From: ian[at]concertina.clara.co.uk
Subject: Janick Julienne

Dear Patrick

Elizabeth Malcolm forwarded your message about research on Franco-Irish
Links which read -
" Irish-Diaspora list member Ms. Janick Julienne has written a Ph D thesis
on Irish nationalists in France from 1860 to 1890 (University Paris VII).
She would be interested in hearing if anyone else has researched this
subject, or in hearing from anyone working on Franco-Irish links. I am
compiling a list from my own sources, and any suggestions will be
gratefully received."

I am 3/4 way through a Ph.D on the reporting of Ireland in the French Press
1891-1923 here at Liverpool and would be keen to contact her (and anyone
else) working on a similar topic or period. Contact could be in either
English or French.

(I believe we met briefly at a conference in Oxford a couple of years ago)

best regards

Ian McKeane
Institute of Irish Studies
University of Liverpool
Liverpool L69 3BX - UK

Forwarded on behalf of Kate Bond
KE.Bond[at]ulst.ac.uk]

May 2001

Re: The Island Has Many Voices ? An International Summer School of Irish
Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, 29 July ? 12 August 2001

Academic Directors: Professors Robert Welch and John Wilson

I am writing to you with information about a new Summer School being offered
by the University of Ulster ? The Island Has Many Voices.

As you will be aware the University of Ulster is a leading institution in
Ireland and always ranks among the top of the new Universities in the UK
system. We are, without doubt, the best-known University working for peace
and reconciliation in Ireland and provide a home for the world-renowned
INCORE project (International Centre for Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity).
In addition, the University has recently announced the establishment of a
number of new world-leading cultural initiatives ? the Academy for Irish
Cultural Heritages and the Ulster Scots Institute. It is timely then that
the University has decided to expand access to these areas of excellence and
expertise by developing summer programs of study that I hope will be of
interest to you.

This two-week program is based at the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages
at the University of Ulster in the city of Derry. Based at the Magee
campus, which is also home to the world's first Institute dedicated to the
study of Ulster Scots heritage and culture, the Summer School will provide
an opportunity to both experience and learn about the origins of the voices,
languages and accents that animate this liveliest of regions.

The program will draw on the expertise of leading scholars in the fields of
Irish history, literature, language and culture to provide an in-depth but
enjoyable course of learning and study designed to explore the diversity of
Irish culture and heritage. Recent discussion in Ireland has focused on the
plurality of Irish cultural identities, and the need to celebrate difference
while renewing traditional values and customs. The history and cultural
expression of these varied identities will be discussed, studied and debated
and shown through poetry, story and song. Excursions to the places and
regions that illustrate this diversity will allow participants to experience
the excitement of these cultures at first hand.

The Summer School is suitable for anyone who has in interest in the history,
literature society and culture of the island of Ireland. The registration
fee is £850 GBP (to include all tuition fees, accommodation, field trips and
cultural visits).

I invite you to visit our website at
http://www.arts.ulst.ac.uk/academy/summerschool . There are still some
places available on this year?s program and we would be delighted to welcome
you to Derry. Perhaps you may know others who would be interested in this
School and I would be most grateful if you would pass this information on to
them.

I would be delighted to discuss any aspect of this activity with you, please
do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Kate Bond
Summer School Co-ordinator
Magee Campus, Northland Road, Derry BT48 7JL
Tel 00 44 28 7137 5456/Fax 00 44 28 71375487/Email ke.bond[at]ulst.ac.uk

From: "Molloy, Frank"
To: "'irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk'"
Subject: RE: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Paddy,

Caroline Williams (from the University of Melbourne) has recently completed
a doctoral thesis on St Patrick's Day celebrations, mainly in Sydney and
Melbourne, from 1896 to 1939. She has a paper on the subject in the
proceedings of the Irish-Australian studies conference at Galway (1997) The
proceedings were published recently by Crossing Press in Sydney.

Cheers,
Frank

- -----Original Message-----
From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
[mailto:irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, 23 May 2001 0:00
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Subject: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations



>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

One of the themes that is certainly around in Irish Diaspora Studies is the
study of the St. Patrick's Day Celebrations, world-wide, their history and
changing formats and meanings over space and time.

In fact there is something of an FAQ here, as the teckies say. FAQ =
Frequently Asked Question, I am given to understand.

I was wondering if it was not time that we did something systematic about
the theme - and, as a first step, simply listing any scholarly work that we
are aware of. We can then display that list on www.irishdiaspora.net

As a first step, pasted in below is something I came across recently. And I
am going through my own sources, seeing what else I can find.

P.O'S.

Journal of Social History

Index, Volume 29
The journal published a separate issue between issues #1 (Fall 1995) and #2
(Winter 1995) of Volume 29. This issue uses a separate pagination. This is
indicated by the marker Special Issue.

Abstract: Kenneth Moss, "St. Patrick's Day Celebrations and the Formation of
Irish American Identity, 1845-1875"

This study examines the process by which a nationalist and sectarian
corporate identity developed in the Irish-American community between 1845
and 1875. The reworking of collective identity involves a reformulation of
what some scholars dub 'collective memory,' and this process of identity
formation was both reflected in and shaped by the commemorative rituals
practiced by the Irish-American community. In particular, St. Patrick's Day
banquets and parades served both as fore for public reflection on the nature
of the Irish past, and as enactments of different versions of the
community's memory and identity. The development of full-fledged
Irish-American nationalism was paralleled and in part motivated by striking
changes in the rhetoric and form of these celebrations. This study draws on
contemporary accounts and depictions of St. Patrick's Day celebrations in
the U.S. in order to trace these changes and illuminate the developments in
question.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

The following messages are being distributed - this version, below, is from
the H-Albion list.

Rhodes House is an extraordinary insight into the imperialist mind, with
rather beautiful South African interiors in a building set down in the
middle of Oxford. Its Library is a very useful resource to those studying
diaspora within the British Empire, economic and constitutional
development - and, of course, the imperialist mind...

Apparently there is a plan to move the American part of the Rhodes House
Library Collection to a new American Studies Library, leaving the African
and Asian parts to be desposed of, as below.

P.O'S.

Forwarded for information...


- -----Original Message-----
Subject: Rhodes House Library Oxford


Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 11:28:22 +0100
From: Simon Potter

I would like to bring the following circular e-mail messages to your
attention, concerning planned drastic changes to the operation of the
Library service at Rhodes House, Oxford.

This library contains all of the holdings of the main Oxford Bodleian
Library relating to the Commonwealth. In addition, Rhodes House Library
holds a wide range of archival material relating to the history of the
British Empire and Commonwealth.

According to the latest update, the plan is now to relocate the library
reading room in the basement of the Rotunda, an area currently used as a
cloakroom, that gets virtually no natural light and is next to the
toilets. There would apparently be no shelving for books, and the
considerable selection of open shelf material now available in the
current purpose-built reading room would have to be relegated to the
stacks.

The new arrangement would only provide ca. 17 reading places, so crammed
in that if one person pushed their chair back no-one could get past. The
staff area would be in the middle amongst the pillars. No space for a
photocopier or reader printer or more than one computer terminal would be
available.

I would like to stress the point made by the anonymous Rhodes scholar
below, that such an action would reflect extremely poorly on the
priorities of the Rhodes Trust, in terms of its view of the importance
of studying Britain's imperial past, its commitment to academic work on
imperial and colonial subjects that are becoming more and more important
in a range of disciplines today, and its attitude towards the large
number of international scholars who visit the Library.

The collection held at Rhodes House is an intellectual resource of the
highest order. A large number of microfilmed newspapers from South
Africa and elsewhere have apparently already been dumped in a skip and
relegated to the Bodleian stacks where they are now inaccessible. We
can expect more of the same if this policy is allowed to go
unchallenged.

A letter-writing campaign has begun to call the attention of the
Trustees to the substantial opposition to this move that exists among
the academic community. Submissions to the following addresses would be
much appreciated.

The appropriate addresses are:

Prof. Colin Lucas,
Vice-Chancellor
University Offices
Wellington Square
OX1 2JD
email: colin.lucas[at]admin.ox.ac.uk

Prof. Sir Richard Southwood,
Chairman of the Rhodes Trust,
Merton College
Oxford, OX1 4JD
email: richard.southwood[at]merton.ox.ac.uk

and copy any correspondence to:

Prof. Paul Slack
Chairman of Curators
Linacre College
Oxford, OX1 3JA
email: paul.slack[at]admin.ox.ac.uk


Please feel free to copy this message to any other interested parties.
There follow two other messages detailing the proposed changes more
fully.

Yours faithfully,

Simon Potter
History Department
National University of Ireland, Galway


MESSAGE 1

From: "Damon Salesa"

Dear list members,

I wish to share with the list some unfortunate news regarding the Rhodes
House Library at Oxford University. For those of
you who are not aware, the RHL is one of the leading centres for the
study of the former British empire, the repository of an
enormous wealth of published and archival resources concerning all
facets of imperial history. It contains large collections
dealing specifically with Australia and New Zealand, probably the
largest collection of private papers concerning the
twentieth century British empire (especially in Africa), and is
generally one of the great libraries in the world for the study of
imperialism. It is a part of the Bodleian Library, the main library at
Oxford, but is housed in Rhodes House, a building owned
by the Rhodes Trust, the body which administers much of Cecil Rhodes
estate (including the Rhodes scholarships).

It has just become known that the current Trustees plan on moving the
library reading room from its current situation upstairs,
to a much smaller area downstairs. Though the plans have not yet been
made completely clear, it seems that the destination
for this move is the area that is currently the basement cloakroom.
Most disturbingly, the rationale for this move is not, as I
have noted with many library and archival restructurings, financial (the
Rhodes Trust has an endowment valued at more than
120 million GBP). Rather, it is to make way for a common room for
Rhodes scholars. As a Rhodes scholar myself, I can
offer my personal opinion that I consider this reason shameful, but as a
historian there are many more reasons to find this
move distressing.

Needless to say, the move is opposed by library staff, faculty at
Oxford, graduate students, and some Rhodes scholars.
Certainly, there are other areas within Rhodes House suitable for a
common room (which has not before existed). Original
plans for a common room left the library untouched, and a common room
could easily go ahead without disturbing the library.
However, as the building is owned by the Rhodes Trust, this development
has come somewhat out of the blue, and without
much consultation beyond the Trust and some Rhodes scholars. The
details of the planned move are still uncertain, but it
seems the intention is to begin the move this (northern) summer (2001).
The matter is urgent.

Those coordinating protests ask that those outside of Oxford should write to
the Vice-Chancellor, Colin Lucas, and the Chairman of the Rhodes Trust,
Prof. Sir Richard Southwood, copying any correspondence to Prof. Paul
Slack, the Chairman of Curators. The appropriate addresses are below.

I think it particularly important that former Rhodes scholars and
historians who have worked in the library make their
opposition strongly known, and soon. I quote a fellow student, who is
also a Rhodes scholar: "The library has become public
property as an international resource and a historical monument. ...
Moving it in order to make a social space for a privileged
few - being educated on the wealth of imperial expansion - sends an
implicit message about the lesser significance of the past
of the colonised ...". I look forward to your support over this issue.

Thanks again,

Damon Salesa.

ps. I have also pasted a message from one of the leading scholars of
southern Africa, Prof. Shula Marks, below. No doubt
some benefit would derive from other scholars similarly affirming the
uniqueness and value of the library's collections, and the
importance attached to their availability and preservation.

The appropriate addresses are:

Prof. Colin Lucas,
Vice-Chancellor
University Offices
Wellington Square
OX1 2JD
email: colin.lucas[at]admin.ox.ac.uk

Prof. Sir Richard Southwood,
Chairman of the Rhodes Trust,
Merton College
Oxford, OX1 4JD
email: richard.southwood[at]merton.ox.ac.uk

and copy any correspondence to:

Prof. Paul Slack
Chairman of Curators
Linacre College
Oxford, OX1 3JA
email: paul.slack[at]admin.ox.ac.uk


------------------------
Message from Shula Marks:

I had not heard fo the plans to transform the Rhodes House Reading Room
into a Common Room for Rhodes scholars and am profoundly shocked at the
news.

There can be little doubt of the immense importance of the Rhodes House
library, and especially its archival acquisitions. As a member of the
Anti-Apartheid Movement Archives Committee, and one who played an important
role in ensuring that the collection was placed in Rhodes House, I
particularly concerned that such a change is being envisaged. I am going to
be out of the country until the 29th May, but I would be grateful if you

could keep me informed about the situation and let me know if there is
anything I can do to help in the campaign to prevent the implementation
of these plans.

Yours sincerely,
Shula Marks OBE FBA
Professor in the history of southern Africa


MESSAGE 2

Dear Friends,

As some of you will already have heard, the Warden of Rhodes House, Dr John
Rowett, intends to evict the Rhodes House Library from the whole of its
current location into a limited reading space in the basement of Rhodes
House, by the toilets. The existing reading room will become a common room
for Rhodes Scholars. The move is believed to be scheduled for the summer
of 2001.

This eviction, as you might imagine, is opposed by the staff of the library,
Oxford's African, Commonwealth and Colonial historians - both faculty
and students, and everyone who understands the huge importance of the RHL
collection and facilities. However, as the warden's plans have only very
recently come to light, it is important that awareness of this threat is
raised as quickly as possible.

Over the last twenty years, Rhodes House Library has served the needs of
many dozens of graduate students, predominantly from overseas, working in
the
areas of African including South African, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand
and Pacific history. Many have based their research often very heavily upon
its archival and book resources. The scheme proposed would almost certainly
mean the break-up of the expertise in archives and books and sharply reduce
what Oxford offers to overseas graduates wanting to pursue research in these
areas. Indeed, without the availability, academic research and relative ease
of
access that Rhodes House Library now offers, it is hard to see what will
attract research students in these areas to Oxford.

The Rhodes House Library also served the needs of an important body of
undergraduates who work on these areas. This includes those who do PPE
as well as history, and those who do dissertations for whom the source
materials and archives as well as books are vital.

For as long as there has been a Rhodes Trust, it has been committed to
providing and supporting a Library to stimulate interest and knowledge in
the
countries of the commonwealth, especially Africa. The study of Africa, like
Africa
itself, is in crisis. Rhodes House Library is one of the greatest, if not
the
greatest, centre of research material in African history, including recent
history, in the world. The library has recently acquired - owing to the
dedication
of the Librarian - the large archive of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, of huge
importance for the study of modern South Africa. This very long tradition
seems
difficult to square with reducing the Library to a reading area by the
toilets.

If there were some powerful academic need that meant that the Rhodes House
Library had to accept a reduced place, that might be different. But the
proposal is to make the Library into a common room for Rhodes Scholars.
Does the urgency for this outweigh the academic, social and moral value of
encouraging research in African and colonial history and contemporary
problems? Those who are exercised about what Cecil Rhodes did wrong
might remember that at least he paid for this wonderful resource to be
created. It will be our generation that breaks it up.

Best wishes,

Zoe Laidlaw
Balliol College, Oxford


----------------------------------
Simon J. Potter
Department of History
National University of Ireland
Galway
Ireland
Tel: ++353 91 524 411 ext. 3625
Fax: ++353 91 750 556
E-mail: simon.potter[at]nuigalway.ie

From: "C. McCaffrey"
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Subject: Re: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations 3

There are actually references in the Irish Annals as far back as the ninth
century to Irish scholars celebrating the feast day on the European
continent.
Don't have the actual reference in front of me but it is interesting to
think
that the cult of Patrick's Day is so old.
Carmel

irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk wrote:

> From: "Molloy, Frank"
> To: "'irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk'"
> Subject: RE: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
>
> Paddy,
>
> Caroline Williams (from the University of Melbourne) has recently
completed
> a doctoral thesis on St Patrick's Day celebrations, mainly in Sydney and
> Melbourne, from 1896 to 1939. She has a paper on the subject in the
> proceedings of the Irish-Australian studies conference at Galway (1997)
The
> proceedings were published recently by Crossing Press in Sydney.
>
> Cheers,
> Frank
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
> [mailto:irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk]
> Sent: Wednesday, 23 May 2001 0:00
> To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
> Subject: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
>
> >From Email Patrick O'Sullivan
>
> One of the themes that is certainly around in Irish Diaspora Studies is
the
> study of the St. Patrick's Day Celebrations, world-wide, their history and
> changing formats and meanings over space and time.
>
> In fact there is something of an FAQ here, as the teckies say. FAQ =
> Frequently Asked Question, I am given to understand.
>
> I was wondering if it was not time that we did something systematic about
> the theme - and, as a first step, simply listing any scholarly work that
we
> are aware of. We can then display that list on www.irishdiaspora.net
>
> As a first step, pasted in below is something I came across recently. And
I
> am going through my own sources, seeing what else I can find.
>
> P.O'S.
>
> Journal of Social History
>
> Index, Volume 29
> The journal published a separate issue between issues #1 (Fall 1995) and
#2
> (Winter 1995) of Volume 29. This issue uses a separate pagination. This is
> indicated by the marker Special Issue.
>
> Abstract: Kenneth Moss, "St. Patrick's Day Celebrations and the Formation
of
> Irish American Identity, 1845-1875"
>
> This study examines the process by which a nationalist and sectarian
> corporate identity developed in the Irish-American community between 1845
> and 1875. The reworking of collective identity involves a reformulation of
> what some scholars dub 'collective memory,' and this process of identity
> formation was both reflected in and shaped by the commemorative rituals
> practiced by the Irish-American community. In particular, St. Patrick's
Day
> banquets and parades served both as fore for public reflection on the
nature
> of the Irish past, and as enactments of different versions of the
> community's memory and identity. The development of full-fledged
> Irish-American nationalism was paralleled and in part motivated by
striking
> changes in the rhetoric and form of these celebrations. This study draws
on
> contemporary accounts and depictions of St. Patrick's Day celebrations in
> the U.S. in order to trace these changes and illuminate the developments
in
> question.
>
> --
> Patrick O'Sullivan
> Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
>
> Email Patrick O'Sullivan
> Email Patrick O'Sullivan
>
> Irish-Diaspora list
> Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
> Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net
>
> Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
> Fax International +44 870 284 1580
>
> Irish Diaspora Research Unit
> Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
> University of Bradford
> Bradford BD7 1DP
> Yorkshire
> England

From: Elizabeth Malcolm
>Subject: St Patrick's Day Celebrations
>
>Dear Paddy,
>
>Frank Molloy mentions an article by Caroline Williams, 'Moran,
>Mannix and St Patrick's Day', in the latest proceedings of the
>Irish-Australian conferences. Actually I'm aware of 2 other articles
>in earlier volumes of the series on the same topic. I've listed
>them below.
>
>Oliver MacDonagh, 'Irish Culture and Nationalism Translated: St
>Patrick's Day 1888 in Australia' in O. MacDonagh, W.F. Mandle and P.
>Travers (eds), 'Irish Culture and Nationalism, 1750-1950', Canberra
>and London, 1983.
>
>Clement Macintyre, 'The Adelaide Irish and the Politics of St
>Patrick's Day, 1900-18' in Rebecca Pelan (ed.), Irish-Australian
>Studies: Papers Delivered at the 7th Irish-Australian Conference',
>Sydney, 1994.
>
>In addition, some of the general histories of the Irish in Australia
>cover St Patrick's Day in some detail, especially Patrick
>O'Farrell's 'The Irish in Australia' 2nd ed., Sydney, 1993 and Chris
>McConville's 'Croppies, Celts and Catholics: the Irish in
>Australia', Melbourne, 1987.
>
>Malcolm Campbell has a little to say about St Patrick's Day in rural
>areas in 'The Kingdom of the Ryans: the Irish in Southwest New South
>Wales, 1816-90', Sydney, 1997.
>
>While there's an interesting contemporary account of St Patrick's
>Day in Sydney in William Redmond, 'Through the New Commonwealth',
>Dublin [1906].
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Elizabeth
>

Professor Elizabeth Malcolm Tel: +61-3-8344 3924
Chair of Irish Studies FAX: +61-3-8344 7894
Department of History Email: e.malcolm[at]unimelb.edu.au
University of Melbourne
Parkville, Victoria, 3010
AUSTRALIA

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan


Our attention has been drawn to the article by Ronit Lentin on Irish racism
in the online journal
"Sociological Research Online"?

http://www.socresonline.org.uk/5/4/contents.html

Responding to the Racialisation of Irishness: Disavowed Multiculturalism and
its Discontents
Lentin, Ronit
Abstract: This article begins by discussing the specificities of racism in
the Republic of Ireland. Critiquing multiculturalist and top-down antiracism
policies, it argues that Irish multiculturalist initiatives are anchored in
a liberal politics of recognition of difference, which do not depart from
western cultural imperialism and are therefore inadequate for deconstructing
inter-ethnic power relations. Multiculturalist approaches to antiracism
result in the top-down ethnicisation of Irish society, and are failing to
intervene in the uneasy interface of minority and majority relations in
Ireland. Instead of a 'politics of recognition' guiding multiculturalist
initiatives, I conclude the article by developing Hesse's (1999) idea of a
'politics of interrogation' of the Irish 'we' and propose disavowed
multiculturalism as a way of theorising Irish responses to ethnic diversity.
Interrogating the Irish 'we' cannot evade interrogating the painful past of
emigration, a wound still festering because it was never tended, and which,
I would suggest, is returning to haunt Irish people through the presence of
the immigrant 'other'.

Emigration; Ethnic Minorities; Immigration; Irishness; Multiculturalism;
Politics Of Interrogation; Politics Of Recognition; Racialisation; Racism

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

3 items from
PROFESSIONAL IRELAND
Issue No.300
May 23, 2001
http://www.emigrant.ie/

Forwarded with permission...


O'CONNOR ARCHIVE FOR UCC LIBRARY
- - A collection of letters from John V. Kelleher, retired Professor of
Irish Studies at Harvard University to writer Frank O'Connor has been
donated to the library at University College Cork, along with letters
from Sean O'Faolain to Peter Davison, his editor at Atlantic Monthly
Press. The correspondence deals in part with the difficulties
experienced by both writers as a result of the activities of the
Irish Censorship Board. Peter Davison was present for the ceremony
at the Boole Library.

CENTRE FOR AMERICAN STUDIES TO BE ESTABLISHED
- - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced the establishment of a Centre
for American Studies in this country, to be named in honour of former
US president Bill Clinton. Irish universities will be asked to place
proposals before a committee, who will decide in July on the location
for the William Jefferson Clinton Centre for American Studies.

W.J. CLINTON SCHOLARSHIP AT UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER
- - During his visit to the Magee campus of University of Ulster in Derry
today, former US President Bill Clinton announced the setting up of a
scholarship to help those from disadvantaged groups in the city to
avail of third level education. The W.J. Clinton Scholarship will
give access to a degree programme at University of Ulster.


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: Cymru66[at]aol.com
Subject: Research:Questions and Problems.

I'd like to make a belated contribution to the discussion of the question
on Irish identification in the current U.K. Census. The question appears to
be awkwardly phrased and open to misunderstanding thereby producing
unexpected answers or no answers at all. But then, in defence of the
question
framers, it is not easy to phrase census/survey questions which address a
complex issue like cutural identity. And if answers are unexpected then
this
simply may be a reflection on previous assumptions made by the reader.
To illustrate the last point in particular, my research in Northern
Ireland
( 1975-1985) included a survey on a mixed population of Protestants and
Catholics in a small town just west of the Bann. I included a question on
national identification assuming that if there were one area in the U.K.
where the choice between British and Irish would clearly and comprehensively
fall along religious lines then Northern Ireland would be that place. This
was not quite the case.
The question was 'How do you usually think of yourself?' and a number of
alternatives were given. The responses were:-
British.. 61% (P) 32% (C). Irish..7.4% (P) 54% (C). Ulster..21.6% (P) 3%
(C). Sometimes British/Sometimes Irish..4.9% (P) 4.0% (C). Anglo-Irish..0.5%
(P) 2.0% (C). Northern Irish..0.0% (P) 1.0% (C). The remainder were DK,
Other
or N/a.
Methodology. One hour face-to-face interviews. Sample size 400 households
randomly selected representing proportionately Protestant and Catholic.
Location, Limavady, Co.Derry, NI. Response rate 297 completed interviews
(75%). Source.Religion and the Northern Ireland Problem. Dublin/New York.
1984 p.131.
In the same survey I was able to get some insight into the extent of
intermarriage between Protestants and Catholics in NI by asking the question
' What proportion of your relatives by marriage are of the 'other'
religion?'. The responses showed that 7.5% of Protestants and 17% of
Catholics had half or more and a further 29.2% of Protestants and 48% of
Catholics had relatives by marriage of the 'other' religion but less than
half.
I was trying to test, among other things, assumptions based upon received
wisdom - in these two cases that Protestants and Catholics identify almost
completely along national lines and that intermarriage between the two
groups
is so exceptional that there is, effectively, religious endogamy in the six
counties. Obviously, received wisdom is not reliable and assumptions based
upon it are misleading, to say the least.
This kind of quantitative data if collected from the Irish immigrant
population in Britain could be of considerable help in analyses of their
present position. In particular it would shed more light on the use of
concepts like 'assimilation' and 'integration'. There has been a tendency
when using these terms to regard the immigrants as purely passive groups
being absorbed into a dominant culture. In fact each group makes a
contribution of its own to the continuing formation of that culture and
should be regarded as active participants rather than passive recipients.
Remaining research problems include the basic one of identifying the
immigrant population beyond the first generation, including those who do not
think of themselves as Irish. Religious affiliation - Roman Catholicism - is
helpful here but there are difficulties. Not all Catholics in Britain are
immigrant Irish and, as John Bossy has clearly demonstrated, English
Catholics have traditions and characteristics which may differ substantially
from their Irish co-religionists. Also, the official statistics produced by
the Catholic Church indicate that although there are approximately 5 million
Catholics in England and Wales on 25% of them are regular attenders at
Church
and therefore possibly traceable.
Nevertheless, the task should be attempted if basic questions are to be
addressed. Bronwen Walters and Patricia Walls, among others are making major
contributions to our knowledge of the contemporary scene. It would be very
helpful if other IR-D members could join in the discussion.
Paddy has asked us to give more identification of who and where we are.
So....
John Hickey,
Professor Emeritus, Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois.
Formerly, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Ulster, Coleraine.
N.Ireland.

From: Cymru66[at]aol.com
Subject: Racialisation of Irish
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk

Dear Paddy,
This is brilliant. I thought at first that it was a joke - a parody of the
stuff I've been reading lately and very close to the essays I used to get
from the less-gifted of my first year students. However, I've checked the
website and the publication actually exists. I've added it to my favourite
places and printed-off this particular piece and hope there will be many
others like it.
I regret that I cannot interrogate my late grandmother, from Kinsale, or
my
late mother-in-law, from Youghal, on the essential we-ness of their
Irishness. ( Perhaps I should have added a question to the survey I did in
Limavady, though it would have been difficult to phrase). But I can
interrogate my 21yr. old son, born in Ballymoney, on his we-ness and I
propose to forward the extract to all the students from Coleraine who have
spent a year with us at Dominican and ( God help them) have been under my
care and invite their comments. I'll pass the results on to you.
Best,
John

From: "Bradley C. Kadel"
To:
Subject: Re: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Hello Paddy,

I'm not sure if my comments here are altogether relevant to this thread, but
I'll let you be the judge of that.

I am currently at work on a pH.D. thesis on the drink question in Ireland
between 1870 and the Great War. One of the debates which I have been
tracing is the controversy surrounding the celebration of St. Patrick's Day
in Dublin. In this debate, publicans pitted themselves against the Gaelic
League and temperance organization to resist efforts to close public houses
on St. Patrick's Day. Due at least in part to the powerful vintner lobby,
such legislation was never passed. Nonetheless, there was a powerful effort
made by the Gaelic League to "purify" the celebration for the sake of Irish
identity.

On a slightly different note, below I have pasted in a quote from James
Connelly on the subject of the importance of St. Patrick's Day. Enjoy.

EXTRACT BEGINS>>>
The Irish people, denied comfort in the present, seek solace in the past of
their country; the Irish mind, unable because of the serfdom or bondage of
the Irish race to give body and material existence to its noblest thoughts,
creates an emblem to typify that spiritual conception for which the Irish
race laboured in vain. If that spiritual conception of religion, of freedom,
of nationality exists or existed nowhere save in the Irish mind, it is
nevertheless as much a great historical reality as if it were embodied in a
statute book, or had a material existence vouched for by all the pages of
history.

It is not the will of the majority which ultimately prevails; that which
ultimately prevails is the ideal of the noblest of each generation. Happy
indeed
that race and generation in which the ideal of the noblest and the will of
the majority unite.

In this hour of her trial Ireland cannot afford to sacrifice any one of the
things the world has accepted as peculiarly Irish. She must hold to her
highest thoughts, and cleave to her noblest sentiments. Her sons and
daughters must hold life itself as of little value when weighed against the
preservation of even the least important work of her separate individuality
as a nation.

Therefore we honour St. Patrick's Day (and its allied legend of the
shamrock) because in it we see the spiritual conception of the separate
identity of the Irish race---an ideal of unity in diversity, of diversity
not con- flicting with unity.

Magnificent must have been the intellect that conceived such a thought;
great must have been the genius of the people that received such a
conception andmade it their own.

On this Festival then our prayer is: Honour to St. Patrick the Irish
Apostle, and Freedom to his people.
EXTRACT ENDS >>>

SOURCE
Workers Republic , March 18, 1916.

p.168


Bradley Kadel
Instructor of History
Luther College

From: "C. McCaffrey"
Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Subject: Re: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations 6

Bradley,
What do you mean the 'drink question'? Is there a drink question that is
uniquely Irish? Could you explain what you mean by this?
Carmel

irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk wrote:

> From: "Bradley C. Kadel"
> To:
> Subject: Re: Ir-D St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
>
> I am currently at work on a pH.D. thesis on the drink question in Ireland
> between 1870 and the Great War. One of the debates which I have been
> tracing is the controversy surrounding the celebration of St. Patrick's
Day
> in Dublin. In this debate, publicans pitted themselves against the Gaelic
> League and temperance organization to resist efforts to close public
houses
> on St. Patrick's Day. Due at least in part to the powerful vintner lobby,
> such legislation was never passed. Nonetheless, there was a powerful
effort
> made by the Gaelic League to "purify" the celebration for the sake of
Irish
> identity.
>

From: Cymru66[at]aol.com
Subject: Re: Ir-D Clarification 'drink question'?

Thank you Carmel. The figures I have to hand for 1980 to 1989 indicate that
the beer consumption in Ireland per capita was lower than a number of other
European countries and in fact declined by 25% during the decade. When
reliable statistics become available for the countries of Central Europe I
suspect that Ireland will slide further down the league table. However,
facts
and figures are no match for myths and the association between Ireland/
Irish
and drinking will no doubt continue to lurk as a sub-theme in accounts of
life among the indigenous and expatriate populations.
How did all this start? Admittedly, religious leaders in the urban areas
of
Britain were concerned about the level of drunkenness in their Irish
Catholic
parishes but this was an endemic problem among the labouring poor and
certainly not restricted to people of Irish origin. I sometimes wonder if
the
success of the Temperance Movement ( later the 'Pioneers') ironically
contributed to the reputation of the Irish as exceptional drinkers by
drawing
so much attention to the 'problem'. Just a thought.
John

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

We have been thinking about these issues here in Bradford, and a brief note
might be helpful...

We are going to have to work hard if we want to argue that there is NO issue
around the Irish and alcohol use...

There is just too much in the research record for the issue to be dismissed.

Yes, the background issue may well be, What sort of issue is the issue
around the Irish and alcohol use? Do we see (yet again) effects of
prejudice and stereotyping?

Certainly some Irish people do have problems with alcohol - alcohol is a
difficult drug, albeit a drug in common use in Europe, and in countries
which inherit their alcohool use patterns from Europe. But do Irish people
with problems have extra problems, coming either from specific Irish
patterns, or from prejudice and stereotyping?

We are here collecting some background material... There isn't really that
much... There are two significant books...

1.
Elizabeth Malcom (now at the University of Melbourne)
'Ireland Sober, Ireland Free': Drink and Temperance in C19th Ireland.
Gill & Macmillan., Dublin, 1986.

Elizabeth's book is a sober work of social history, but touching on all the
main concerns - including the fear of temperance reformers that they were
colluding with English stereotyping of the Irish. In a sense, Elizabeth's
title quote is a summary of a classic colonialist mind game: you will have
political freeedom when you are worthy of it...

I see little sign that Elizabeth Malcolm's book has - as yet - been cited
and taken on board.


2.
Richard Stivers (UNiversity of Illinois)
Hair of the Dog: Irish Drinking and Its American Stereotype.
Continuum. 2000. 228p. index. ISBN 0-8264-1218-1. pap. $19.95. SOCIAL
SCIENCE

This is a NEW edition of the 1976 book.

'Stivers's 1976 work examines the roots of the unfortunate stereotype in
both Ireland and the United States that the Irish are brawlers and barflies.
For this edition, Stivers has revised his findings and added a new foreword
by Andrew Greeley.'

I have not as yet seen this new edition - apparently Stivers modifies his
arguments somewhat? And there is Greeley's new foreword.

The reprinting suggests that this is a 'classic' work, with a ready market.
And indeed you will find Stivers listed on reading lists in psychiatry,
psychology, social work all across the USA - wherever those areas of study
have incorporated some ethnic dimension.

EXTRACT from U Of Illnois pages>>>
His seminal work, ?A Hair of the Dog: Irish Drinking and American
Stereotypes,? first established Professor Stivers as a significant scholar
with a national and international reputation. ?A Hair of the Dog? is a major
work in historical and comparative sociology. Set in late 19th and early
20th century Ireland and America, it attempts to explain why the Irish in
America had the highest rate of alcoholism among American ethnic groups,
while the rate for alcoholism in Ireland was much more moderate. Within the
field of alcohol studies, Stivers? interpretation of Irish and
Irish-American drinking rates is widely considered the best available
explanation for the significant differences in these rates.
His next major work, ?Evil in Modern Myth and Ritual,? also
distinguished him as a first-rate scholar. This work represents an attempt
to understand American culture in terms of the sacred, symbol, myth and
ritual-concepts usually applied to traditional societies. In this original
and provocative reading of American culture, Stivers identifies technology
as sacred to Americans in the same way nature was sacred to hunter-gatherer
groups.
Stivers has received three prestigious grants from the Earhart
Foundation in conjunction with his work on American culture, morality and
technology. To date, he has completed three books in a projected four-book
series on American culture (in addition to ?Evil in Modern Myth and Ritual,?
he has also published ?The Culture of Cynicism? and ?Technology as Magic.?
As was the case with his earlier works, both books have been extremely well
received). The final book project in the series, tentatively titled
?Technology and Loneliness,? will be a study of the impact of technology
upon American character and personality development.
Beyond his enormously successful publication record, Stivers is
known as a very fine teacher who has consistently taught courses that
require students to read original sources and to think critically and
analytically. He continues to teach some of the most difficult courses in
the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, including two honors seminars,
Modern Society and Modern Culture, and has been particularly effective in
his work with master?s students.
EXTRACT ENDS>>>

Note that Stivers' drift is that the Irish in America have GREATER problems
with alcohol than the Irish of Ireland. That is, that the problem -
whatever the problem is - was (past tense) exacerbated by migrant
experiences or the patterns of migrant culture. The influence of Stivers -
and the debates - can be followed further... For example...

Tanya Cassidy's page
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/sociology/people/academic/tanya/bio.htm

Joseph Gusfield's paper
http://migration.ucc.ie/euromodule/Documents/1%20background/theory/identity/
Gusfield%20J%20Primordialism%20and%20Nationality.htm

Robin Room's paper
http://www.bks.no/response.htm
Responses to Alcohol-related Problems in an International Perspective:
Characterizing and Explaining Cultural Wetness and Dryness

So, comment on Stivers drifts effortlesly into the present...

Our knowledge about RECENT and CURRENT alcohol use in the world comes from
the publication World Drink Trends - it will be appreciated that such
information is commercially important... The way to get the Web to yield
this information is to search for 'World Drink Trends'...

See for example...
http://www.breworld.com/news/world/ntc.html

http://www.alcoweb.com/english/gen_info/alcohol_health_society/eco_aspects/c
onsumption/world/world.html
has the 1999 figures
In fact consumption of alcohol by the Irish of Ireland seems to have been
increasing in recent years.

There is concern about alcohol use throughout Europe - see the site of the
Eurocare organisation
http://www.eurocare.org/
Advocacy for the Prevention of Alcohol Related Harm in Europe.
which coincidentally has just held its 2001 conference in Dublin.

You can follow their links to policy documents from all the counytries of
Europe, including the Republic of Ireland...
http://www.eurocare.org/profiles/ireland.htm

This is a very sensible document.

So, in 1993 Ireland (the Republic of Ireland) ranked 11th in 'Europe' for
quantity of alcohol consumed per head of population.

However Ireland's ranking changes from 11th to 9th when the figures are
adjusted for age - around 27% of the population of Ireland is under 15 years
of age.

In 1998 Ireland ranked 4th.

There are two provisos at once there... 1. There is a great deal of
under-age consumption of alcohol in present day Ireland. So you'd have to
adjust adjustments. 2. As Elizabeth Malcolm has noted, there are always a
very great many people in Ireland who do not consume alcohol at all, or who
consume very little. Estimates of the proportion of abstainers in Ireland
are very high - this abstainer group would include committed Christians,
Protestant or Catholic, and members of religious orders. More adjustment.

The drinking of alcohol is an integral part of Irish life, social, cultural,
sporting, etc. In that it is not unlike other European countries. But it
has to be pointed out that the consumption of alcohol with food is not that
common in Ireland - we are maybe comparing the wine-producing countries with
the countries of the north. There is great concern within Ireland about the
adverse effects of alcohol consumption. The costs - human, financial - are
very great. But the alcohol industry is of great financial significance.

I think it is right to suggest - from the little bit of research that has
been done, and from some of my own past work - that people who have
identified themselves as having a problem with alcohol do have extra
difficulties in Ireland.

I have not been able, as yet, to locate specific material about Northern
Ireland - Northern Ireland figures tend to be subsumed within UK. But
presumably the Northern Ireland Assembly will some day look at the issue.
As I say, every European government has to...

So... As ever in Irish Diaspora Studies, a difficult wade through a
difficult research record - and as ever the danger of coplluding with
prejudice and stereotype.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: WallsAMP[at]aol.com
Subject: Re: Ir-D Alcohol 2

On the issue of alcohol and the Irish in Britain, it seems true that to
avoid
dealing with the stereotype is to avoid dealing with an issue which is
inevitably linked to a disproportionate number of Irish deaths in Britain
each year. The Irish here tend to top the charts of mortality in this area.
Also the recent Health Survey for England on ethnic minority health found
highest rates and among the Irish....least likely to drink least and most
likely to drink most.....Larry Harrison has done some work, notably on
mortality rates and for the Irish Federation a number of years ago, a study
linking alcohol abuse to disadvantage......I did a study of mental health
among the Irish in an area of London during 1995....Irish people admitted
to
psychiatric hospital tended to have high rates of alcohol diagnoses, and
high
rates of secondary diagnoses from alcohol abuse....which may or may not be
due to stereotypes, as found in other psychiatric studies......I interviewed
a number of people attending an alcohol agency....their statistics clearly
showed that the Irish were dispropotionately represented there...20% clients
and about 5% in the wider population.....alcohol clearly has many positive
as
well as negative connotations for Irish people (and others), but it seems
clear that problems were linked to issues of abuse, migrant status, poor
housing, lack of social support, etc.

On the issue of abstainers, the picture in Ireland may be changing, as well
as a change in what gets drunk (beer to wine, which is coming more into line
with other European patterns). There is evidence of binge drinking among the
Irish in Britain. As Patrick has noted, food is an issue. It may be that the
context of Irish drinking in Britain is more likely to lead to alcohol
related deaths....men doing heavy manual work, having no mothers/wives to go
home to for dinner, cheques being changed for wads of cash by pub landlords,
etc. The Boston diet study showed that a similar diet among Irish men in
Ireland and their brothers in Boston led to much greater mortality in
Boston,
suggesting that the same behaviour in quite different circumstances can have
quite different effects. Protective effects in Ireland may have been
physical
work in a rural environment, feeling at home (not being a migrant), etc...
Similar contextual issues are likely to be relevant to Irish drinking in
Britain.

And it's not just men either.....Irish women in Britain appear to drink more
than other women.....the positive aspects of this, or the functions this may
serve in terms of social relationships should be emphasised, as well as the
possible dangers.....if I was honest I would say that it is impossible to
find an Englishwoman with anywhere near the drinking capacity of Irish women
I know, and you can guess who's more fun to go to the pub with.

If anyone wants detailed references on above, let me know.

Paddy Walls

From: "Jonathan Curry-Machado"
Subject: Irish, alcohol and Cuban rebellion

From: Jonathan Curry-Machado (jonathan[at]gitanos.screaming.net)
University of North London

Further to the discussions concerning the Irish and alcohol - and
perceptions of the Irish as drunken - here is a historical tale that may be
of interest.

In 1844, the Spanish authorities in Cuba claimed to have uncovered a plot
for an uprising to end slavery and bring Cuban independence. A number of
foreign workers were arrested and accused of complicity with the plot. One

of these was an Irish railroad labourer, Patrick O'Rourke. It seems that
O'Rourke had a bit of a reputation as a heavy drinker. His original
employment was on the Matanzas Port Railway, from which he had been sacked
some 3 years previously, not because he was a bad worker. In fact, his
employer later said he was a very strong worker, when he managed to turn up
to work sober. He was laid off having gone on one bender too many. He then
found employment on the Júcaro Railway, and was again discharged , for
similar reasons. At the time of his arrest, he was working on the
Matanzas -Cárdenas line.

O'Rourke wasn't alone amongst the Irish in Cuba for having an alcoholic
reputation. There were, in this period, numerous complaints about the
behaviour of Irish navvies who, having escaped from the near slave
conditions in which they worked on the railroad construction, would (so the
accusations went) wander the streets drunk and disorderly, and very likely
starving and dying of yellow fever or some other of the various epidemics
that regularly swept Cuban cities, lacking the means to leave the island.
It is clear that they were held in very low esteem by the white Spanish and
creole elite in the island, and this was not unconnected to their apparent
liking for a good drink.

O'Rourke's arrest was not due to his being drunk - though alcohol would
later make its appearance in his case as the Spanish authorities used it as
an excuse to wash their hands of his subsequent death. Though not alone as
a foreign worker arrested and charged with complicity in the plotted
uprising (the 'Escalera' as it later became known) - his particular supposed
crime was conspiring to provide ammunition for the rebels -, he was treated
far more harshly than most (much more than, for example the 'respectable'
British skilled machinists who were also arrested). He was quickly
separated from the others, and taken to a sugar estate close to where he had
allegedly been involved in the conspiracy. Here he was treated no
differently than the many black slaves and free coloured Cubans who were
also detained there (an interesting point in itself, when considering the
racial perception of the Irish). He spent a long period outside in the
stocks, suffering all manner of torment. Later he was taken to the prison
in Cárdenas, where his health rapidly deteriorated. Presumably not wanting
O'Rourke to die in their 'care', when it seemed that he was on death's door,
and following interventions by various members of the city's anglophone
community, he was released in protective custody to a hotel owned by a
Briton. A few days later, the doctor was called, and discovered him to have
a large abcess on his liver. This was surgically removed, apparently
successfully, only for him to die a few days later of dysentry. In the end,
none of the charges laid against him could be proved.

The Spanish authorities quickly moved to disclaim responsibility, and though
they held an inquiry into the matter, this was manipulated to make it appear
that O'Rourke's death was as a direct result of years of heavy drinking, and
had nothing to do with his treatment while under arrest (which, it was
asserted, was of the best that could be provided), nor of the parisitic
infection, prevalent in the highly unhealthy conditions of Cuban prisons at
the time, that his symptoms would suggest he had contracted. The atmosphere
in this part of Cuba at this time was so threatening that nobody was
prepared to appear before the Military Commission to say differently -
though a quite different picture emerges from the subsequent communications
made to the British Consul in Havana. The Spanish authorities maintained
that O'Rourke, who was, they said, about 60 years of age, would have died
anyway, because of his drinking. Compatriots of O'Rourke, while not
disclaiming that he was certainly more than partial to a drink, described
how, on his arrest, he was a strong, healthy 35 year old. By the time of
his release, his torment had been so bad that his hair and beard had turned
white, and he looked twice his age.

Although O'Rourke's case was taken up by the British Consul in Havana (as
was the treatment of other Irish navvies, who were at times even whipped to
death, with the justification being given that they were unrespectful,
regularly drunk, and guilty of all manner of related vices), it is doubtful
that the British Government pressed the Spanish Government too heavily on
the matter. After all, the Spanish anti-Irish prejudice was really little
different to their own; and was, no doubt, equally as based on a stereotyped
image of the drunken Irishman that could be used as a justification for all
manner of repressive behaviour.

From: Jonathan Curry-Machado (jonathan[at]gitanos.screaming.net)
University of North London

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

New on www.irishdiaspora.net

in the Folder, 'Irish Diaspora Studies - Debates'...

An essay...

What you always wanted to know about the origins and usage of that word
?diaspora?
OR
The Theology of Exile: hope and retribution

by Martin Baumann
University of Bremen, Germany

Long term members of the Irish-Diaspora list will recall that, a while ago,
we assisted Martin Baumann as he collected evidence for the spreading use of
'that word "Diaspora"' within different disciplines and areas of study.

In return Martin wrote for us a special version of an essay, for use and
display on our Web site.

When Martin's text arrived, some of it on disk and some of it on paper, it
presented special problems for an editor. I was daunted. Suffice it to say
I decided I needed a better computer, an easier way of displaying material
on the Web, and maybe a better brain. I now have the first two - the better
brain has been ordered but has not yet arrived.

Note that Martin Baumann's text was originally planned and written in
German. I have edited and tidied - but lightly. It still reads like a
translation.

Parts of this essay were incorporated into a review article, Martin Baumann,
?Shangri-La in Exile: Portraying Tibetan Diaspora Studies and Reconsidering
Diaspora(a)?, _Diaspora_, Volume 6, Number 3, Winter 1997, pp 377-404.

(NOTE: The apparent anomaly that this review article seems to have been
published before it was written... is explained by the fact that _Diaspora_
is one of those journals whose publishing scedule has slipped, and which is
struggling to catch up with itself...)

Further information about Diaspora. A Journal of Transnational Studies, can
be found at
http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/journal/Diaspora/diaspora.htm

Martin Baumann?s Home Page
http://www.baumann-martin.de/

Our thanks to the author of this essay, Martin Baumann.
And our thanks to Khachig Tölöyan, the Editor of Diaspora, for encouragement
and co-operation

It is also worth looking at the online Journal of Global Buddhism
http://jgb.la.psu.edu
a new venture with which Martin Baumann is associated.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Amongst the things now displayed at
www.irishdiaspora.net
in the Irish Diaspora list Folder
is the Irish-Diaspora list's Standard 'NewInfo' file - which automatically
goes to every new member of the Ir-D list.

And to anyone who rejoins after a gap... He, he, he.

I never see much evidence that people read the thing - what about the bit
that says...
> Avoid what are called ?Amen!? messages - messages that simply affirm what
has already been said. And avoid ?Huh?? messages > - that is, messages that
contain a brief expression of confusion, but do nothing to indicate the
clarification sought.

I suppose the 'NewInfo' file is getting a bit long, but it also needs
updating in the light of experience. Over the past months I have been
tracking the queries and problems that take up a lot of moderator time -
what are called Frequently Asked Questions, FAQs. I thought we might
construct standard replies to FAQs, and put them in that section of
irishdiaspora.net.

First, in the light of experience...

Citation

From time to time people ask me how the Irish-Diaspora list is to be quoted
or cited, in an article or other publication.

The brief answer is that the Irish-Diaspora list is NOT to be quoted or
cited. The Irish-Diaspora list is an email discussion forum - it is not in
itself a source. The source is the original writer of the email you want to
quote - that person's name and email address is always given in the
Irish-Diaspora list message. You should contact that person directly and
ask permission to quote.

Irish-Diaspora list messages often contain first thoughts or half-formed
views on a subject - the original writer may not wish to be quoted beyond
the bounds of the Irish-Diaspora list.

Or the original writer may wish to write you a note of clarification or
amplification - which then becomes your source ('private communication').

Or the original writer may wish to direct you to a formal publication, where
the facts and opinions you seek may already have been published.

In any case the wishes of the original writer are to be respected.

It would be nice if the work of the Irish-Diaspora list gets mentioned
somewhere along the line - but it is not essential.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Our attention has been drawn to a useful article...

History Today
Jan, 2001
THE IRISH ACT OF UNION
Author/s: Alvin Jackson

Alvin Jackson reviews Pitt's Irish Act of Union, which came into effect 200
years ago this month [that is January].

Note that it is possible to read the full text of this article at
http://www.findarticles.com/

AND (don't laugh...) I have at last worked out how to easily download the
full text of articles on FindArticles.

Click on Print This Article. That will give you a page with the full text
of the article visible. Do not Print the article at this stage, unless you
really want to - but simply Copy & Paste the text into your own word
processor. You can then read at your leisure, and print when you want to.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0870 284 1580
Fax International +44 870 284 1580

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: Cymru66[at]aol.com
Subject: Re: Ir-D Drunkenness and stereotypes

Dear Paddy,
I probably should not have intruded into this discussion but Carmel's
query
rang bells. I appreciate the fact that there is an unacceptable level of
alcohol abuse among Irish emigrants but they are not unique in this regard
and I was just concerned with the stereotypical nature of the association.
This does not mean, of course, that the situation should not be taken
seriously and addressed in any way which may be appropriate and effective.
Talking about stereotypes and the way they may be dealt with, our friends
and colleagues may be interested in something which appeared in the Chicago
Tribune a couple of weeks ago. The author was commenting on the arrival of a
new television sitcom called The Fighting Fitzgeralds - nothing
stereotypical
about that title, of course. His comment was, in summary, that no tv channel
would dare to put on such a parody featuring another ethnic group and
complimented the Irish on their maturity in not taking to the streets to
protest or even writing letters to the editor. The implication was that the
'Irish' here are so mature and self confident that they can treat these
parodies with disdain. They may even enjoy watching them. Unfortunately,
they
didn't have much of a chance to do the latter. The programme did not make it
through the May 'sweeps' - the major indicator of the numbers of viewing
audiences for individual programmes - and so was dropped from the schedules.
It seems that a majority of viewers are no longer interested in watching
plastic paddys.
Best,
John