Bradford Libraries, Archives & Information Service

the irish

Between 1845 and 1850 Ireland lost more than two million people. An estimated million and a half died from the effects of starvation, fevers and cold, and at least another million fled overseas. Many looked to other areas of the United Kingdom (of which Ireland was then a part) to escape the poverty imposed on them by a system of land ownership that exploited them, crop failures, and the demise of the Irish textile industry.

By 1850 Bradford was booming, the fastest-growing town of the Industrial Revolution. Roughly ten per cent of the population was Irish, a community of 10,000 people, often Gaelic speakers. The poorest people in Bradford, they faced great hostility from local people who saw the Irish as a threat to their livelihoods and despised them for their Roman Catholic beliefs.

Anti-Catholic riots in 1851 and 1852 made clear the levels of hostility directed at the Irish. It was difficult for them to find work in Bradford's mills. Instead they worked mainly as labourers, peddlers and in the miserable jobs of hand-weaving and hand-combing. The average age of death was fifteen and fewer than half of Irish children reached the age of five.

Bradford's Irish lived in the inner city areas, reflected today by the survival of the earliest surviving Roman Catholic churches, such as St Mary's, St Patrick's, St Anne's and St Joseph's. As with so many other migrant groups the church became a crucial centre of support and solidarity. Priest and nuns, often Gaelic-speaking and from similar social backgrounds, acted not only as spiritual mentors but also bankers, insurers, links to the home country and givers of charity.

Although large-scale migration to Bradford by Irish people was over by the late 1850s, a steady stream has continued to arrive in the city ever since, particularly in times of labour shortage. This continued migration is reflected in the range of cultural, social and recreational facilities still to be found in Bradford.