Little Ireland

{{Short description|Early 19th century district in Manchester, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} thumb|Little Ireland plaque on Great Marlborough Street, Manchester '''Little Ireland''' was a slum district of Manchester, England in the early 19th century.<ref name = JMW>{{cite journal|title=The Irish in Manchester, 1832-49|first=John M.|last=Werly|journal=Irish Historical Studies|volume=18|issue=71|date=1973-03-01|pages=345-358 | publisher = Cambridge University Press| location = Cambridge |jstor=30005421| url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30005421}}</ref><ref name=MB1>{{cite journal| last =Busteed| first =Mervyn| title ='The Most Horrible Spot'? The Legend of Manchester's Little Ireland| journal =Irish Studies Review| volume =4| issue =13| pages =12-20| publisher =Routledge| date = 1 December 1995 | doi =10.1080/09670889508455511}}</ref> It was inhabited from about 1827 to 1847 by poor Irish immigrants,<ref name = RIH>{{cite journal|title=Irish Migrant Responses to Urban Life in Early Nineteenth-Century Manchester|first1=M. A.|last1=Busteed|first2=R. I.|last2=Hodgson |journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=162|issue=2|date=1996-07-01|pages=139-153 | publisher = Royal Geographical Society| location = London |jstor=3059872| url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3059872}}</ref> and during its existence gained a reputation as the archetypal Irish district in nineteenth century industrial cities.<ref name = Fieldwork>{{cite web |url=https://mangeogsoc.org.uk/egm/3_1_Little_Ireland.pdf |title=Exploring Greater Manchester: a fieldwork guide. Web edition edited by Paul Hindle |website=Manchester Geographical Society|date=2012-03-01|access-date=2023-08-01}}</ref> Despite this reputation, the slum was the shortest lived of all the areas of Irish settlement in the city, and also the smallest, covering about four acres.<ref name = Fieldwork/> The area existed south of Oxford Road railway station, enclosed by the railway line and the loop in the River Medlock.<ref name = ADG>{{cite journal| last1 =George| first1 =A.D.| last2 =Clark| first2 =Sylvia C.| title = A note on "Little Ireland", Manchester |volume=14 |number=1 | journal=Industrial Archaeology | pages=36-40 | year=1979 }} (Available from Manchester Central Library)</ref><ref name = RS>{{cite journal|title=The Outcast Irish in the British Victorian City: Problems and Perspectives|first=Roger |last=Swift|journal=Irish Historical Studies|volume=25|issue=99|date=1987-05-01|pages=264-276 | publisher = Cambridge University Press| location = Cambridge |jstor=30008542| url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30008542}}</ref>

==History== Houses along the front of Oxford Road, initially intended as modest middle-class residences, were repurposed in the early nineteenth century as multi-occupation premises for industrial workers as economic activity picked up in the city.<ref name = Fieldwork/> Cellars, ordinarily used to store wood, coal and non-perishable foods, were later rented out as cheaper accommodation leading to conditions of perpetual humidity and damp in which infectious diseases could thrive.<ref name = Fieldwork/>

By the second half of the 1800s, there was a considerable Irish population resident in Manchester,<ref name = MB2>{{cite journal| last =Busteed| first =Mervyn| title = Research report on Irish Nationalist Processions in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Manchester |url=https://www.mangeogsoc.org.uk/pdfs/busteed2.pdf | volume=1 |number=2 | journal=North West Geography | pages=35-38 | issn=1476-1580 | year=2001 | accessdate=2023-07-30 }}</ref> primarily as a result of the Great Famine which forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave Ireland. As historian Mervyn Busteed contends, "there were some Irish in every part of the city, but there was a marked tendency for them to concentrate in the poorer parts of the urban fabric, and within these areas to segregate themselves from their fellow workers".<ref name = MB2/>

In the 1841 census, Little Ireland had a total population of only 1,510, mostly concentrated in the small streets and courts off the main thoroughfares - James Leigh Street, William Street, Frank Street, Forge Street, and Anvil Streets were over 75% Irish in 1841.<ref name = Fieldwork/> In 1845, a group of seven of these small streets were demolished in order to make way for the Manchester and Altrincham railway line and Oxford Road railway station.<ref name = Fieldwork/>

The area was demolished to make way for the Manchester South Junction Railway line. In his book ''The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844'', Friedrich Engels wrote about Little Ireland, calling it a "horrid little slum".<ref>Engels, Friedrich. ''The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844''; in which edition? p. 73</ref><ref name =Engels>Friedrich Engels, ''Condition of the Working Class in England'', 1845 (multiple publishers; [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/condition-working-class/ online edition]).</ref> Aided by the popularity of Engels' book, the area gained international infamy as the archetypal Irish district in nineteenth century industrial cities.<ref name = Fieldwork>{{cite web |url=https://mangeogsoc.org.uk/egm/3_1_Little_Ireland.pdf |title=Exploring Greater Manchester: a fieldwork guide. Web edition edited by Paul Hindle |website=Manchester Geographical Society|date=2012-03-01|access-date=2023-08-01}}</ref><ref name = MB3>{{cite book |last=Busteed |first=Mervyn |title=The Irish in Manchester c. 1750-1921. Resistance, Adaption and Identity |year=2016 |publisher= Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=978-0-7190-8719-6}}</ref>

==Commemoration== It is commemorated by a red plaque on 8 Great Marlborough Street, about half-way between New Wakefield Street and Hulme Street.<ref>Site of Little Ireland Large numbers of immigrant Irish workers lived here in appalling housing conditions Built c.1827 Vacated c.1847 Demolished c.1877</ref><ref>Hartwell, Clare (2001) ''Manchester''. (Pevsner Architectural Guides.) London: Penguin {{ISBN|0 14 071131 7}}; p. 179</ref>

==See also== * Irish people in Great Britain

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:History of Manchester Category:Irish diaspora in England Category:Slums in Europe Category:Ethnic enclaves in the United Kingdom Category:19th century in Manchester Category:Textile mills in Manchester Category:Cotton industry in England Category:1827 establishments in England Category:History of Greater Manchester