No British city has ever been so fundamentally affected by a mass
influx of immigrants as was Glasgow in the mid 19th century. But
these immigrants were no economic scroungers or asylum-seekers.
They fled in their thousands from the starvation that was gripping
their homeland of Ireland, the poorest and most deprived country in
Europe. Their plight was harrowing, their physical condition
pitiful, but if they hoped to find a quick fix on reaching Scotland
they were to be disappointed. No welfare or charity was offered to
them, the locals regarded them as vermin, and city officials were
unscrupulous in their zeal to ship every Irish man, woman and child
back to starvation. What happened next is a story both romantic and
inspirational, and one that says much about the Irish character and
Scottish pride. Most of the refugees managed to evade the petty
officials and outfaced the hostility of their 'hosts', clinging on
to the dream of a new life. They succeeded in a way that was to
shape the future not only of Glasgow but of the whole United
Kingdom and its Industrial Revolution. Glaswegian journalist John
Burrowes has documented the story in an engaging and incisive way,
unearthing skeletons that many Britons might prefer to have kept
buried. We learn of the appalling conditions faced by the refugees
on tiny, overcrowded vessels and the courage they needed on
reaching their promised land. The assimilation of such numbers of
'foreigners' into a single city was always bound to be fraught, and
it was not accomplished without riots and other forms of social
upheaval. Today's Glaswegians look back with gratitude to those
hardworking Irish immigrants who helped turn the city into one of
Europe's great powerhouses. They were even responsible for the
formation of Scotland's two most famous football clubs - Celtic and
Rangers. There are salutary lessons for us all in this tale of
privation and evolving social history, and John Burrowes has done a
remarkable job in telling it. (Kirkus UK)
Irish is the story of the mass migration from Ireland to Glasgow
that took place in the wake of the Great Famine of the
mid-nineteenth century. It is an epic account of the coming
together of a nation and a city. This is the tale of those who
escaped a nightmare existence in the poorest and most deprived
country in Europe and changed the city of Glasgow forever. Irish
brings to life the horrot of those grim days and reveals the
unimaginable suffering endured as a result of the Potatoe Blight.
It describes in vivid detail the hazards and hardships faced by
those fleeing Ireland in search of a better life overseas,
including a startling account of one of the most deplorable
maritime crimes ever committed, the voyage of the SS Londonderry.
The coming of the Irish to Glasgow had a bigger impact on the city
than other event. Now, for the first time, the truth about this
most significant and stirring episode is vividly unfolded. It tells
of the contribution made by Irish labourers in Glasgow to the
Industrial Revolution; reveals that the legendary football clubs of
Celtic and Rangers may never have existed were it not for the
migrant's arrival; and describes the "Partick War", and the
occasion of the first-ever Orange Walk.
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