2. WHAT WILL BE COVERED IN THIS SECTION?
● The experiences of the Migrants - living conditions, employment.
● Scots and Irish - religious and cultural forces binding the Irish
community in Scotland.
● Relations between Immigrants and Scots - stereotype and reality.
● The economic, social and political impact of immigration.
4. Irish Experience - Checklist
Jobs the Irish Did
Living Conditions of the Irish
How the Irish Kept to Themselves
How the Catholic Irish Were Viewed
How the Protestant Irish Were Viewed
How the Irish Integrated into Scottish Life
Arguments For and Against Changing Attitudes Towards
the Irish
5. 1. What Jobs Did the Irish Have?
Irish immigrants were employed in many industrial
sectors and were quickly employed as they were
willing to work for lower wages. They could be found
in:
● Coal Mines (Lothians)
● Ironworks
● Cotton Factories (Ayrshire and Lanarkshire)
● Building Canals and Railways
● Jute Mills (Dundee)
● Breweries (Edinburgh)
6. 2. Living Conditions of the Irish
● In Edinburgh the Irish people lived in
the Old Town in the Cowgate and
Grassmarket areas.
● These areas would be eventually
called ‘Little Ireland’ or ‘Little Dublin’
● In Glasgow they lived in the
Saltmarket, Cowcaddens and Maryhill.
7. 2. Living Conditions
● Houses in the cities had been built
quickly to satisfy demand and were
often not fit for living in.
● The housing in Glasgow and Dundee
was mostly tenements which were
cheaply built and crammed together
with no building regulations or regard to
safety.
● They were damp and cold, while fire
was a constant risk.
8. 2. Living Conditions in Glasgow
● Overcrowding was common and large families
were forced to live in small spaces – often with
up to 12 people in one ‘house’.
● Many people lived in ‘single ends’ (houses
consisting of one room only). Other more
wealthy immigrants lived in a ‘room and
kitchen’.
● The tenements lacked washing facilities and
toilets. These were usually shared and located
in separate buildings and water was collected
from a shared standpipe on the street.
9. 2. Living Conditions in Glasgow
● Disease spread due to the lack of
sanitation and overcrowding.
● Water was frequently contaminated with
sewage and as a result, cholera was
common.
● Diseases such as typhus and
tuberculosis spread quickly as people
lived so close together and fresh air was
lacking.
● Middens (heaps of refuse) were located
behind the houses - they created foul air
and attracted rats.
10. Why Did the Scots Resent the Irish?
As many of the Irish moving into Scotland were poor, they brought very few
belongings and often had poor, worn clothing.
They gave a bad impression: filthy rags, low level of education, seen as lazy
scroungers, cheap labour for low wages!
The Scots blamed the Irish for the social problems in Scotland:
● Slums
● Disease, e.g. Cholera
● Crime
● Drunkenness
11. 3. How the Irish Kept to Themselves
● The Irish would live in separate
communities and often spoke a different
language.
● The Irish had their own identities and were
different from the Scots, however they
would be blamed for being comfortable in
their communities and not integrating into
the traditional “Scottish” way of life.
● Anti-Irish feeling was stirred up by
newspapers, books, letters, articles and
Protestant Ministers.
12. 3. How the Irish Kept to Themselves
Education:
● Separate Catholic schools were also set
up for Irish immigrants to attend.
● To begin with these schools were funded
by donations from the Catholic
community.
● The 1918 Education (Scotland Act)
allowed Catholic schools to join the
government funded education system,
which again angered many Scots.
13. 4. Religious Tensions Between the Irish and Scots
● Background:
Scotland = predominantly Protestant
Ireland = predominantly Catholic
● 75% of Irish immigrants were Catholics.
● The Scots were suspicious of the Catholic Irish and saw them as a
threat to their Protestantism.
● Protestant immigration from Ulster made relations worse, they set up
Orange Order branches across Scotland.
14. 4. Why was the Catholic Church Important to Irish
Immigrants?
● Priests provided help with writing letters back home to Ireland and find
accommodation.
● The Church was a place of comfort when families were experiencing dreadful
living and working conditions.
● The Church was supportive of those experiencing financial difficulties.
Charities like St. Vincent de Paul emerged and provided help to many
impoverished Irish people.
● The Church also held social gatherings – family events, dances and Irish
cultural celebrations such as St Patrick’s Day.
● The Church helped to provide schooling for Catholic children. These schools
taught Catholic moral values, as well as traditional school subjects.
15. 4. How the Catholic Irish Were Viewed
● Generally viewed more negatively.
● Scots called the Irish strikebreakers –
most common in the coal and iron
industries.
● Irish Navvies – bad reputation for drunken
behaviour. Fights between the local
population in towns like Kelso and
Dunfermline.
● Problems between the Irish Catholics and
Scots Protestants because of religion.
16. 5. How the Protestant Irish Were Viewed
● Protestant Irish did create their own valued groups –
for example, the Loyal Orange Order (who believed
in a Conservative, British Union).
● Irish Protestants brought the Orange Lodge with
them to Scotland.
● The Lodge provided an important social function –
marches – to celebrate Protestant influence but
remain controversial even today.
● Some Scots disagreed with this as it was viewed a
sectarian movement (prejudiced against one religion
or group) which threatened Scottish identity.
17. 6. How Did the Irish Try to Settle in Scotland?
● Some Irish got involved in the campaigns to get men and women the
vote.
● Large numbers of the Irish Catholic community fought in the First World
War and their efforts helped the Scots accept them into Scottish life.
● Marriage between Scots and Irish increased and this greatly helped the
Irish fit into Scottish life. Some did, however, frown upon such marriages.
● Some Irish changed their names to more Scottish ones.
● Irish children born in Scotland did absorb themselves more in the
Scottish ways than their parents had done.
18. 7. Did Attitudes Towards the Irish Change?
● Scots employers found the Irish to be good, reliable workers who
were quick to learn. Some thought they worked harder than Highland
Scots.
● Many Irish got involved in Trade Unions to help workers, both Scots
and Irish, improve their pay and conditions.
● More and more Scots began to realise that the Irish were having as
hard a time as themselves and the only way to improve their lives was
to join together to fight for a better standard of living.
19. 7. Did Attitudes Towards the Irish Change?
● The Catholic community was further
separated by the ban on inter-marriages to
Protestants by the Vatican in 1908.
● 1923 – The Church of Scotland published
a pamphlet called ‘The Menace of the Irish
Race to our Scottish Nationality’
● There was still anti catholic feeling
amongst many communities.
20. How Important was Irish Immigration to the
Economic Growth of Scotland?
The historian Tom Devine states:
“The huge construction of schemes of the nineteenth century cities and
the buildings of roads, railways, canals, docks and harbours depended on
the vast supply of Irish workers.”
The Irish were not only important as muscle for building industrial
Scotland. Skilled workers from Ireland were also deliberately recruited for
shipbuilding and engineering firms. This shows their importance.
21. Irish Experience - Checklist
Jobs the Irish Did
Living Conditions of the Irish
How the Irish Kept to Themselves
How the Catholic Irish Were Viewed
How the Protestant Irish Were Viewed
How the Irish Integrated into Scottish Life
Arguments For and Against Changing Attitudes Towards
the Irish
22. Reaction to Lithuanians in Scotland
● Lithuanians were met with hostility and suspicion by the local mining
community.
● The Lanarkshire Miners’ Union offered support to any strikes against
the presence of Lithuanians in the area.
23. Reaction to Lithuanians in Scotland
Why Were Scots So Hostile?
● Undercut Wages
● Decline in Safety Measures
● Disagreements Over Religion (Lithuanian Catholicism vs Protestant
Miners)
● Viewed as Drunks
● Accused of Being “Most Filthy in Their Habits of Life” and a Danger to
the Health of the Local Community.
24. Changing Attitudes to Lithuanians
● Lithuanian miners joined with their fellow Scottish
miners in fighting to improve conditions in the mining
industry and as such were accepted into the
Lanarkshire Miners’ Union.
● They were able to win respect from locals for their
community spirit.
● Lithuanians had their own clergy (established
religious group), two newspapers, insurance
societies, shops and other recreational groups.
25. Attempts of Lithuanians to Integrate into Scottish
Society
● They changed their names – Kanapinskas
became Kane.
● Children would be integrated into Scottish
schools and the old language was eventually
forgotten.
● Some would also marry into Scottish families.
● They soon joined the Scots in fighting for better
pay and working conditions.
26. Negative Impact of WWI on Lithuanian Relations
● The First World War brought about the collapse of
the Lithuanian community as some returned to
Archangel in 1917 to fight in the Russian army.
● There was also a sizeable number which did fight
on the side of Britain.
● Those who left for Russia did not return and British
authorities began to deport those who remained.
27. Living Conditions for Jewish Immigrants
● Most Jews lived in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, which was well known for
cheap housing of a poor quality.
● Overcrowding was common.
● Lots of people turned to alcoholism to escape the reality of their life.
● Many worked hard to be able to save enough money to move to better areas
like Shawlands and Clarkston.
28. Jewish Employment
● They would be door to door salesmen trying to
sell small cheap items (braces, mouth organs
and games).
● They opened small shops – bakers, tailors -
shops that altered clothes.
● Jews worked hard, long hours and usually with
low pay.
● Sweated industries – making clothes.
● Cigarette making (contributed to Glasgow’s
tobacco trade)
29. Differences Between Scots and Jews
● The Jewish community had their own language
called Yiddish, which many continued to use as
their first language.
● They also followed a different religion (Judaism).
● 1879 the first synagogue opened in Garnethill in
Glasgow which was attended by many Jewish
people.
● Despite these differences, the Scots got on
reasonably well with the Jews.
30. Negative Experience of Jews in Scotland
● The Jewish population was never that large and
so the majority of Scots did not feel too
threatened by this group.
● Trade Unions did not like the Jews working in
the sweated industries because they were
willing to work for lower pay, which threatened
job security.
● Some Jewish children faced bullying in schools
towards the beginning of WWII.
31. Were Italians Accepted into Scottish Society?
● Italian cafés were at the heart of Scottish culture,
but initially, there was a religious division between
Roman Catholicism (Italians) and Presbyterianism
(Scots).
● Presbyterian leaders were unhappy that the cafés
opened on the Sabbath (Sunday) and were open
beyond those of the public houses – led to unruly
behaviour.
● Articles appeared in newspapers reporting the ‘ice
cream hell’ (Glasgow Herald).
32. Were Italians Accepted into Scottish Society?
● Other Scots liked them because they did
not sell alcohol, which often made up for
their decision to be open on a Sunday.
● Young Scots liked them as they had a
place where they could meet friends and
socialise.
● Italian immigrants worked hard and
contributed positively to Scotland through
better culture and business opportunities.
33. Did Italians Integrate Fully into Scottish Society?
● Many Italians married into other Italian families.
● Italian businesses such as ice cream shops and newsagents would
be passed down to family.
