Leaving Cert History IRL (4) - The Irish diaspora, 1840-1966: This edited extract discusses th

Question

This edited extract discusses the experiences of the Irish diaspora in Britain in the nineteenth century. Read it and answer the questions which follow.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Irish diaspora in Britain had gradually become a settled community of nearly a million among a population of thirty million. This was the result of several factors.

A large majority of the wage-earning Irish were beginning to benefit from the generally improved working conditions in Britain. The crude anti-Irish sentiment of the immediate post-famine decades had receded. The steady stream of emigrants coming to Britain in the post-famine decade had now dwindled and the Irish ‘problem’, as it was known, had become less and less visible to the broader British population.

Although the Irish were still viewed with suspicion in some quarters, they were steadily becoming an accepted part of British life. This was helped by the fact that the Catholic Church had built many churches where the Irish migrant could worship and meet other Irish people.

Source: Stephen Moore, Gaelic Games and the Irish Diaspora (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Ulster, 2010).

1. By the end of the nineteenth century, about how many Irish people lived in Britain?
2. From what was the majority of wage-earning Irish beginning to benefit?
3. Did the stream of Irish emigrants to Britain increase or decrease?
4. How did the Catholic Church help the Irish diaspora in Britain?
5. Why did so many people leave Ireland from 1840 onwards?

This edited extract discusses the experiences of the Irish diaspora in Britain in the nineteenth century - Leaving Cert History - Question A - 2016

Worked Solution & Example Answer:This edited extract discusses the experiences of the Irish diaspora in Britain in the nineteenth century - Leaving Cert History - Question A - 2016

By the end of the nineteenth century, about how many Irish people lived in Britain?

From what was the majority of wage-earning Irish beginning to benefit?

Did the stream of Irish emigrants to Britain increase or decrease?

How did the Catholic Church help the Irish diaspora in Britain?

Why did so many people leave Ireland from 1840 onwards?

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