Editing Irish diaspora (section)

==United Kingdom==
{{Main|Irish migration to Great Britain}}
{{See also|Category:British people of Irish descent}}

[[Irish migration to Great Britain]] has occurred since the [[early medieval period]]. The largest waves of Irish migration occurred in the 19th century, when a devastating famine broke out in Ireland, resulting in thousands of Irish immigrants settling down in Britain, primarily in the port cities of [[Liverpool]] and [[Glasgow]]. Other waves of Irish migration occurred during the 20th century, as Irish immigrants escaping poor [[Economy of the Republic of Ireland|economic conditions in Ireland]] following the establishment of the [[Irish Free State]], came to Britain in response to labour shortages. These waves of migration have resulted in millions of British citizens being of Irish descent.<ref name="online">W.M. Walker, "Irish Immigrants in Scotland: Their Priests, Politics and Parochial Life." ''Historical Journal'' 15#4  (1972): 649–67. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638037 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512153349/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2638037 |date=12 May 2022 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cultureconflictm00macr_0|url-access=registration|title=Culture, Conflict, and Migration: The Irish in Victorian Cumbria|first=Donald M.|last=MacRaild|date=10 January 1998|publisher=Liverpool University Press|access-date=10 January 2018|via=Internet Archive|isbn=9780853236528}}</ref>

An article for ''[[The Guardian]]'' estimated that as many as six million people living in the United Kingdom have an Irish-born grandparent (around 10% of the [[Population of the United Kingdom|British population]]).<ref name="accordingtotheGuardian">{{cite web |last1=Bowcott |first1=Owen |date=13 September 2006 |title=More Britons applying for Irish passports |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/13/britishidentity.travelnews |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419101637/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/13/britishidentity.travelnews |archive-date=19 April 2020 |access-date=11 January 2018 |website=Theguardian.com}}</ref>

The [[2001 UK census]] states that 869,093 people born in Ireland are living in Great Britain. More than 10% of those born in the United Kingdom have at least one grandparent born in Ireland.<ref name="guardian-2006" /> The article "More Britons applying for Irish passports" states that 6 million Britons have either an Irish grandfather or grandmother and are thus able to apply for Irish citizenship.<ref name="guardian-2006">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/britain/article/0,,1871753,00.html | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Owen | last=Bowcott | title=More Britons applying for Irish passports | date=13 September 2006 | access-date=11 December 2016 | archive-date=5 January 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105184315/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/13/britishidentity.travelnews | url-status=live }}</ref> Almost a quarter claimed some Irish ancestry in one survey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1224611.stm|title=One in four Britons claim Irish roots|date=16 March 2001|website=News.bbc.co.uk|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224183251/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1224611.stm%20/default.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Irish have traditionally been involved in the building trade and transport particularly as dockers, following an influx of Irish workers, or [[navvies]], to build the British canal, road and rail networks in the 19th century. This is largely due to the flow of [[emigrants]] from Ireland during [[Great Famine (Ireland)|the Great Famine]] of 1845–1849. Many Irish servicemen, particularly sailors, settled in Britain: During the first half of the 19th century a third of the Army and Royal Navy were Irish. The Irish still represent a large contingent of foreign volunteers to the British military.<ref>Ralph Riegel,[https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/big-surge-in-recruits-here-as-british-army-targets-ireland-35340247.html "Big surge in recruits here as British army targets Ireland"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919055618/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/big-surge-in-recruits-here-as-british-army-targets-ireland-35340247.html |date=19 September 2023 }}, ''The Independent'', 4 January 2017</ref> Since the 1950s and 1960s in particular, the Irish have become assimilated into the British population. Emigration continued into the next century; over half a million Irish went to Britain in World War II to work in industry and serve in the [[British armed forces]]. In the post-war reconstruction era, the numbers of immigrants began to increase, many settling in the larger cities and towns of Britain. According to the 2001 census, around 850,000 people in Britain were born in Ireland.

The largest Irish communities in Britain are located predominantly in the cities and towns: in London, in particular [[Kilburn, London|Kilburn]] (which has one of the largest Irish-born communities outside Ireland) out to the west and north west of the city, in the large port cities such as [[Liverpool]] (which elected the first Irish nationalist members of parliament), [[Glasgow]], [[Bristol]], [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]] and [[Portsmouth]]. Big industrial cities such as [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]], [[Manchester]], [[Luton]], [[Coventry]], [[Birmingham]], [[Sheffield]], [[Wolverhampton]], [[Cardiff]] and parts of [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] and [[Nottingham]] also have large diaspora populations due to the Industrial Revolution and, in the case of the first three, the strength of the motor industry in the 1960s and 1970s. The towns of [[Hebburn]], [[Jarrow]] and [[Coatbridge]] have all earned the nickname 'Little Ireland' due to their high Irish populations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/irish-eyes-set-smile-tyneside-1550289|title=Irish eyes are set to smile on Tyneside again|first=Liz|last=Lamb|date=24 September 2006|website=Chroniclelive.co.uk|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914140520/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/irish-eyes-set-smile-tyneside-1550289|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central to the Irish community in Britain was the community's relationship with the [[Roman Catholic Church]], with which it maintained a strong sense of identity. The Church remains a crucial focus of communal life among some of the immigrant population and their descendants. The largest ethnic group among the [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Roman Catholic priesthood]] of Britain remains Irish (in the United States, the upper ranks of the Church's hierarchy are of predominantly Irish descent). The former head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is Cardinal [[Keith O'Brien]].<ref name="online"/>

Scotland experienced a significant amount of Irish immigration, particularly in [[Glasgow]], [[Edinburgh]] and [[Coatbridge]]. This led to the formation of [[Celtic Football Club]] in 1888 by [[Marist Brothers|Marist]] [[Brother Walfrid]], to raise money to help the community. In Edinburgh [[Hibernian F.C.|Hibernian]] were founded in 1875 and in 1909 another club with Irish links, [[Dundee United F.C.|Dundee United]], was formed. Likewise the Irish community in London formed the [[London Irish]] [[rugby union]] club. The [[2001 UK census]] states in Scotland 50,000 people identified as having Irish heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/warehouse/NewWards_ER_CA.jsp |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527021436/http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/warehouse/NewWards_ER_CA.jsp |archive-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Irish have maintained a strong political presence in the UK (mostly in Scotland), in local government and at the national level. Former prime ministers [[David Cameron]], [[Tony Blair]], [[John Major]] and [[James Callaghan]] have been amongst the many in Britain of part-Irish ancestry; Blair's mother, Hazel Elizabeth Rosaleen Corscaden, was born on 12 June 1923 in [[Ballyshannon]], [[County Donegal]]. Former Chancellor [[George Osborne]] is a member of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy and heir to the [[baronetcies]] of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.landedestates.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=3189|title=Estate Record: Osborne (Newtown Anner & Beechwood)|website=Landedestates.ie|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=2 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102204844/http://www.landedestates.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=3189|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Moreover, the UK holds official public [[St. Patrick's Day]] celebrations. While many such celebrations were suspended in the 1970s because of [[The Troubles]], the holiday is now widely celebrated by the UK public.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26558215|title=Why England parties for St Patrick|last=Glover|first=Andrew|date=2014-03-17|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-07-10|archive-date=19 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919055619/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26558215|url-status=live}}</ref>