the matters of the lordship.[46] Indeed, the Tudor lawyerJohn Davies described the Irish people with respect to their laws:
There is no people under the sun that doth love equal and indifferent (impartial) justice better than the Irish, or will rest better satisfied with the execution thereof, although it be against themselves, as they may have the protection and benefit of the law upon which just cause they do desire it.[66]
Another English commentator records that the assemblies were attended by "all the scum of the country"—the labouring population as well as the landowners.[46] While the distinction between "free" and "unfree" elements of the Irish people was unreal in legal terms, it was a social and economic reality.[46] Social mobility was usually downwards, due to social and economic pressures.[46] The ruling clan's "expansion from the top downwards" was constantly displacing commoners and forcing them into the margins of society.[46]
As a clan-based society,genealogy was all important.[46] Ireland 'was justly styled a "Nation of Annalists"'.[67] The various branches of Irish learning—including law, poetry, history and genealogy, and medicine—were associated with hereditary learned families.[68] The poetic families included theUí Dhálaigh (Daly) and theMacGrath.[46] Irish physicians, such as the O'Briens inMunster or the MacCailim Mor in theWestern Isles, were renowned in the courts of England, Spain, Portugal and the Low Countries.[66] Learning was not exclusive to the hereditary learned families, however; one such example isCathal Mac Manus, the 15th century diocesan priest who wrote theAnnals of Ulster.[68] Other learned families included theMic Aodhagáin andClann Fhir Bhisigh.[68] It was this latter family which producedDubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh, the 17th century genealogist and compiler of theLeabhar na nGenealach. (see alsoIrish medical families).
The 16th centuryAge of Discovery brought an interest among the English to colonize Ireland with the reign of the Tudors. King Henry IV established surrender and regrants to the Irish, but it was not until the Catholic queenMary I of England who started the first plantations in Ireland in 1550, this would become the model for English colonization moving forward in Ireland and would later form the British imperial model[69][70] The 1550 plantation counties were known as Philipstown (now Daingean) and Maryborough (now Portlaoise) named by the English planters at the time.[71] A group of explorers, known as theWest Country Men, were active in Ireland at around this time.
After the defeat of the Irish in Ulster in theNine Years' War (Ireland); which was not exclusively confined to Ulster. The English would try again to colonize Ireland fearing another rebellion in Ulster, using previous colonial Irish endeavours as their influence. King James would succeed Queen Elizabeth the I, because King James I was previously King James VI of Scotland, he would plant both English and Scottish in the plantations of Ulster drawing upon the Munster Plantations, this proved to be the most successful they were settled in what's mostly Now Northern Ireland. ThePlantations of Ireland introduced Tudor English settlers to Ireland, while ThePlantation of Ulster in the 17th century introduced a great number of Scottish and to a lesser extent English as well as FrenchHuguenots as colonists. All previous endeavours were solely an English venture. TheLord ProtectorOliver Cromwell (1653–1658) after the defeat of the Irish rebels would also plant New English in Ireland, known as the Protestant ascendency.
Known asAn Górta Mór ("The Great Hunger") in the Irish language, during the famine millions of Irish people died and emigrated during Ireland's largest famine. The famine lasted from 1845 – 1849, and it was worst in the year 1847, which became known as Black '47. The famine occurred due to the extremely impoverished Irish population's staple food the potato being infected withBlight, and the British administration appropriating all other crops and livestock to feed her armies abroad.[80] This meant the crop failed and turned black. Starving people who tried to eat them would only vomit it back up soon afterwards. Soup kitchens were set up but made little difference. The British government produced little aid, only sending raw corn known as 'Peel's Brimstone' to Ireland. It was known by this name after the British Prime Minister at the time,Robert Peel, and the fact that many Irish weren't aware of how to cook corn. This led to little or no improvement. The British government set up workhouses which were disease-ridden (with cholera, TB and others) but they also failed as little food was available and many died on arrival as they were overworked. Some British political figures at the time saw the famine as a purge from God to exterminate the majority of the native Irish population.[citation needed]
Irish people emigrated to escape the famine journeying predominantly to the east coast of theUnited States, especiallyBoston andNew York, as well asLiverpool in England, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Many records show the majority of Irish emigrants to Australia were in fact prisoners. A substantial proportion of these committed crimes in hopes of being extradited to Australia, favouring it to the persecution and hardships they endured in their homeland. Emigrants travelled on 'Coffin Ships', which got their name from the often high mortality rates on board. Many died of disease or starved. Conditions on board were abysmal - tickets were expensive so stowaways were common, and little food stuff was given to passengers who were simply viewed as cargo in the eyes of the ship workers. Notable coffin ships include theJeanie Johnston and theDunbrody.
There are statues and memorials in Dublin, New York and other cities in memory of the famine.The Fields of Athenry is a late-20th century song about the Great Famine and is often sung at national team sporting events in memory and homage to those affected by the famine.[citation needed]
The Great Famine is one of the biggest events in Irish history and is ingrained in the identity on the nation to this day. It was a major factor inIrish nationalism and Ireland's fight for independence during subsequent rebellions, as many Irish people felt a stronger need to regain independence from British rule after the famine.[citation needed]
After theIrish War of Independence (1919–1921) theAnglo-Irish Treaty was signed which led to the formation of the independentIrish Free State (now the independent Republic of Ireland) which consisted of 26 of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. The remaining six counties in the northeast remained in the United Kingdom asNorthern Ireland. It is predominantly religion, historical, and political differences that divide the two communities of (nationalism andunionism). Four polls taken between 1989 and 1994 revealed that when asked to state their national identity, over 79% of Northern Irish Protestants replied "British" or "Ulster" with 3% or less replying "Irish", while over 60% of Northern Irish Catholics replied "Irish" with 13% or less replying "British" or "Ulster".[81] A survey in 1999 showed that 72% of Northern Irish Protestants considered themselves "British" and 2% "Irish", with 68% of Northern Irish Catholics considering themselves "Irish" and 9% "British".[82] The survey also revealed that 78% of Protestants and 48% of all respondents felt "Strongly British", while 77% of Catholics and 35% of all respondents felt "Strongly Irish". 51% of Protestants and 33% of all respondents felt "Not at all Irish", while 62% of Catholics and 28% of all respondents felt "Not at all British".[83][84][citation needed]
In theRepublic of Ireland, as of 2022, 3.5 million people or about 69.1% of the population are Catholic.[85] InNorthern Ireland, about 41.6% of the population are Protestant (19.1% Presbyterian, 13.7% Church of Ireland, 3.0% Methodist, 5.8% other Christian) whilst approximately 40.8% are Catholic as of 2011.
The 31stInternational Eucharistic Congress was held inDublin in 1932, that year being the supposed 1,500th anniversary of Saint Patrick's arrival. Ireland was then home to 3,171,697 Catholics, about a third of whom attended the Congress.[86][87] It was noted inTime Magazine that the Congress' special theme would be "the Faith of the Irish".[86] The massive crowds were repeated at PopeJohn Paul II'sMass in Phoenix Park in 1979.[88] The idea of faith has affected the question of Irish identity even in relatively recent times, apparently more so for Catholics and Irish-Americans. Today the majority of Irish people in theRepublic of Ireland identify as Catholic, although church attendance has significantly dropped in recent decades. InNorthern Ireland, where almost 50% of the population isProtestant, there has also been a decline in attendances.
What defines an Irishman? His faith, his place of birth? What of the Irish-Americans? Are they Irish? Who is more Irish, a Catholic Irishman such asJames Joyce who is trying to escape from his Catholicism and from his Irishness, or a Protestant Irishman likeOscar Wilde who is eventually becoming Catholic? Who is more Irish... someone likeC. S. Lewis, an Ulster Protestant, who is walking towards it, even though he never ultimately crosses the threshold?[89]
This has been a matter of concern over the last century for the followers of nationalist ideologists such asD. P. Moran.
Thomas Davis, a prominentProtestant Irish nationalist and founder of the Irish nationalistYoung Ireland movement, identified the Irish as aCeltic nation.[90] He estimated that ethnically, 5/6ths of the nation were either of Gaelic Irish-origin, or descended from returned Scottish Gaels (including much of theUlster Scots) and some Celtic Welsh (such as his own ancestors and those carrying surnames such as Walsh and Griffiths).[90] As part of this he was a staunch supporter of theIrish language as the "national language".[90] In regards to the Germanic minority in Ireland (of Norman and Anglo-Saxon origin) he believed that they could be assimilated into Irishness if they had a "willingness to be part of the Irish Nation".[91]
History and geography have placed Ireland in a very special location between America and Europe... As Irish people our relationships with the United States and theEuropean Union are complex. Geographically we are closer to Berlin than Boston. Spiritually we are probably a lot closer to Boston than Berlin. –Mary Harney,Tánaiste, 2000[92]
The Irish diaspora consists of Irishemigrants and their descendants incountries such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and nations of theCaribbean such asJamaica andBarbados. These countries all have large minorities of Irish descent, who in addition form the core of the Catholic Church in those countries.
Many Irish people were also transported to the island ofMontserrat, to work asindentured servants, exiled prisoners or slaves. UnlikeAfricanchattel slaves, the majority of Irish labourers who were sent to Montserrat did so by personal choice.[93] Some were Irish Confederate troops exiled by the English ParliamentarianOliver Cromwell following theIrish Confederate Wars. The African slave population on the island attempted a rebellion against the Irish plantation owners on 17 March 1768. The date was chosen with the idea that the plantation owners would be distracted by St. Patrick's day festivities, but the plot was ultimately discovered and several of those involved were put to death. To this day, the Island celebratesSt. Patrick's Day as a public holiday to commemorate the revolt and honour those who lost their lives.[94] People of Irish descent also feature strongly in Latin America, especially inArgentina and important minorities inBrazil, Chile, andMexico. In 1995, PresidentMary Robinson reached out to the "70 million people worldwide who can claim Irish descent".[95] Today thediaspora is believed to contain an estimated 80 million people.[96]
There are also large Irish communities in some mainland European countries, notably in Spain, France and Germany. Between 1585 and 1818, over half a million Irish departed Ireland to serve in the wars on the Continent, in a constant emigration romantically styled the"Flight of the Wild Geese" and, before that, in the 'Flight of the Earls', just before thePlantation of Ulster.[97] In the early years of theEnglish Civil War, a French traveller remarked that the Irish "are better soldiers abroad than at home".[98] Later, Irish brigades in France and Spain would fight in theWars of the Spanish andAustrian Succession and theNapoleonic Wars.[97] In the words ofField MarshalThe 1st Duke of Wellington, the Irish-born 'Iron Duke', a notable representative of theIrish military diaspora, "Ireland was an inexhaustible nursery for the finest soldiers".[99]
In the mid-19th century, large numbers of Irish immigrants were conscripted intoIrish regiments of theUnited States Army at the time of theMexican–American War. The vast majority of the 4,811 Irish-born soldiers served in the U.S. Army, but some deserted to theMexican Army, primarily to escape mistreatment by Protestant officers and the strong anti-Catholic discrimination in America.[115] These were theSan Patricios, orSaint Patrick's Battalion—a group of Irish led byGalway-bornJohn O'Riley, with someGerman,Scottish andAmerican Catholics.[115] They fought until their surrender at the decisiveBattle of Churubusco, and were executed outsideMexico City by the American government on 13 September 1847.[115] The battalion is commemorated in Mexico each year on 12 September.[116]
During the 18th and 19th centuries, 300,000 free emigrants and 45,000 convicts left Ireland to settle in Australia.[117] Today, Australians of Irish descent are one of the largest self-reported ethnic groups in Australia, after English and Australian. In the 2006Census, 1,803,741 residents identified themselves as having Irish ancestry either alone or in combination with another ancestry.[118] However this figure does not include Australians with an Irish background who chose to nominate themselves as 'Australian' or other ancestries. The Australian embassy in Dublin states that up to thirty per cent of the population claim some degree of Irish ancestry.[119]
It is believed that as many as 30,000 Irish people emigrated to Argentina between the 1830s and the 1890s.[12] This was encouraged by the clergy, as they considered a Catholic country, Argentina, preferable to a more Protestant United States. This flow of emigrants dropped sharply when assisted passage to Australia was introduced at which point the Argentine government responded with their own scheme and wrote to Irish bishops, seeking their support. However, there was little or no planning for the arrival of a large number of immigrants, no housing, no food.[120] Many died, others made their way to the United States and other destinations, some returned to Ireland, a few remained and prospered.Thomas Croke Archbishop of Cashel, said: "I most solemnly conjure my poorer countrymen, as they value their happiness hereafter, never to set foot on the Argentine Republic however tempted to do so they may be by offers of a passage or an assurance of comfortable homes."[121] Some notable Argentines of Irish descent and Irish people who settled in Argentina includeChe Guevara, former presidentEdelmiro Julián Farrell, and admiralWilliam Brown.
There are people of Irish descent all over South America, such as the Chilean liberatorBernardo O'Higgins and the Peruvian photographerMario Testino. Although some Irish retained their surnames intact, others were assimilated into the Spanish vernacular. The last nameO'Brien, for example, becameObregón.[citation needed]
^American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau."U.S. Census Bureau, 2007". Factfinder.census.gov. Archived fromthe original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved30 May 2010.
^Toman, p 10: "Abelard himself was... together with John Scotus Erigena (9th century), andLanfranc andAnselm of Canterbury (both 11th century), one of the founders of scholasticism."
^Hallinan, Conn Malachi (1977). "The Subjugation and Division of Ireland: Testing Ground for Colonial Policy".Crime and Social Justice (8):53–57.JSTOR29766019.
^An Act whereby the King and Queen's Majesties, and the Heires and Successors of the Queen, be entituled to the Countries of Leix, Slewmarge, Irry, Glimnaliry, and Offaily, and for making the same Countries Shire Grounds."; Phil. & Mar., 1556 c.2
^Martin Marix Evans; David Lyons (October 2003). A terrible beauty. Gill & Macmillan. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
^Andrews, Kenneth (1984).Trade, Plunder and Settlement: Maritime Enterprise and the Genesis of the British Empire, 1480–1630. Cambridge University Press. p. 184.
^MacCarthy-Morrogh, Michael (1983).The Munster Plantation, 1583–1641(PDF) (PhD). Royal Holloway College, London University.Archived(PDF) from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved29 August 2021.
^The figure 1,250,000 is mentioned on the commemorative stone at the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park, Dublin; a quarter of the population of the island of Ireland, or a third of the population of Republic of Ireland
^Pearce, Joseph (March–April 2007). "Editorial: The Celtic Enigma".St. Austin Review.7 (2). Ave Maria University, Naples, Florida: Sapientia Press: 1.
^abcThomas Davis (28 February 2013)."Our National Language". From-Ireland.net.Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved18 October 2016.
^Ryan, Sean (2006)."Botany Bay 1791–1867". Wild Geese Heritage Museum and Library Portumna, Co. Galway.Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved27 May 2009.
^Cole, Patrick (29 March 1889)."Irish Emigrants to the Argentine Republic". Western Daily Press. Retrieved29 November 2015 – viaBritish Newspaper Archive.It is a sad and pitiable sight to see Irish mothers with, in some cases, their dying babes in their arms ... ... in many cases mothers sold their clothing from their backs to procure food for their starving children
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