Irish diaspora
The
Irish diaspora consists of
Irish emigrants and their descendants in
countries such as the
United States,
Great Britain,
Canada and
Australia. By one estimate, the
diaspora contains as many as 60 million people.
Over the centuries, political oppression, joblessness, and hunger in a sometimes harsh land have forced the sons and daughters of Irish parents to leave to other shores, particularly the shores of "Amerikay," where a livelihood was (it was hoped) easier.
This experience was immortalized in the words of many songs including the famous Irish ballad, "The Green Fields of America":
- So pack up your sea-stores, consider no longer,
- Ten dollars a week is not very bad pay,
- With no taxes or tithes to devour up your wages,
- When you're on the green fields of America.
See also: