Irish immigration to Britain
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
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| Regions with significant populations | |
| Throughout Great Britain, especially Glasgow, London, North West England (Liverpool, Birkenhead, Salford, Bootle, Manchester, , Bolton, Chester), Swansea, Luton, Coventry, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wolverhampton, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Bradford, Gateshead, Edinburgh, Dundee and Birmingham | |
| Languages | |
| English · Irish · Shelta · Scots | |
| Religion | |
|
Christianity (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Anglican) |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Irish people · Overseas Irish |
Irish migration to Great Britain has occurred from the earliest recorded history to the present. There has been a continuous movement of people between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain due to their proximity. This tide has ebbed and flowed in response to politics, economics and social conditions of both places. Ireland was a feudal Lordship of the Kings of England between 1171 and 1541; a Kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Great Britain between 1542 and 1801; and politically united with Great Britain as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland between 1801 and 1922. Today, Ireland is divided between the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Today, millions of residents of Great Britain are either from Ireland or have Irish ancestry. It is estimated that as many as six million people living in the UK have at least one Irish grandparent (around 10% of the UK population).
The Irish diaspora (Irish: Diaspóra na nGael) refers to Irish people and their descendants who live outside Ireland. This article refers to those who reside in Great Britain, the largest island and principal territory of the United Kingdom.
During the Dark Ages, significant Irish settlement of western Britain took place. The 'traditional' view is that Gaelic language and culture was brought to Scotland, probably in the 4th century, by settlers from Ireland, who founded the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata on Scotland's west coast. This is based mostly on medieval writings from the 9th and 10th centuries. However, recently some archeologists have argued against this view, saying that there is no archeological or placename evidence for a migration or a takeover by a small group of elites. Due to the growth of Dál Riata, in both size and influence, Scotland became almost wholly Gaelic-speaking until Northumbrian English began to replace Gaelic in the Lowlands. Scottish Gaelic remained the dominant languages of the Highlands into the 19th century, but has since declined.
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