Irish people in Jamaica

Irish Jamaicans
Gael-hIamáice

Regions with significant populations
Portland · Saint Thomas · Saint Andrew · Saint Catherine · Manchester
Languages
Jamaican English, Irish (historical), Ulster Scots (historical)
Related ethnic groups
Irish diaspora, White Jamaican

Irish people in Jamaica or Irish Jamaicans, are Jamaican citizens whose ancestors originated from Ireland. If counted separately, Irish people would be the second-largest reported ethnic group in Jamaica, after Afro-Jamaicans.

Historical background

The first wave of Irish immigrants occurred in the early 17th century, principally sailors, servants, and merchants. Many of the poorer emigrants were displaced Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish Catholics, as well as convicts who were indentured servants. Many of the indentured servants were transported unwillingly. Of those surviving the long journey, many more succumbed to disease, the harsh conditions and unfamiliar tropical conditions.

One of the first English colonies in the Caribbean was established on Barbados in 1626.

Anglo-Irish merchant families from towns like Galway, Kinsale, and Waterford established their trading networks in the Caribbean.

First contact with Jamaica

Irish-born prisoners and indentured servants were first brought to Jamaica in large numbers under the English republic of Oliver Cromwell following the capture of Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655 by William Penn and Robert Venables as part of Cromwell's strategic plan to dominate the Caribbean: the "Western Design".

In 1655, Henry Cromwell, Major-General of the Parliamentary Army in Ireland, arranged for the transportation of approximately 1,000 Irish girls and 1,000 Irish young men be sent to assist in the colonisation of Jamaica.

In 1687, Christopher Monck, the 2nd Duke of Albemarle was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica by the Catholic King James II. His office was supported mainly by the Irish Catholic farmers and servants, an indication that the Irish were numerous, at least among the lower classes.

Later history

Migration to Jamaica continued through the 17th century, especially during the sugar boom on the sugar plantations of the West Indies, which forced many freed servants to look for land on the bigger islands like Jamaica. A Barbadian historian has estimated that of 10,000 Irish servants who left Barbados in the last quarter of the 17th century, at least half were destined for Jamaica, where land was available for small farmers. From 1670 to 1700, Jamaica became the preferred destination for Irish and English servants departing the Atlantic ports at Kinsale, Cork, Galway and Bristol. By the late 17th century, some 10 percent of Jamaica's landowners were of Irish extraction and several, such as Teague Mackmarroe (Tadhg MacMorrough), who owned Irish indentured servants, attained the rank of "middling planter".

Later, in the mid-eighteenth century, Presbyterian colonial settlers who were fleeing Ireland arrived in the Caribbean. Scottish Gaelic speaking highlanders exiled after the Jacobite rebellions also came to the island in the 18th century.

In 1731, governor of Jamaica Robert Hunter said that the "servants and people of lower rank on the island chiefly consist of Irish Papists" who he said had "been pouring in upon us in such sholes as of late years". In the mid-18th century, Irish native names such as O'Hara and O'Connor were prominent, as well as Old English families like Talbot and Martin. Names present in 1837, recorded during the compensation hearings, include Walsh, O'Meally, O'Sullivan, Burke, Hennessy, Boyle, Tierney, Geoghagan, and Dillon.

Cultural influences

The Irish Gaelic language poet Eoghan Rua Ó Súilleabháin wrote his only English-language work in Port Royal, Jamaica while serving on a Royal Navy vessel.

Notable Jamaicans of Irish descent

• Bromley Armstrong, black Canadian civil rights leader
• Sir Alexander Bustamante, national hero and first prime minister of Jamaica
• Donald J. Harris, Jamaican and American economist
• Kamala Harris, 49th Vice President of the United States
• John Hearne, novelist, journalist, and teacher
• Claude McKay, poet laureate
• Clinton Morrison, footballer for the Republic of Ireland national team
• William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin, military officer and colonial administrator
• Kalvin Phillips, footballer for the English national team
• Ryan Shakes, internet celebrity
• SPOT, rapper
• Dillian Whyte, heavyweight boxer

See also

• Irish immigration to Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Irish immigration to Barbados
• Redlegs
• List of expatriate Irish populations

Further reading

• Thomas Povey's Diary, British Library, MS 12410, Folio 10
• The Tide Between Us, by Olive Collins
• To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland, by Sean O’Callaghan, Brandon Press, IS N #9780863222870