From the Irish Times a claim that: The Ireland I left is no longer there, however hard I try to recapture it - Leaving Ireland while you’re young is easier than returning when you’re older. Written by Claire O'Dea.
Our pale and anxious heroine, Eilis, played by Saoirse Ronan, is having a peak pale and anxious moment as she stands on the deck of the ship that will take her away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Green coat smartly buttoned up, new passport clutched in her hand, she is fleeing the narrow minds and narrow opportunities of 1950s Ireland.
In the film adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s novel Brooklyn, the image of the lonely emigrant girl blowing a last kiss to her sister is perfectly crafted to tug at the heartstrings of Irish and American audiences alike …
… In that phase of emigration, four out of five Irish emigrants went to the United States. Most of the emigration could be categorised as forced to some degree, from victims of eviction and hunger to economic migrants with no prospects at home. Particularly around the time of the 1845-1848 Great Famine, emigration for the Irish was a traumatic experience, a mass movement of the dispossessed …
… How fitting and yet how extraordinary it is that Ireland is now being influenced, shaped and enriched by new people. In the space of one generation, Ireland has also become a nation of immigration. Continue reading @ the Irish Times.
"It turns out, as many emigrants find, leaving Ireland when you are young is easier than returning when you’re older."
ReplyDeleteNever a truer word said.
Plenty of room for the new face of Ireland:
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