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So you need a book on nineteenth century England that focuses on the Irish who were living in the country at the time. I'm assuming you also want things a bit broad and not too academically minded.

If you want to go into it with some background of what the hell was happening in Ireland:

Okey dokey - first you probably want a bit of political context so I recommend you read up on Daniel O'Connell. The nineteenth century was a period of serious political and religious strife, and perceptions of the Irish were defined by the Catholic Emancipation movement. I liked MacDonagh's biographies but most O'Connell books aren't too bad in terms of bias. He wasn't the only politician circling about, but most of the important names pop up in his life.

You'll also want to read up on the Famine, just so you know why so many Irish people were running off. Just be careful as the famine attracts a lot of animosity and anger. Try reading one that's a bit more neutral, like the first bit of F.S.L. Lyon's Ireland Since the Famine. Cecil Woodham-Smith's book The Great Famine is also pretty good, but has received its share of criticism as well.

If you just want to jump into the subject you originally came here to ask about:

As for the actual subject, there was a cute little book that came out of Oxford that looked at prominent Irish figures in London called Conquering England. It's very short and very 'big personality' focused but it gives you some broad idea of who was in London during the Victorian era.

I never read it, but I had a colleague who used Irish Migrants in Britain as secondary material for some essay or another. It's worth a look through anyway - it's case study stuff, so you get re-printed primary source material. The context isn't always there, but people like documentary histories.

Roger Swift, who edited the last one, is going to be your literary buddy. His main interest and specialty seems to be the Irish in Victorian England, so I also recommend you look at two other books he edited - The Irish in the Victorian City and The Irish in Britain. Both of these will be the closest to what you originally asked for. The Irish in Britain collection has an essay by David Fitzpatrick, who is usually a pretty good historian to read if you're looking for immigrant experience. No idea where that man finds his sources, but he unearths some great stuff.

I would recommend the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine and Cormac Ó Gráda's The Great Irish Famine.

For primary sources, UCC -- sorry, "NUI Cork" -- has always had a superior online archive of Irish and Irish-related laws, documents, etc. They have the text of the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Bill where even Hansard can let you down.

I recommend this book It is very funny and is fairly accurate. And it is short enough you could read it on the plane and get a fairly good background of Irish history with out studying for ages. Are you interested in history? Why not take an irish history class while here?

It's a good idea to start with what you like .

So pick a few area's.


If I was looking for a post famine book I would go for Ireland Since the Famine by FSL Lyons or anything by Diarmuid Ferriter -good balanced historians.


Try UCC CELT for old stuff and this tread .

This time of year its quite on the web - but hopefully a few others will pick up on this and make suggestions.

This one is great:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Early-Irish-Law/dp/0901282952

Comes highly recommended by me, and the scholar who recommended it to me.

This is what you want, an outstanding book that covers Irish and British history. Read this, and you'll be above the herd.

https://www.amazon.com/Isles-History-Norman-Davies/dp/0195148312

Great find, this is the only other book on the topic I can think of. The only criticism I see being directed at episode 1 of The Irish Revolution is that it didn't mention Clan na Gael of Judge Cohalon or John Devoy, it'll be good to see more work on Irish-America being published.

If you want some basic Medieval Irish history, How the Irish Saved Civilization is a great starting off point. Seamus MacManus' Story of the Irish Race is a tad dull, but it delves into the mythology, legends, and folktales.

The Tain is always worth a read. Not exactly kitchen sink drama though.

Fin Dyers Witches, Spies and Stockholm Syndrome: Life in Medieval Ireland https://www.amazon.com/Witches-Spies-Stockholm-Syndrome-Medieval/dp/1848402848 is very good but concentrates on the life of the non Gaelic townspeople as there is more data on them.

There's also Maria McGuire's memoirs of her time in the PIRA at the start of the Troubles, though it's hard to get hold of these days: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-Arms-Year-Provisional-I-R/dp/0333145062

She later became a Tory councillor for Croydon. Make of that what you will.

Sinn Fein were banned in the 'Republic' until the 1990s. The ban was lifted at that point. That ban I'm talking about is a ban in the media. You should read this. Ruairi was the president of SF for quite a while. It's a brilliant read.