This tackles the '50s well but it really downplays how awful emigration was. I am sure the economy was bad, it was I am not defending it, but the first decade of the Irish state uncoupled from Britain was one of abject misery. The aspect I think makes it doubly disheartening is that up to a third went to Britain! The old enemy. Thus one can rightly state that the first thing the Irish did once becoming independent was to go back to Britain and that seems unpatriotic but of course reasonable. As for the Church ironically they leave out the fact that the Church, not the state, was helping Irish people to emigrate and providing funds and the like. The mother and baby homes which indeed did have horrific conditions were actually becoming less so (Death rates peaked in the early '40s.) as bastardy rates went down and of course better management was brought in. To me the borderline neglect of the children is scandalous whilst the women were not treated especially badly (I am basing this on the recent report by the Irish government which I do not expect to be friendly to the Church.). Furthermore it does reveal a strange aspiration for the Irish intelligentsia, and as usual this smattered down to the people, of wanting to be liberal as it were and decouple from the Church. Of course one then wonders why on Earth Ireland became independent as Britain did both much earlier. Ultimately Ireland, what was the point?
Great footage upload RTE news report on fall of Berlin Wall in 1989.
This tackles the '50s well but it really downplays how awful emigration was. I am sure the economy was bad, it was I am not defending it, but the first decade of the Irish state uncoupled from Britain was one of abject misery. The aspect I think makes it doubly disheartening is that up to a third went to Britain! The old enemy. Thus one can rightly state that the first thing the Irish did once becoming independent was to go back to Britain and that seems unpatriotic but of course reasonable. As for the Church ironically they leave out the fact that the Church, not the state, was helping Irish people to emigrate and providing funds and the like. The mother and baby homes which indeed did have horrific conditions were actually becoming less so (Death rates peaked in the early '40s.) as bastardy rates went down and of course better management was brought in. To me the borderline neglect of the children is scandalous whilst the women were not treated especially badly (I am basing this on the recent report by the Irish government which I do not expect to be friendly to the Church.). Furthermore it does reveal a strange aspiration for the Irish intelligentsia, and as usual this smattered down to the people, of wanting to be liberal as it were and decouple from the Church. Of course one then wonders why on Earth Ireland became independent as Britain did both much earlier. Ultimately Ireland, what was the point?