The London Irish in the Long Eighteenth Century 1680-1830'
On 13-14 April the University of Warwick hosted academics from the UK, Ireland, and the US who
participated in a conference on the topic of 'The London Irish in the Long Eighteenth Century 16801830'. The conference was supported by generous sponsorship by the Humanities Research Centre,
the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, the British Association for Irish Studies,
and the Irish Embassy to the United Kingdom.
The Irish became an intrinsic part of the London population through the course of the eighteenth
century. Whether Catholic and Protestant, professional or plebeian, London provided opportunities for
waves of Irish migrants. Irish migrants were of course found throughout Britain (and Europe) at this
time but London offered a burgeoning world capital that embraced all tiers of Irish society. The Irish,
from both sides of the religious divide, could be found almost anywhere in London: in its kitchens,
drawing rooms, legal chambers, banking houses, theatres, newspaper offices, and courts.
However, scholarly attention to this significant migrant population has been patchy and the
conference set out to bring together various scholars working on the topic and to think through new
methodological frameworks developing this field of study further. Papers on Irish political networks,
Freemasons, criminals, dramatists, and even a surprising account of Irish hurling being played in
London in the eighteenth century offer a sample of the rich tapestry of diasporic experience
uncovered at the conference.
Plenary papers were given by Professor Mary Hickman (London Metropolitan University)
‘Conceptualising the London Irish: Perspectives on Diaspora in the long 18th Century’; Dr Toby
Barnard (University of Oxford) 'London and the Irish: the tangible and intangible'; and, Professor
Claire Connolly (Cardiff University) '"London Revisited": conversations and comparisons across time
and space'. The conference was a great success and a special issue of Eighteenth-Century Life will
contain a selection of extended conference contributions.
David O'Shaughnessy,
Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies