From Patrick O'Sullivan


We have been sent a copy of her Dissertation,'The Irish Community in
Luton: Searching for evidence of their health needs', by Mairead
Canavan, who is working towards a BA Hons in Social Sciences, at the
University Of Luton. Her email address is
Mairead Canavan

Luton, for those who don't know their way round England, is in
Bedfordshire - just to the north of London. Follow the M1, the main
motorway, north from London to Junction 10. Luton is one of a string of
towns around London which were greatly expanded in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the 1991 census the Irish-born totalled 5.4% of the population of
Luton. The proportion of the population who would consider themselves
to be of Irish ethnicity has been estimated at 15% or 20%.

Mairead Canavan's Dissertation is for a BA degree. Within those
limitations it is a very able piece of work, with a good grasp of the
literature and the debates, and great methodological clarity. With
Mairead Canavan's permission I have posted to the Irish-Diaspora list -
as a separate email - some introductory material from her Dissertation.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Forwarded with the permission of...
mairead canavan

The Irish Community in Luton: Searching for evidence of their health
needs

By

Mairead Canavan

BA Hons Social Studies

1999

ABSTRACT

The Irish constitute the largest ethnic minority group in Britain and,
if migrants and their children are included, the total is about three
million, far higher than any non-White Census-defined ethnic group
enumerated in the 1991 census. (Hickman & Walter, 1997) Luton has the
second highest population of Irish people in Britain after London and it
is now thought that they make up about 20% of the population there (BBC
Look East, 1998).

Over the last two decades, death rates of people born in Ireland and
living in England and Wales have been higher than those of all people
living in England and Wales. Their death rates were also higher than the
rates of those remaining in Ireland (Wild & McKeigue, 1997).

The aim of this study was to begin collecting the evidence that will in
some way go towards determining the health needs of the Irish community
in Luton. Evidence was collected in a variety of ways - through
extensive literature searching, attending conferences, use of the
internet, talking directly to Irish people in Luton and carrying out a
questionnaire survey. The main finding of the study has been the
identification of certain barriers to discovering these needs. These
barriers are described here as the invisibility of the Irish community,
their unwillingness to define themselves as an ethnic minority group and
their unwillingness to attend the doctor until it becomes absolutely
necessary.

However, finding ways to overcome these barriers is further complicated
because the Irish themselves seem to be largely unaware of their health
problems and unfortunately there seems to be a reluctance to be included
as a target group within any health initiatives. Strategies can be put
in place to try and reach the Irish community but if they don't want to
be reached, that is the biggest barrier of all.

The Irish community remains invisible to the Health Authority because of
the way public health data is categorised - the Irish are included in
either the "White" or "Other" category. This makes it difficult to
obtain evidence of the health experience of the Irish and rules out the
possibility of a health strategy specifically aimed at the Irish
community.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people and organisations, all of
whom helped with advice, assistance or some other invaluable
contribution.

Mary Connolly who started me off with my literature search and set me on
the right track.

John Brannigan, Irish studies lecturer at the University of Luton who
gave me several good contacts and was always supportive when approached.

Martin Kelly, lecturer in Accountancy at the University of Luton who was
very supportive and pleased to help in any way.

All the members of the Irish Forum who welcomed me to their meetings and
without whom this study could not have been completed.

The Irish studies centre at the University of North London and in
particular, Mary Hickman for allowing me to visit and see their
archives.

Both of my project supervisors, Elizabeth Hughes from the University of
Luton and Sue Chiricco from Bedfordshire health promotion Agency who
provided me with lots of support and made themselves very available to
me at all times.

Balraj Rai and Gina Felice from Bedfordshire health promotion Agency who
supplied me with a lot of information, took me along to meetings and co-
facilitated at the focus groups.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Background p7

2. Methodology p12

2.1 The Irish community in Britain: A literature search p12

2.2 Mental health and the Irish p17

2.3 Physical health and the Irish p21

3 History of the Irish community in Luton p25

3.1 Locating the Irish community in Luton p30

3.2 Results of focus group p32

3.3 Results of questionnaire survey p35

4 Discussion p40

Mairead Canavan

From: "Marion R. Casey"

Stevenson on Kenneally, etc.


Dear Ir-D List,

Thought you might like to see this message - pasted in below, from Chuck
Laverty.

Chuck Laverty is a member of the New York Irish History Roundtable and of the
Irish Brigade Association. He is a veteran of the 69th Regiment NYNG and one
of the most knowledgable about its history.

By the way, the Oct. 2 event he refers to is a lecture by Dr. Linda
Dowling Almeida on "Ireland, New York and Migration, 1945-1995" at 2:30
p.m. at Ireland House, New York University, 1 Washington Mews at Fifth
Avenue, (between Washington Square North & 8th Street), New York City.
It is sponsored by the Roundtable and open to the public.

See http://www.irishnyhistory.com for information on this and other events
and news, such as the recent genealogical investigation done in NYC
records on De Valera's parents.

Marion Casey



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 00:17:19 -0400
From: Chuck Laverty
To: "Marion R. Casey"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Stevenson on Kenneally (fwd)

Hi, Marion:
Many thanks for the Keneally piece ... It
appears reviewer Stevenson bases his opinion
of TFMeagher on a single report by the Adj Gen
of the Army of the Potomac, one Marsena Patrick,
charging that Meagher was stoned in his tent.
Even assuming he was, I'd say that MPatrick would
himself imbibe on occasion of he lost as many
close friends as TFM in the single campaign on
the Peninsula ... When his affinity for the bottle
is raised (in an era notable for hvy drinking) I
am reminded of Abe L's wry observation about USGrant
(well known for hvy bouts but one helluva commander,
and a winner) that he hoped all his other generals
drank the same brand as Grant!

Meagher had really no business on the firing line
but -- unlike many draft dodgers, many of them "true
abolitionists" who plunked down their $300 and held
the coats of the working stiffs while the latter did
the fighting. Stevenson obviously is unaware that
Meagher had absolutely no obligation to serve, and
that having decided to serve voluntarily could easily
have spent the war (as many generals did) in Washington,
NYC or even abroad -- or at least could have graced
the staff of any number of field armies. And likely
get an extra star on his shoulder, to boot.

Thanks again. [Who is Dan Cassidy? Whoever, say Thanks
for me, and relay this if you wish]. See ya on October 2.
[Whomever? Damn this anglo-saxon language!]

C Laverty

From Patrick O'Sullivan

[New readers start here...]

The Irish-Diaspora list was started in late 1997 - we have just had our
second birthday. The Ir-D list was not started in ideal circumstances,
nor with ideal equipment... But... Well... You know...

It may be recalled that in 1998 I had a disastrous series of computer
crashes. I did not lose any of my own work - because I back up
obsessively. But we did lose practically all of the first year's
archive of the Irish-Diaspora list.

I solved my own computer problems, coaxing another year of active life
out of these poor old things. And I began to archive all Irish-Diaspora
list messages in my own database.

Meanwhile I had, again, brought our Ir-D archive needs to the attention
of my contact person at the Computer Centre, University of Bradford. He
did solve the problem, but - in the manner of such folk - has since left
the University without ever quite explaining what he had done...

I have now worked out what was done - through a series of thought
experiments and practical experiments. My thanks to all those who
helped with the practical experiments.

Listen very carefully - I shall say this only once...

1.
There is, in effect, a ghostly second Irish-Diaspora list, called irish-
diaspora-digest. Every message distributed through the Irish-Diaspora
list is also sent on to irish-diaspora-digest.

2.
Here's the spooky part. Every night, at a quarter past one, our time,
irish-diaspora-digest makes a file of the Irish-Diaspora list messages
it has received that day.

If it has received no messages that day, it makes no file. If it has
received lots of messages, it might make more than one file. So that
there is no direct relationship between number of days and number of
files.

3.
The first file made by Irish-diaspora-digest was
Friday, November 6 1998 Volume 01 : Number 001

The latest file was
Monday, November 1 1999 Volume 01 : Number 250

Thus... A full year of Irish-Diaspora list messages is archived, in 250
files, in irish-diaspora-digest.

4.
And these files are available to anyone in the world.

All you have to do (PAY ATTENTION AT THE BACK THERE) is send an email to
majordomo[at]bradford.ac.uk

The Subject line of this email does not matter - put in something to
help yourself remember what you are trying to do.

The text of the email should take this form

get irish-diaspora-digest v01.n001
end

The majordomo software will then send you an email, acknowledging your
message. It will also send you file Number 001 as a separate email.

5.
You can request many of these files in the one message, as long as each
instruction is on a line by itself, thus

get irish-diaspora-digest v01.n001
get irish-diaspora-digest v01.n032
get irish-diaspora-digest v01.n123
end

That will get you files Number 001, 032 and 123. Always end with the
word
end
on a line by itself.

6.
And what will you get in files Number 001, 032 and 123? Who knows?
Each file will contain one or more Irish-Diaspora list messages. But
there is no subject index to the files.

Would such a subject index be useful? - I'd like feedback, please.

Once I had worked out the system I did begin to collect the material to
compile a subject index. If we do decide that a subject index to the
archive would be useful, and would be used, I would be very grateful for
some help in compiling it.

This would involve sending and receiving many emails, and collating the
material in some form - it is thus a task more suited to someone in an
institutional setting, who does not have to pay phone bills. I guess
the idea is that Ir-D list members could consult the subject index, and
then retrieve messages through the procedure outlined above, in sections
4 and 5.

I suppose there is even the possibility of retrieving the entire archive
and displaying it, somewhere, in some more easily accessible form.

7.
You have to laugh, don't you? This is certainly not an archiving system
a person would have come up with if asked to find a solution from
scratch. It is a solution entirely shaped by the idiosyncrasies of the
Majordomo software. My new contact person within the Computer Centre
thinks it is a pretty neat solution - within the limits of the software.
It's there, if we want to use it.

Thoughts?

Paddy O'Sullivan

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Thinking further about Liam Harte's comments on our discussion about
autobiography...

Writers are great re-cyclers - and I suppose I should have been more
careful about re-cycling to the Irish-Diaspora list something written
for other purposes. I think the word 'posed' arose, in that other
discussion, in a discussion about 'authenticity'...

There is certainly something self-conscious, and self-assertive, about
writing an autobiography. The autobiography theorists have developed
some interesting, but in the end self-contradictory, ideas about the
origins of an 'autobiographical consciousness' - which can be post-
orality, post-Renaissance, post-Enlightenment, post-Romantic, and post-
modern. Depending on who you read.

I did think that Bernard Canavan's chapter for me, in IWW3, did bring a
new thought to this discussion - one which I have not, to my
recollection, seen elsewhere. He directly linked the Irish-in-Britain
working class autobiographical tradition - and by now there is a
tradition - with the story-telling tradition. For example, he pointed
out how many of the autobiographies were dictated. Or taped. Telling
stories about ourselves is something that human beings do.

Then, I think, we are into matters of publishers, audiences and markets.
For example, C20th Irish government interest in the Irish language
created a new market for Irish language autobiography.

I would just add, Liam, that as well as the Irish-in-Britain material
there are all the Irish-of-Ireland autobiographies, which usually
contain a sojourn in England. For example, I have just picked up Austin
Clarke's two volumes.

Glad to see Brian Maidment appreciated - we had him over here to give a
talk a few years back.

Best of luck with this interesting project...

Paddy O'Sullivan
- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Thinking further about Sara Brady's interesting and brave project...

(Sara and I have discussed this a little, already, off-list...)

We have all been hauled out of the poacher pockets of Conn the
Shaughraun. That is to say, Irish theatre is shaped by the interactions
between the professional work of Dion Boucicault and the commercial
needs of the Irish-American theatre managers. Attending a Boucicault
play becomes, as I have said elsewhere, 'a sacramental celebration of
Irishnesss...' This - lively - tradition becomes hidden by purely
Ireland-based studies of the theatre and drama of Ireland.

It strikes me, about the Irish end of Sara's project, that much of it
could be done over the Internet and Web. It is possible to go through
the theatre reviews of the Irish newspapers - not forgetting the Ferries
of Galway, and their email Newsletter, The Irish Emigrant.

And see which plays and which theatre companies have tackled the issue
of emigration. Some may now be contactable through email. The best
place to start searching might be Bruce Stewart's IASIL Web site...
http://www.ulst.ac.uk/iasil/

Worth looking at is the new ACIS Collection, which certainly gives a
flavour of (a part of) the current Irish theatre scene - John P.
Harrington & Elizabeth J. Mitchell, eds, Politics and Performance in
Contemporary Northern Ireland, U Of Massachusetts Press/ACIS, Amherst,
1999, ISBN 1 55849 196 1 or 197 x. I particularly like Helen Lojek's
piece on the Charabanc Theatre Company.

I have had the good fortune to see some Charabanc pieces and to meet the
astounding Eleanor Methven. Though it turned out that there was then a
certain Irish woman actor style - the hair falling just so, the floral
skirt spreading just so. I once spent an entire day amongst Belfast
theatre folk, fondly greeting a sequence of different young women with,
'Eleanor, how nice to see you again!'

[An interlocutor comments: Paddy, that is a sad and silly story.
Paddy: I know.]

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From: DanCas1[at]aol.com

Subject: Re: Query on Milltown Cemetery


Dear Ir-D List and Friends:

I have an undergraduate student, Lucy Duffy, from Belfast, who is just
beginning a research project on the history of Milltown Cemetery in West
Belfast. Is anyone aware of anything that has been written on Milltown? She
thinks the cemetery itself is about 125 years old. I have been there several
times but have never seen anything written about the cemetery's history.

Thanks,

Daniel Cassidy

[Ir-D list members will be aware of the work of Barry Coldrey, the
historian of the Christian Brothers - on the Brothers and Irish
Nationalism. And you will be aware of his part in revealing the scandal
of the Brothers' ill treatment of children and young people in their
care - the unravelling of all that began with Barry Coldrey's internal
report on the Christian Brothers in Australia. The unravelling spread
to Ireland - another example of a Diaspora in action - where events are
now reaching their unhappy climax.

Some years ago Barry Coldrey came to visit me here in Bradford, and we
discussed his then secret internal report - for, of course, my past
professional life made me aware of the problems he was facing. And I
said to him, 'You won't get any thanks for this, you know...'

Anyway... Linked with Barry Coldrey's work on the misdeeds of his
fellow Brothers is his interest in child migration. I thought that the
Ir-D list would like to see the following research note.

P.O'S.]


Forwarded on behalf of Barry Coldrey...

Subject: 'Good British Stock'

This week, the National Archives of Australia released my Research Guide
GOOD BRITISH STOCK: CHILD AND YOUTH MIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA. The work
has around 200 pages and is a mine of information from Australia and
overseas for the study and research into child migration. The material
is of some use to people searching for material about family members who
were former child or youth migrants.It is of interest to genealogists.

The cost of the RESEARCH GUIDE is $10 - modest, but the National
Archives looks on the GUIDES as a service to researchers here and
overseas. The Guide is not available from myself in Melbourne even after
the Grand Final !

The Guide is available from Publications Sales, National Archives of
Australia, P.O. Box 7425, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610, Tel: (02) 6212
- - 3600; Fax: (02) 6212 - 3699. Email: archives[at]naa.gov.au
The Guide is to encourage research. It is not light reading and not full
of sex and sin to sell in vast numbers.

With every best wish,

Dr/Br Barry Coldrey

Best wishes, Barry

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
7/67 Collins Street, Ph: (03) 9480 - 2119
Thornbury, Vic 3071
Australia

******************************************************


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From: "Brian McGinn"

Subject: Luck of the Irish


In William D. Griffin, A Portrait of the Irish in America (NY: Charles
Scribner's, 1981), an illustration titled The 'luck" of the Irish" (p, 109)
shows a feverish group of dealmakers and hagglers outside a 19th Century
stock exchange. The caption reads as follows: "It was widely believed in
the last decades of the nineteenth century that the California Irish had
the Midas touch. Ventures in mining and real estate yielded large returns
for many Irish Americans, making them some of San Francisco's most powerful
businessmen." No further sources are given.

Brian McGinn
Alexandria, Virginia
bmcginn[at]clark.net

From: Sara Brady
Subject: Discourses of Diaspora: Call for papers (fwd)


A diasporic conference:

>Date: Sat, 02 Oct 1999 11:35:25 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Lacey Torge
>Subject: [cultstud-l] Discourses of Diaspora: Call for papers (fwd)

>
>CALL FOR PAPERS
>
>CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR AMERICAN STUDIES
>
>DISCOURSES OF DIASPORA
>
>NOVEMBER 2-5, 2000
>OTTAWA, CANADA
>LORD ELGIN HOTEL
>
>This conference will focus on constructions of racial and ethnic diasporas,
>inclusive of(but not exclusive to) : the Black Atlantic, the Jewish
>Diaspora, the Irish Diaspora, Imperialist diasporas, and so on. Papers
>might also query the growing popularity of the term, its origin, and its
>current usage.
>
>Proposals should be sent by February 28th, 2000 to:
>
>Priscilla L. Walton
>Dept. Of English
>Carleton University
>Ottawa, ON
>K1S 5B6
>pwalton[at]ccs.carleton.ca

>
Sara Brady
Managing Editor, TDR
Tisch School of the Arts
721 Broadway, 6th floor
New York, NY 10003-6807
212-998-1626 phone
212-998-1627 fax

Read TDR on the Web at:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/TDR

From:
Subject: KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS


A friend has acquired a set of plates commemorating the 75th Anniversary of
the Knights of Columbus (or of a specific Chapter?) and asked me to appeal
to List members for information on same...

The plates are inscribed as follows:
PINZOIN COUNCIL NO. 904

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

75TH ANNIVERSARY

1904-1979

Any information on the above would be gratefully received.

Ultan Cowley

From: Enda Delaney

Irish in Nineteenth Century Britain


Dear Ir-D List Members,

We have been fortunate enough to secure some funding here at
Queen's for a project on the Irish in late nineteenth-century
Britain. This will be a collaborative project with members of the
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social
Structure, who are currently examining Scottish-born persons in
England in a similar time period. Our pilot project involves an
examination of the 1881 census data for Lancashire (available
from the History Data Archive at Essex) in order to compare the
demographic and socio-economic profile of the Irish-born and
Scottish-born in Liverpool in 1881. We would appreciate the help
and advice of members of the Ir-D list in the following areas:

(1) We are familiar with the earlier census work done on
Liverpool (and Manchester), but is anyone aware of a previous or
current study on the Irish in Liverpool at this time, based
principally on an analysis of the census data?

(2) We are primarily interested in patterns of marriage,
fertility, the socio-economic profile and settlement patterns.
Are there other aspects we should be thinking about? Of course,
we are trying to ensure comparability in terms of the work done
by colleages with the Cambridge Group.

Any advice and suggestions gratefully received.

Enda Delaney (e.delaney[at]qub.ac.uk)
Liam Kennedy (l.kennedy[at]qub.ac.uk)

School of Modern History
The Queen's University of Belfast

I have been asked to repeat some earlier Ir-D list information about
Steven Vertovec...

Steven Vertovec is Director of the ESRC Transnational Communities
Research Programme...

The Programme is scheduled to run until Autumn 2002. There is a Web
site, which is updated regularly as the Research Programme develops...
http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk

Full contact information will be found on that Web site.

The publisher of Robin Cohen, Series Editor, The International Library
of Studies of Migration, is...

Edward Elgar Publishing
Glensanda House
Montpellier Parade
Cheltenham
Glos
GL50 1UA
UK

This series includes Vertovec, ed., Migration and Social Cohesion.

Further information can be found on the publisher's Web site...
http://www.e-elgar.co.uk

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From: Kerby Miller
Subject: Mick Maloney

Does anyone know how I can get in touch with the noted Irish-American
musicologist and singer, Mick Maloney? He used to be at Villanova
University, near Philadelphia, but I understand that recently he's taken a
better post elsewhere and I'm unable to locate him.
Many thanks,
Kerby Miller
University of Missouri-Columbia.
Russell Murray
Department of Applied Social Sciences
University of Bradford
United Kingdom

From: DanCas1[at]aol.com
Received: from DanCas1[at]aol.com
by imo11.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v23.6.) id kYONa05338 (4188)
for ; Thu, 7 Oct 1999 20:20:05 -0400 (EDT)
Message-ID:
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1999 20:20:05 EDT
Subject: Re: Ir-D Mick Maloney?
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 26

Dear Kerby Miller:

Mick Moloney records for Green Linnet records in Connecticut. Their phone
number is 1-800-468-6644. They should be able to put you "on the scent of
him."
Good luck.

Best,

Daniel Cassidy
Russell Murray
Department of Applied Social Sciences
University of Bradford
United Kingdom

Forwarded on behalf of the University of Minnesota...

PUBLIC PRESENTATION
Hosted by the University of Minnesota Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Seminar
"Migration and Identity"
Robin Cohen, University of Warwick
1:00pm, October 21, 1999
Coffman Union Theater, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

"Migration and Identity" will be the topic of the kick-off event of the
University of Minnesota's Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Seminar for
1999-2000. The presenter, Dr. Robin Cohen, professor of sociology at
University of Warwick, is widely know for his work on ethnic relations,
migration, and international labor studies.

Dr. Cohen is author of the acclaimed 1997 book: Global Diasporas: An
introduction. He has an extensive list of other single-authored books:
Frontiers of Identity: The British and the others; Contested Domains:
Debates in International Labour Studies; The New Helots: Migrants in the
International Division of Labour; Endgame in South Africa; and Labour and
Politics in Nigeria. His current project is a book entitled Global
Society, co-authored with Paul Kennedy and due out in 2000. Dr. Cohen also
edited the Cambridge Survey of World Migrations.

Dr. Cohen has consulted for: the World Bank, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, the Council of Europe, the International Labour
Office (Central America), the Government of Guyana, and ANC Government of
South Africa (research for the Green Paper on Migration Flows). Cohen
received his doctorate at the University of Birmingham and his master's at
the London School of Economics.

The University of Minnesota's Race, Ethnicity and Migration Seminar is
cosponsored by the Immigration History Research Center and the Program in
American Studies, divisions of the UM College of Liberal Arts. The seminar
addresses the encounter of immigrants to the United States during the 19th
and 20th centuries with issues of race, emphasizing how their experience of
racial distinctions in society shaped their own racial attitudes and
identities.

Further information is available at the following Web site:
http://www1.umn.edu/ihrc/re&m.htm Questions may also be directed to REM
Project Assistant Rachel Leatham (651) 627-4208; rleatham[at]hhh.umn.edu
The Oct. 21st presentation is being cosponsored by the University of
Minnesota Human Rights Center, the University of Minnesota Department of
Anthropology, and the Macalester College History Department

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

Forwarded on behalf of Grainne Blair...

Dear Paddy,

Please do circulate the following...

I would be most interested in any help and responses and also if there
were any sources of funding outside the usual that might be relevant to
this, as the Irish seem to think it is British and the British seem to
think it is Irish!

I am researching the development of the Salvation Army in Ireland from
1880-1980. The focus of my research will be the development of the
Salvation Army in Ireland within the context of religious and
political difficulties, north and south from 1880-1980. Particular
attention will be paid to gendered meanings of work within the Army
and an examination of services provided to the wider community by
them, particularly rescue work.

I am registered for the PhD in Warwick University working with Dr
Maria Luddy but will be based in Dublin. Anyone who might have any
references or information, please do contact me. Anyone who is
interested on further information, please contact me and I will send
you a list of my publications to date on the subject.

With thanks

Grainne Blair
Grainne Blair
1 Farmhill Drive
Roebuck
Dublin 14
Tel:087 2073194 or
353 1 2987741
grainne.blair[at]ucd.ie

This item has been forwarded to us by Margot Backus, and is passed on, without
comment...

- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 01:46:37 -0700
From: IRSP

September 27, 1999

More censored California history

California became part of the United States as the
result of the Mexican American War. Even hard bitten
old soldiers like Ulysses S. Grant thought the war,
a blatant land grab, was a national disgrace.

But over 150 years later, the California dream machine
is apparently still a bit sensitive on the subject. A
feature film on the story of a battalion of Irish-American
and Irish-Mexican troops (the San Patrico's) who fought
in support of Mexico, "One Man's Hero," appears to
be on the verge of dying in obscurity in spite of
positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times.

An MGM executive when asked why the company was giving
the film the silent treatment replied he considered it
"anti-American."

Apparently, the film is on a handful screens in LA
and various places in the Southwest. So see it
while you can.

Here's the guy who controls the pursestrings:
Chris McGurk, Vice Chairman, MGM, 2500 Broadway,
Santa Monica, CA 90404.

More than anything else, guys like McGurk want to
fill seats, so if there is an outcry, there might be
a reaction from MGM.

* More information about the San Patricio's
http://www.dayproductions.com/patricio.html
* To contact producer:
Chool[at]aol.com
(There doesn't appear to be a valid web
site address for the film itself.)

More about the mythological smoke screen
devised to discredit the San Patricio's
who according to US Grant's later analysis
were on the right side of things.

THE IRISH SOLDIERS OF MEXICO
by Michael Hogan
(Guadalajara, Mexico: Fondo Editorial Universitario, 1997)
Reviewed by James Fogarty

"Every since the end of the U.S.-Mexican War (1846-48) U.S. historians have
taken pains to dismiss the Irish soldiers of the San Patricio Battalion as
a bizarre group of malcontents and ne'er-do-wells who deserted from the
U.S. Army, lured by drink, pretty senoritas and/or promises of generous
rewards from Mexican officials.

Thanks to the scholarly research of Michael Hogan in his new book, The
Irish Soldiers of Mexico, there is a much more balanced and objective
analysis of the San Patricio phenomenon. Hogan, a history professor at the
American School in Guadalajara, Mexico, puts to rest the above stereotypes
and proves conclusively that the San Patricios were, in fact, one of the
most disciplined, courageous and effective units in the war.

Hogan also debunks the myth that the battalion was made up exclusively of
deserters from the U.S. Army and points out that the known deserters
represented only about a third of the total membership, while the majority
were in fact European or Mexican citizens, and not citizens of the United
States.

Hogan shows that labeling the group as American deserters is a tactic that
has been manipulated by biased historians who "ignore the fact that at
least 46 known members were not deserters and that many were Irish
residents of Mexico prior to the invasion of Mexico by U.S. forces...

Hogan also indicates that declaring oneself to be Irish and Catholic in the
U.S. army at that time was akin to declaring oneself Jewish in Nazi
Germany, a point graphically made by the Mexican-Jewish artist, Luis
Camnitzer."


Note: Roughly at the time of the Mexican-American War, Britain
exported large quantities of food from Ireland while over 1,000,000
Irish peasants starved to death as a result of a blight on the
potato crop.

Driven off their lands at gunpoint and forced to work as
temporary farm workers on British owned estates (shades of
Central America), the peasantry depended on the low maintenence
potato crop to see them through the unpaid winter months. From
1846 to 1850, while hundreds of thousands starved, three million
livestock were exported from the island. The British elite declared
the catastrophe was the inevitable result of intrinsic Irish laziness
and inferiority and went so far as to actively discourage the relief
efforts organized by common English citizens as unnecessary.

On the Irish-Diaspora list we tend not to follow in great detail events in Northern
Ireland. But we do care, and are concerned. Here we are absorbing the astonishing
news that Peter Mandelson is to replace Mo Mowlam as Secretary of State for Northern
Ireland.

Meanwhile, another interested outsider is reported to have used a perhaps
unfortunate simile to express his incomprehension of Northern Ireland processes.
Though the headlines might say 'Another Clinton gaffe' it is possible to have some
sympathy for the President.

P.O'S.


October 8, 1999


Clinton:N.Ireland Sides Like Drunks


A.P. INDEXES: TOP STORIES | NEWS | SPORTS | BUSINESS |
TECHNOLOGY | ENTERTAINMENT


Filed at 3:43 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press

OTTAWA (AP) -- President Clinton said today that efforts to
bring peace to Northern Ireland
have faltered because the two sides are ``like a couple of
drunks' who can't leave the bar.

The president made the remark in discussing religious and
ethnic differences behind troubles
in the Middle East, Rwanda and elsewhere. Later, a White
House spokesman said Clinton
meant no offense.

Clinton said that he and Canadian Prime Minister Jean
Chretien have ``tried to stop people
from killing each other in Bosnia, in Kosovo, because of
religious and ethnic differences.'

``I spent an enormous amount of time trying to help the
people in the land of my forebears in
Northern Ireland get over 600 years of religious fights,'
Clinton said. ``And every time they
make an agreement to do it, they're like a couple of drunks
walking out of the bar for the last
time. When they get to the swinging door, they turn right
around and go back in and say `I
just can't quite get there.'

The audience laughed. Clinton spoke at the dedication of a
new American Embassy.

Later, National Security Council spokesman David Leavy said
in Washington that Clinton
was expressing his frustration at all sides in the Northern
Ireland dispute.

``Clearly the president didn't mean to cause offense to any
group of people, but he is clearly
frustrated that both sides can't seize this moment of peace
and make progress in
implementing the Good Friday accords,' Leavy said. He said
the peace process has been
``mired in issues for far too long.'

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

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

From: "alex peach"
To: "Irish Diaspora Network"
Subject: Irish Nationalists in Poland
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 11:52:08 +0100
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Carrying on from my recent requests for information on Irish =
nationalists contacts with Tibetan nationalists, I have a question from =
Prof. Kazimierz Dopierala, a Polish historian who I and others on the =
IDN met last week in Germany. He informs me that he has evidence of =
contact between Irish and Polish nationalists (around the turn of the =
century I think), and would be interested if anyone knows any references =
to this in the English literature. I promised that I would dip into the =
pool of knowledge that this learned group was set up to access and =
inform him of the answers. The conference we both attended "Irish and =
Polish Migration in Comparative Perspective" at the University of the =
Rhur in Bochum, was set up in order to explore these connections. It =
would be most useful to both our subject areas to facilitate an exchange =
of information and I will ask Professor Dopierala to furnish us with =
information regarding his findings.=20
=20
Many Thanks
=20
Alex Peach
Russell Murray
Department of Applied Social Sciences
University of Bradford
United Kingdom