Demography, State and Society

Between the foundation of the new Irish state in 1921-22 and the early 1970s approximately one-and-a-half million people left independent Ireland, the vast majority travelling to Britain. Demography, State and Society is the first comprehensive analysis of the twentieth-century Irish exodus to Britain. Meticulously researched, using an exhaustive range of previously unused source materials, this book provides a detailed examination of the many ways in which migration shaped twentieth-century Irish society. The book focuses on a number of vital themes, many of them rarely mentioned by previous studies: state policy in Ireland; official responses in Britain; gender dimensions; individual migrant experience; patterns of settlement in Britain; and the crucial phenomenon of return migration. A major study of Irish migration, this book also offers much that will be of interest to scholars, students and general readers in the wider fields of modern British and Irish history.

Review: This substantive study of Irish migration to Britain during the middle decades of the twentieth century succeeds in filling an important gap in the Irish experience...Delaney has produced an indispensable contribution to the ongoing debate in Irish diaspora studies. * History *

Exhaustive, well written, thoroughly researched, and wider-ranging than might be inferred from the title... * International History Review *

...this is excellent comparative British and Irish history as well as a major contribution to migration studies. The depth of scholarship and the range of sources make this quite the best book on the subject: it is certainly the best history of Irish migration to twentieth-century Britain * Irish Studies Review *

A sophisticated analysis...likely to remain the standard work in the field for years to come. * Twentieth Century British History *

An elegantly written and engaging historical overview, which makes an excellent contribution to the growing scholarship on the Irish diaspora. * International Migration Review *

Not only is it essential reading for the specialist, but it will be of interest to anyone with a general regard for Irish history. * Irish Economic and Social History *

A scholarly and timely study of the great wave of emigration from Ireland during the first fifty years after independence. * Irish Political Studies *

A valuable addition to the literature on Irish emigration. * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *

This splendid book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the phenomenon of Irish migration to Britain since the birth of the Irish Free State in 1921...This book is recommended, unreservedly, to all interested in Irish emigration history. * Labour/Le Travail *