Before the 1990s very few refugees came to Ireland.The Jews,who mainly arrived in the 1870s,were an exception.Their subsequent history often features in apologies for a multiracial Ireland.Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland by Dermot Keogh is the best treatment of that history,particularly of their efforts to gain admission for other Jews in the 1930s and 1940s,and the state's efforts to keep them out.It's well worth reading.These are some of its highlights.
According to its introduction "this book is not a history of the Jewish community in Ireland.It is,rather,an examination of the relationship between the Jewish community and the two Irish states with emphasis on the situation in the South"(p5). However, one of the early chapters is devoted to the Limerick boycott of 1904.It began when a Redemptorist priest spoke out against usury by newly-arrived Jews and urged locals to have nothing to do with them.His warning was heeded and in time most of the Jews moved on.Keogh quotes all sides,without evident bias.Yet the Jews come across as hysterical and deceitful.For instance, on January 18th their rabbi reported to the police that 'there is hardly any incident worth complaining of,except insults and abusive language given us to which we are no aliens'(p33).Then,on the same day,he cabled his chief rabbi in London with a different message:'anti-semitic riots took place through the day.General boycott in force.Community in peril.Every member assaulted.'(p35)A careful reading can show up duplicity of this kind,though Keogh doesn't make much of it.
In keeping with the book's subtitle - 'refugees,anti-semitism and the holocaust' - Ireland's refugee policy in the 1930s and 1940s gets a good deal of attention.Internal government documents are quoted from the time,and they show a more national-minded policy than today's,one that was 'good for the Irish' rather than 'good for the Jews'.One Department of Justice minute, for instance,refers to lobbying by a Jewish TD in 1938: "It is difficult to explain to him that there is a feeling in this country that there are an undue number of Jews resident here,and that any increase in the present number might easily lead to a definite anti-semitic agitation arising"(p124).Another correspondence from 1946 shows the same concern for Irish interests: "Our practice has been to discourage any substantial increase in the Jewish population.They do not assimilate with our own people but remain a sort of colony of a world-wide Jewish community.This makes them a potential irritant in the body politic and has led to disastrous results from time to time in other countries"(p161).So while Keogh on the whole views the period as a 'vast lost chance' for Jews(p194),he still manages to give a balanced account of Irish refugee policy.These chapters are very good indeed.
Several anti-semites are covered in the book.Father John Creagh inspired the Limerick boycott of 1904,and seems to have been motivated by priestly concern for his flock.He mentioned Jewish ritual murder in one speech.Another priest, Father Fahey,was influential in the 1930s and 1940s.He wrote books about the Jewish nature of Bolshevism.Charles Bewley was Irish Minister in Berlin in the 1930s,and a Nazi sympathizer.He gave detailed reports to Dublin on the Jewish problem.These are quoted by Keogh.He was well-informed(possibly by Goering) about Jewish economic monopolies and the conflicts of interest these caused.However,as a convert to Catholicism,his main motivation seems to have been religious.
Vatican II for some reason chose to repudiate 'all hatreds,persecutions and displays of anti-semitism directed against Jews at any time from any source'(p236).The phrase 'perfidious Jew' was removed from the Good Friday prayer for Jews,while the prayer itself became one 'for the Jews' rather than 'for the conversion of the Jews'(p236).Even with these favourable changes, however,the Jews weren't able to keep up their numbers:"By the end of the twentieth century,Ireland had a rapidly declining Jewish community"(p227).
There are a few points that the reader of Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland should bear in mind.You will notice,for instance, that the focus is on Jews;that Irish history is only incidental to Jewish history.It may be argued that this is to be expected,given the subject of the book.Yet consider how Jews responded to the Famine:"The common bond of humanity led Dublin's Jews, numbering about twenty-five families in 1847,to give practical assistance in relieving famine distress.Like their Catholic counterparts Jews sought to overcome religious and social discrimination through entering the professions"(p7).There's a sense of indifference here that doesn't reflect well on Keogh or the Jews.
In a similar vein,de Valera's friendship with a rabbi seems more important than an election victory: "In early 1932 Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog's friend,Eamon de Valera,defeated Cumann naGaedheil in a general election and formed a minority Fianna Fail government.Robert Briscoe remained the only Jewish member of Dail Eireann"(p92).Unfortunately,this skewed style is all too typical.
The reader,finally,must keep in mind the scant attention given to Judaism,whether conceptualised as a religion or as an evolutionary strategy.Jews are throughout referred to as 'co-religionists',to be sure,and their fear of persecution is also much on display.However,their parallel notion of being 'God's chosen people',destined to rule all men,is played down by this apologist historian.And not surprisingly,perhaps,given the historical setting.Paranoic delusions of grandeur on the part of Jews,an alien minority,made them stand out in the independence era,and made conflict likely.
In this respect,two episodes stand out: one public,one private.In 1904 an extravagant Jewish wedding in Limerick - with carriages,tophats,satins,and jewels - caused great resentment among the Catholic poor who witnessed it.By all accounts,it was a contributing factor to the boycott of that year.Keogh presents the facts,but doesn't draw any conclusions from Jewish behaviour.Later he relates how a rabbi's sons "played cricket in the Jewish club in summer...in winter,they played rugby"(p79),and how they were always conscious of being 'different'.Both were elitist British sports.There is no doubt that Jews identified with Britain,notwithstanding apologetic declarations to the contrary,as can be gathered from their reaction to 1916: "While no evidence has been found recording the reaction of the Jewish community to the execution of Pearse and his comrades in 1916,according to [one Jewess],Dublin's Jews 'were most sympathetic and many helped the cause'"(p70).
Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland is therefore a mixed bag.While strong in the amount of detail presented from all side,it is weak in interpreting Jewish particularism.I recommend it to you as informative,but Jew-centric.