1/5/11
Joseph Yacomine
For a named country, examine the role of diasporas in preserving their culture within it
and the adoption of minority traits by host society.
A diaspora is the migration of people from their homeland from which their ancestors
were from. A culture is the way people live: how they dress, what they eat, how they
prepare their food what music they listen to are all cultural traits, and they differ between
cultures. The Irish migrated to Britain due to the severe famine that struck them in the
1840s. Below are the effects that the migration had on the Irish, the effects on Britain,
and the negativity the Irish received in Britain.
The effects on the Irish were focused mainly around their occupations. More than
500,000 Irish came during WWII to serve in the British Armed Forces or to work in the
industry. There were many Irishmen in the British army, more so, in fact, than the Irish
army. According to the 2001 census, approximately 850,000 people in the UK were Irish
by birth.
There were also affects on Britain because of the diaspora. One tenth of the British
population has an Irish grandparent. Irish have migrated to Glasgow, Kilburn,
Birmingham, Portsmouth, Bristol, Nottingham, Newcastle, Coventry and Manchester.
Britain also has St. Patrick’s Day as an official celebration, with three fifths of the
population celebrating, regardless of ethnicity. Also, three football clubs were formed: in
1875 Hibernian, an Irish-linked club, was founded. In 1888 Marist Brother Walfrid
formed the Celtic Football Club in order to raise money for the community and in 1909
was the founding of Dundee United.
The Irish did not have the easiest of times adjusting to their migration the UK. They
were subject to racial treatment, and those who were born in the UK but had Irish
ancestors were given the degrading name “Plastic Paddies”. It has been used in football
matches, and even to an Ireland-originated police officer. The offender of the latter case
received a suspended sentence.
To conclude, the Irish migrated due to need. There are now more Irish living outside of
Ireland then in it. However, this does not mean it has all been bad. Due to the migration,
the Irish have had the opportunity to spread their culture to the UK, as well as many
other countries around the world. Their foods are now in supermarkets in Barbados and
London, their clothes in stores in America. What started out as something bad, turned
out to be something good.