Welcoming the Stranger, Irish Emigrant Welfare in Britain since 1957

Abstract

This lively book tells the untold story of the crucial work carried out by the Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy in Britain on behalf of Irish emigrants for over half a century. The service was established by the Catholic Church in 1957 and the hidden history revealed is one of political intrigue; economic booms and busts; MI5; international relations; miscarriages of justice; Papal Encyclicals; Gospel teaching and the struggle for equality and justice. The vital work of the Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy was conducted against a background of battling against the odds and the establishment. It is the story of Irish and British migration history in modern times and Anglo-Irish relations unfolding over turbulent and politically sensitive decades. Based on archival research, a wealth of personal interviews and newly discovered material – most notably those of Bishop Eamon Casey and Archbishop John-Charles McQuaid – the roll-call also includes the most prominent world and church leaders of the period: Margaret Thatcher, John Hume, Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese, and Cardinals Hume & Ó Fiaich. Welcoming the Stranger critically examines how the Irish government was forced to take responsibility for the Irish abroad.