The Irish Diaspora: Tales of Emigration, Exile and Imperialism

Description

The Irish have always been a travelling people. In the centuries after the fall of Rome, Irish missionaries carried the word of Christianity throughout Europe, while soldiers and mariners from across the land ventured overseas in all directions. Since 1800 an estimated 10 million people have left the Irish shores and today more than 80 million people worldwide claim Irish descent. The advent of the British Empire ignited a slow but extraordinary exodus from Ireland. The pioneering explorers of the Tudor Age were soon overtaken in number by religious refugees, the 'Wild Geese' who opted to live outside of the Protestant state and to take their chances in the Spanish or French empires, or in America. The Irish played a pivotal role in the foundation of the United States of America, just as they would in the Civil War that followed eighty-five years later. The lives of Irish emigrants wove in and out of the major events of global history, including the Abbe Edgeworth, confessor to King Louis XVI at his execution during the French Revolution; Margaretta Eagar, governess to the daughters of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia; and William Lamport, who travelled from County Wexford to Central America, and became Don Guillen, a martyr for Mexican independence. Turtle Bunbury explores the lives of those men and women, great and otherwise, whose journeys - whether driven by faith, a desire for riches and adventure, or purely for survival - have left their mark on the world. With 29 illustrations, 19 in colour

Turtle Bunbury is an author, historian, public speaker and TV presenter based in Ireland. His previous book, Ireland's Forgotten Past, was described by Sebastian Barry, the Laureate for Irish Fiction, as 'a delicious and stirring atlas of Irishness'. His other books include The Irish Pub, Living in Sri Lanka and the award-winning Vanishing Ireland series. A frequent guest on Irish radio and TV, Turtle also appeared on the 2018 US series of Who Do You Think You Are?.

'This fascinating assortment of case histories, spread across 1,400 years and six continents, is an impressive feat of research. All of the chapters are based on a solid body of up-to-date historical writing. The summaries of often-complex historical background to the lives explored are models of lucid compression. The short biographies themselves are lively yet judicious, packed with vivid detail but willing, where necessary, to question or dismiss colourful legend. And the reader will come away with a new sense of the many ways in which Ireland has interacted with the world beyond its shores, and of some of the extraordinary careers that have resulted' - BBC History