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The toil of Irish ancestors has helped make Manchester a home from
home
 AISLING
BURKE left Ireland for Manchester almost a year ago and found a home from
home. But just what is it that makes the Manchester-Irish connection so
strong? Aisling has the answer.
MANCHESTER’S Irish connection goes further than the thousands who
travel across the Irish Sea each week to watch their beloved Manchester
United.
Indeed it goes deeper than the thousands of Irish Mancunians who live
in Levenshulme and throughout the city.
The annual Manchester Irish Festival is the largest in Britain and one
of the biggest in the world.
Why is the connection is so strong?
And why do we celebrate everything Irish to have emerged from Manchester?
Consider this: By 1841 one-tenth of Manchester’s population was
Irish and many lived in the district known as Little Ireland — a
slum area in the Ancoats district of Manchester which Engels labelled
in his 1845 Condition Of The Working Class In England as: “The most
disgusting spot of all!”
This notorious area of the city was so overcrowded that the sudden Irish
influx during the Potato Famine could not be accommodated and the vast
number of emigrants had to turn to other English cities notably Liverpool
and Birmingham.
According to the Census of 1841 some 60 per cent of the population of
the West of Ireland lived in windowless single-roomed mud cabins with
little furniture.
It was from this area that the majority of Manchester’s Irish came.
Unprepared for city life they often took any job available.
Many found themselves in degrading, low-paid and dangerous work. It was
all they could get.
Manchester’s early Irish inhabitants found themselves living in
extreme poverty.
They were often crammed into houses with little air and light. A tax
on windows also caused many landlords to block up as many openings as
possible making the houses dangerously dark and lacking ventilation.
The endemic overcrowding forced many to live in the cellars of houses
where the conditions were damp, dark and lacking sanitation.
A report found that 18,000 Irish inhabitants lived in Manchester cellars.
Some 15 per cent of these actually slept more than three people in one
bed with cases of eight in a bed reported.
There were even horrific tales of many sleeping without a bed. It is hard
today to imagine what the conditions must have been like for the thousands
who had fled Famine in Ireland.
But for many life in Manchester was surprisingly better than that which
they had endured in Ireland and for this reason they were willing to work
for lower pay than the locals.
Not surprisingly this lead to tension especially when Irish workers
were used to break strikes.
Many Irish in Manchester sent a fraction of their earnings back home which
helped the Irish economy.
It is this that makes the connection so strong also.
Many of the folk that moved to Manchester returned home but others stayed
and reared families over here.
My own family was one of the thousands that emigrated in search of a better
and more rewarding lifestyle.
My grandfather a carpenter in the Chorlton area of Manchester moved
to the city from Achill Island many years ago.
He worked hard and sent money home to his wife and family. His eldest
son worked with him before the whole family joined them in the mini-Irish
town of Chorlton.
It is here they spent the rest of their days and my late grandmother often
spoke to me about what a warm welcome they received — while also
being aware that not everyone was welcomed with open arms.
It is not the most common thing now for the Irish to emigrate to Manchester
— although it remains very popular with short-term moves for academic
commitments.
Indeed a trawl around any of the city’s renowned universities will
find plenty of Irish students so the connection forged through emigration
remains strong.
Visit any of the many Irish clubs and bars in Manchester around GAA Championship
time and they will be packed as young and old meet up to watch their native
counties play their hearts out.
These kind of events warm your heart and take away the homesickness that
many people feel.
It’s true though that the old economic imperatives which saw people
leave Ireland for the North-West of England and Manchester’s industrial
and financial might may be waning.
The Celtic Tiger means Ireland seems to be paying higher wages than ever
before so Manchester might not hold us all for too many years.
From visiting Manchester at an early age to see family, I always had a
great love for the people of this city due to their friendly manner.
I remember the first day we went socialising in Manchester the people
were so welcoming and helpful and the atmosphere warm.
Many people still go out of their way to acknowledge the Irish and seem
proud of the contribution the community has made to the city.
I hope this Manchester Irish connection continues and does not fade away
because it is a strong and admirable, chain.
A lot of work goes into the Irish Festival here and, yes, it is well worth
it and enjoyed by all.
Home is where the heart is and that’s for sure but sometimes being
away makes you more proud to be Irish. |
