Welcoming the Stranger

This lively book tells the untold story of the crucial work carried out by the Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy on behalf of Irish emigrants in Britain for over half a century. The service was established by the Catholic Church in 1957 and the hidden history revealed in the book includes: political intrigue, economic booms and busts, MI5, international relations, miscarriages of justice, Papal Encyclicals, and the struggle for equality and justice. The work of the Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy was conducted against a background of battling the odds and the establishment. It's the story of Irish and British migration history in modern times and Anglo-Irish relations unfolding over turbulent and politically sensitive decades, and comes at a time when the Catholic Church is under increased scrutiny in relation to child sexual abuse and, more recently, the scandal of the Magdalene Laundries. Based on archival research and over 80 interviews with those who benefited from, or administered, this vital service, the roll-call also includes the most prominent world and church leaders of the period: Margaret Thatcher, John Hume, Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese, Cardinal Hume, and Cardinal O Fiaich. Welcoming the Stranger is the first book to demonstrate how the Irish government was forced to take responsibility for the Irish abroad. [Subject: Social History, Irish Studies, British Studies, Diaspora Studies, Migration Studies, Religious Studies]