Exploring the history of the Irish in the Caribbean
Producer J.J. O`Shea takes a look at the Caribbean Island of Montserrat and explores some of its unique Irish connections.
This new radio documentary uses the story of the failed slave uprising in the Caribbean Island of Montserrat on March 17th 1768 as a springboard from which to explore Irish-Caribbean connections. The Caribbean story remains a relatively under researched aspect of our history, certainly in comparison to the diasporic story in America, and Monserrat is an obvious place from which to begin such an investigation given its unique and still very visible connections with Ireland. The Irish were the first European settlers on Montserrat in 1632. Place names such as Kinsale and Cork Hill and surnames such as Sweeney and Daly are still common on the island and the Maid of Erin and the Irish Harp are symbols that still adorn the national flag.
Expert historians, together with the presenter J.J. O`Shea, consider the multi layered nature of the Irish experience in Monserrat, and in the broader Caribbean, comparing the experience of the indentured servant who was brought to the Caribbean as a labourer, and who typically came from a background of severe poverty, with the experience of the more privileged Norman Irish and Anglo Irish who were able to profit from the colonial project. The programme also challenges the notion of the "Irish slave" which has gained credence in popular culture in recent years and which seeks to equate the harsh experience of the Irish indentured servant with that of the brutal and inhuman treatment meted out to the African chattel slave. It is shown how white supremacist groups have adopted the myth of the “blue eyed slave” to serve their own divisive agenda.
St Patrick`s Day was initially instigated as a national holiday on Montserrat in order to commemorate the failed rebellion of 1768 and we learn of the controversy that surrounds the celebrations today because the focus of the event has steadily shifted over recent years towards an emphasis on the island`s Irish connections, rather than the African, in order to attract Irish-American visitors. We also discover the initial results of the very first group study of ethnicity on Montserrat using DNA tests.
CREDITS: "The St. Patrick`s Day Rebellion" was Produced and Presented by J.J. O`Shea. This programme was supported by a grant from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, as part of the Sound and Vision Scheme.
BROADCAST TIMES: "The St. Patrick`s Day Rebellion" will broadcast on Newstalk 106-108fm on Sunday 17th March at 7am, Repeated on Bank Holiday Monday 18th March at 11am.
