Catholic Irish Flashcards
poverty
Catholic trish immigrants tended to do low-paid, unskilled jobs such as navies (railway workers) and coal mining.
As a result, most of them experienced poverty.
poor living conditions
Catholic Irish immigrants tended to live in the tenements of the industrialised cities which had no indoor toilets, poor access to fresh water, and only one or two rooms for large families (it was common for Catholic Irish families to have 14 people).
As a result, they were cramped and at the mercy of diseases caused by poor living conditions.
strong community
Irish Catholics built organisations like Celtic FC and Catholic schools which helped to created a very strong sense of belonging.
As a result, they experienced a very strong community.
religious hostility
the growth of the power and influence of the Catholic Church in Scotland due to the creation of Irish Catholic communities with Churches, schools, and organisations was regarded as a threat to the Protestant way of life.
As a result, Irish Catholics experienced religious hostility and Protestant Scots reacted negatively to them.
stereotypes in the media
the Catholic Irish were regarded by many Scots to be drunk, lazy, and diseased and this message was spread by newspapers. Typhus was given the nickname Irish Fever.’
As a result, the whole Irish Catholic community experienced negative stereotypes causing an even greater negative reaction from the Scottish population.
workplace hostility
many Scots were in direct competition with the Irish Catholics for unskilled labouring jobs and so they viewed the Irish Catholics to be ‘stealing’ their jobs.
They also called them strike-breakers as they would agree to work for less money and for longer hours than Scots, making industrial action very difficult.
As a result, they experienced hostility in the workplace and a negative reaction from working class Scots.
language
Most Catholic Irish immigrants who arrived in Scotland did not speak English and were keen to continue to speak Irish.
This created an initial barrier and so many of these immigrants did not assimilate into Scottish society at all. However, this changed over time and subsequent generations only spoke English.
Political co-operation
Irish Catholics became heavily involved in the growth of trade unions in Scotland and in the Labour Party (after 1922).
As a result, they found common ground with working-class Scots and began to assimilate more.
