Edited by Charlotte Lewis ,
Dedicated to my friends and their friends who left home for the year and are yet to come back.
The Irish Government defines the Irish diaspora as ‘all persons of Irish nationality who habitually reside outside of the island of Ireland. This includes Irish citizens who have emigrated abroad and their children, who are Irish citizens by descent under Irish law.’ The diaspora is famed for its numbers, enthusiasm, and the vast nature of its international reach. The diaspora provided the funds required for several struggles for independence, including the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, and The Troubles, it inspired literary classics such as the Under the Hawthorne series and Philadelphia Here I Come!, it is the reason St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated so fondly in so many corners of the Earth, and the reason Jamaican people say the word bathroom like they are from Munster.
It is impossible to talk about the diaspora without mentioning An Gorta Mór, more commonly known, particularly outside of Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine. An Gorta Mór translates to The Great Hunger, which many Irish people consider to be a more appropriate title given that there was, in fact, a substantial amount of food and resources in the country at the time. The British government adopted a policy of laissez-faire, believing that if the Irish were to starve, then that was the will of God. This led to the continuous exportation of produce that could have nourished those who needed it most. This is not to say that successive British governments continued to sit on their hands, however, the action that was eventually taken was too little, too late. It is estimated that between 1845 and 1851, one million Irish people died of starvation or hunger-related disease, and a further one million emigrated, many of whom, if not most, never returned. In fact, Ireland's population only reached pre-Gorta Mór levels in 2021.
Irish emigration, however, did not start with An Gorta Mór, and it didn’t end there either. Poverty, war, and oppression meant that Irish people continued to leave home en masse. Some went in search of labour across the Irish Sea, some chased the American dream across the North Atlantic, and others went to find the roots made for them by their ancestors in places like Australia. Still, this tradition continues today. Between April 2022 and April 2023, 64,000 people emigrated from the Republic of Ireland alone.
So, what’s the reason for it? Ireland has her issues of course but gone are the days of most of her population living in abstract poverty, she has removed colonialist rule from twenty-six of her thirty-two counties, and the six counties still under British control have enjoyed a period of peace for more than twenty years now. The answer is an interesting one, but one that is often presented through academic studies, political criticism, and economic figures, which creates the image of the diaspora as a statistical block, a number of people presented as a whole, as opposed to real, human individuals with families, and loved ones and a life that they have decided is better off away from the country in which they were born.
It is for this reason that I have spoken with twelve individual members, former members, or members-to-be of the Irish diaspora, to gain a better understanding of their position. I will offer no commentary on their contributions, instead, I will allow you, the reader, to find the painful circumstances, and tragic conditions that connect them all as one exiled diaspora. This is what they have to say:
Dearbhla, 26, is from Dublin/Wicklow. After the inherent feeling of restriction that came with the COVID-19 lockdowns, she decided to move to Amsterdam for a year, which has since turned into two years, and will likely turn into more. I asked her why; “A lack of care, attention, and just feeling not so embraced by my country as a young person. I felt like it was a good time to leave. In my head, it’s not forever. I do intend to return, tá Gaeilge líofe agam freisin agus I want my kids to grow up speaking Irish. I always see myself ending up in Ireland but under no circumstances do I see myself there in my 20s … There’s nowhere to sit in Dublin- There’s nowhere to hang out. It’s antisocial and it’s anti-youth. It’s geared towards people who work Monday to Friday, nine to five, in a big corporation and they go home, and they have money on the weekends to go to fancy restaurants and fancy bars, but the culture is disappearing.”
When asked what would have to change for her to return, she told me, “I would need to feel from my government that they care. We all know they don’t care about homelessness, because it’s been a crisis that keeps growing and growing. It’s like, we want you to actually care … but it’s just not happening … The general attitude towards the arts, leisure, entertainment, and just those things that make us magic as a country- The land of saints and scholars has been eroded by neoliberalism, capitalism, the housing crisis… the usual.”
Sadhbh, 31, is from Cavan, when I spoke to her she was getting ready to move to London, “for the foreseeable.” I asked her why she was leaving, “I’m leaving Ireland because I don’t see any opportunities for myself here unfortunately at the moment. Which is heartbreaking because I’m very proud to be Irish and I love Ireland, but I feel squeezed out of Ireland … Ireland is amazing at many things culturally, sports and the arts, etc, but politically Ireland is so neoliberal and it has to change. I will be flying home to vote in the next election.”
Laura, 26, was born in Cork but moved to Hong Kong in 2011, she later moved to Dundee for university at the age of 18. Due to leaving Ireland at a young age, she doesn’t miss it the same way others do, “I don’t feel the same pull to eventually return ‘home’ as many other Irish emigrants may do. From my perspective that ‘pull’ to return often comes down to wanting to return to friends and family which I don’t relate to as much. I guess in part this is because I left with my family rather than on my own and also because I left at 14, I don’t have friends in Ireland that I keep in contact with.”
Despite not experiencing this longing, she keeps an eye on what’s going on in the country she was born in, “The news of Ireland that reaches me tells of a country that is squeezing its young people and disadvantaged more and more … This trend just perpetuates the cycle of Irish emigration and the further that goes on the less ‘pull’ there will be for emigrants to ever return … It’s clear that housing supply and affordability is another big issue facing Ireland and it also seems like everything is very Dublin-centric.”
Laura went on to provide a relevant and insightful anecdote, “Several months into studying here in Dundee, I received a cheque back from the university for my first year of tuition which I’d paid. It turned out that in addition to Scottish students receiving free university tuition, European students also receive that benefit for the whole duration of their degree. The irony is that if I had decided to return to Ireland for university, I would have had to pay international student fees despite being Irish. This is due to a rule that states you have to have lived in Ireland for at least 3 of the preceding 5 years prior to beginning university to be eligible for domestic students’ fees.”
Tadhg, 18, experienced a similar situation. His family moved from Kerry to Australia, and then the United States, following the 2008 financial crash (another huge factor in Irish emigration). Tadhg has since returned home, and he spoke about the difficulties of doing this, “My family was part of the 76,400 that left in that year, an invisible herd who accepted the fact that if they ever chose to return to Ireland, they may never re-assimilate again. Upon my return to Ireland in 2021, I entered fifth year in school, with ambitions of sitting the Leaving Cert in 2023. As the end of 5th year came, I was informed that I was not eligible for the Higher Education Grant (HEG) Scheme, despite being an Irish-born Citizen. I was denied the progression in my education despite my parents' tax contributions to the state while we were abroad. I had to repeat the year to reach the required 3 years of consecutive education in this country to be eligible for the HEG scheme. Re-assimilating into Irish life is not an easy task, oftentimes there's a resentment towards returning diaspora members as if their actions were not essential for their survival and wellbeing.”
When asked about his experience of growing up away from home, Tadhg said, “Being abroad from Ireland inflicts a sentiment of a stripped identity. The constant longing for repatriation is conflicted with a rationale of the new quality of life and opportunities that would be considered a fever dream in Ireland … It can oftentimes feel like a solemn state of existence, particularly as a schoolchild. It's extremely difficult to integrate into environments that are built around a completely alien culture. As a child you can become a social novelty and your whole identity is associated with being Irish. The regressive stereotypes still apply to children, and you’d get bored listening to the ‘Drunken Paddy’ narrative.”
Nathan, 24, is from Derry and lives in Edinburgh, he told me, “I think socially Ireland is suffering from a lot of the same issues it always has, partition, political ineptitude from Stormont, lack of rural development, landlordism … It is also beginning to suffer from the same populist issues surrounding the refugee crisis (which will only worsen with climate change and subsequent war) but at the root of those issues is the lack of housing.” He went on to say, “While it’s a great thing that the Irish diaspora is so vast that we can feel at home almost anywhere, it’s sad that many of these people haven’t left due to wanderlust but for better outcomes and opportunities, even still in the 21st century. Will this ever stop? Is it Irish destiny, now just ingrained into the culture, to leave when you’re 18?”
Hag, 51, moved from Cork to the Kingdom of Bahrain after being made redundant in 2010 after ten years. I asked him about the possibility of returning home, “Eventually. I think we’ll retire there ... I don’t feel that returning to Ireland in my mid to late 50s to work is an option. Home is still Ireland, but I don’t have a connection to my hometown anymore other than my parents being there ... Ireland is very close to our hearts, and we love going back but it’s unaffordable to buy a home there … I don’t believe in our political class.”
Hag moved away with his wife, Lol, 46, originally from Sligo, who says, “We were growing up knowing we were going to leave home because there was no industry.”
“The cost of living is also extremely high,” says Hag, “I feel sad because I see how the cost of living affects my family and friends. I feel despair that despite earning good salaries, we still may never be able to own a home in Ireland … But I feel hope when I see the new love for the Irish language and culture developing among the young … I feel optimistic looking at my nieces and nephew growing up with a genuine love for home, and they are so far ahead of us technologically and socially than when we were their age.”
I asked the couple if they missed home, “Absolutely,” says Lol, who said, “Sometimes you just want to go home and have a cup of tea … Leaving Ireland was definitely one of the best things I’ve done in my life. I have no regrets leaving. I suppose I just fear sometimes I’ll never be able to come back.” “Yes, always,” says Hag, who went on to tell me, “When you’re 10 hours from your family, and they’re elderly and vulnerable, it’s tough … My brother is a diabetic and he had a very rough time during covid – he had his left leg amputated from below the knee in January 2021 and is lucky to be alive ... I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d been there, could I have prevented it.”
Kelly, 36, moved to London from Clare for what was supposed to be two years, it has now been fifteen years. When speaking of her reasons for leaving she said, “It’s not the elephants that get you, it’s the ants.” When asked about returning home, “I would love to, but it does not seem feasible … Looking at things at the minute, it’s just with the housing stuff, if there’s one place that seems to be worse than London it seems to be Ireland, and that’s across the country.”
I asked her what would have to change at home, “I would need to be making more money ... It would just be incredibly expensive to go home and be able to live any kind of decent life… and by that, I mean just having the luxury of living alone. The big thing is the housing and the cost of it … I’ll have to pay for health insurance if I go back, whereas we have the NHS over here, for however long we have it.”
Zara, 23, is from Leighlinbridge in Carlow. She moved to Sliema, Malta for her Erasmus, and decided to return, living there for two years now. “I came back to study for a master's here. They’re free apart from the registration fee so it was obviously more attractive to me than spending eight grand upwards in Ireland … I couldn’t afford to live in Ireland. Studying a master’s there, between fees and rent would have put me in debt and I didn’t want that. My other option- staying in Ireland and continuing to work full time was just not attractive to me. The section of my wages I would have to give back to my landlord would’ve just sickened me … I don’t really intend to live in Ireland while I’m young.”
Zara is another case of being essentially forced to leave due to economic issues, but it goes further, when asked what would need to change at home for her to return, Zara said, “Rent is number one, for sure. Also, they would need to stop the removal of creative spaces … There is a lovely community of artists in my local area, but any local projects are usually given to long-serving artists. I don’t see a place to grow.”
I asked Zara if she misses home, “I miss home, I miss everything that makes Ireland what it is, and I feel a certain guilt to not be able to be there and advocate for change. But efforts feel useless when our government hasn’t changed at all since we became independent. Sometimes it really feels like we are still operating on a colonial system, with ‘West Brits’ in charge.”
Laura, 25, is from Clare and lives in Perth, “I told my family I’d only be gone for a year or two, but I think it’ll be longer now. Ireland isn’t an attractive place for me at the moment. Lower wages, worse work/life balance. Rent is expensive in Australia but at least you have a proper home, not a garden shed. I also prefer the shift away from alcohol-centred socialisation that I found myself stuck in at home.”
When asked about returning home Laura said it’s, “hard to take a step back … I try to keep up with the news and it’s so sad most of the time. I feel sorry for Ireland. I sometimes feel like I’ll just stay abroad until the problems at home are fixed, then I ask myself, will that ever happen?”
On missing home, “Yes, my family and friends very much.”
Kevin, 27, from Belfast moved to Melbourne for what was meant to be a year. He left Ireland for personal reasons, “I wasn’t really feeling like myself for the last year or two before I left and didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself. I thought travelling would open my eyes a bit, which it definitely did.”
It’s clear then that Ireland itself had nothing to do with Kevin’s reason for leaving home. However, the year that Kevn left for has turned into five years, and he hasn’t come home. I asked him about this, “There’s not really that much opportunity in Belfast. I always hear about how people are struggling to find work or how bad pay is and the struggle of being able to find somewhere to live … It’s a bit depressing, to be honest. I never hear any good news. There’s so much that needs to change and has needed to change for a while now, but people get caught up fighting over the wrong issues. Belfast has so much potential but it’s being held back.”
When asked if he misses home, Kevin said, “Every day.”
Last but not least, I spoke to Brendy, 31 from Belfast. Brendy moved to Sydney for a year, it has since been four years. I asked if he ever intends to return home, “I would love to, however, deep down I feel it’s never going to happen with the current state back home.”
Brendy was able to explain to me in practical, everyday-life terms, why Australia is for him a more attractive place to live, “The cost of fresh Australian grown/farmed meat and vegetables compared to Ireland can be around 50% cheaper, and that’s considering the exchange rate. One thing I noticed recently; Mr. Kipling's angel slices are £4.50 back home, but over here they are $3.50 (£1.75). Seems funny but it’s just a small example! I can go for a decent 350g rump steak dinner in a pub for $15 which is about £7.75- I have never seen this back home! $15 dollar for a steak and chips is quite common in Sydney! … It’s very sad that loved ones back home are being ripped off. My brother who is 33 and has a fantastic job as a biomedical engineer has only just got his first house, which is crazy. I couldn’t achieve that with the line of work I would do in Belfast. Or I might achieve it, but it would take me much longer! The Price of fuel back home is also double what Sydney is! Also, one more point to add, the weather is horrendous back home, that’s a massive factor!”
I asked Brendan if he misses home, “Yes! Missing family funerals is a massive one, I’ve lost two grandparents and two friends since I have been away, that’s the hardest part. I have two very close friends I met when I first arrived, we are all on the same boat and look after each other. One of them bought me a birthday present and I said, ‘You didn’t have to do that lad,’ and he replied, “Brendy, we’ve no family out here, we’ve to look after each other” and that has always stuck with me.”
Míle buíochas to;
Dearbhla Ross
Sadhbh Flood
Laura Porter
Tadhg Galvin
Nathan Barr
Brian ‘Hag’ O’Halloran
Lorraine ‘Lol’ Cowley
Kelly Gough
Zara Myles
Laura Kennedy
Kevin ‘Toot’ Nolan
Brendan ‘Brendy Mallon’
Martin Gale’s 2000 painting, "Women's Work," is part of the “Who Do We Say We Are? Irish Art 1922/2022” exhibit through May 15 at the University of Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art.