Prelims; Dedication; Contents; List of Plates; Acknowledgements; Introduction; CHAPTER ONE 'Happier amongst your own': The Settled Irish Community; CHAPTER TWO 'A Besieged community'? The Troubles and Irish London; CHAPTER THREE 'How can you be Irish with an accent like that?' The Second-Generation in London; CHAPTER FOUR Epilogue The 1980s: The Community Comes of Age; Plate Section; Appendix Biographies of Interviewees; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Summary
The myth of return was sacred to the majority of the Irish who left the 'ould sod' to work in post-war Britain. Generally this dream was left unfulfilled, and several English cities became their permanent homes, leaving them as the largest 'ethnic minority' in Britain. This accessible book focuses on Irish experiences in the most popular destination for Irish emigration in the twentieth century - London and the south-east of England in the times of The Troubles. Over 30 original interviews with first generation and second generation emigrants born in the English capital, as well as archival
