Tower Hamlets

Photo of a sign saying Céad Míle Fáilte, outside The Kingsland pub in Dalston, London E8

Finding the Irish language in the history of London

Seeing #SnaG26 social media posts in March for Seachtain na Gaeilge [Irish Week], I decided to revisit my research to find evidence of how long Ireland's native tongue Gaeilge has been present in London's past. I hope you enjoy this chronological timeline which demonstrates just how much the Irish lanuage in London has always been about more than pub signs promising Céad míle fáilte [A hundred thousand] & Ceol agus craic [music & fun]!

All over London

N16Breda

19 min read

Photo taken on Pennington Street, London E1 with an arrow showing the original location of the eighteenth-century Catholic Virginia Chapel

Religion and riots in Irish Whitechapel: Virginia Street E1

An underground car park on Virginia Street, London E1 today marks the spot where the eighteenth-century Irish population of Wapping and Whitechapel used to discreetly attend religious services in a Roman Catholic mission chapel.

18th Century

N16Breda

8 min read

1852 cartoon titled ‘A court for King Cholera’ by John Leech, published in Punch magazine 23 (1852), p. 139. Image source: Wellcome Collection, via Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.

Death in Irish Whitechapel: Cholera in Blue Anchor Yard E1, 1848

Looking from Cartwright Street towards Blue Anchor Yard, Royal Mint Estate on the site of what was Rosemary Lane, Whitechapel E1....

19th Century

N16Breda

12 min read

Finding the Irish language in the history of London

Religion and riots in Irish Whitechapel: Virginia Street E1

Death in Irish Whitechapel: Cholera in Blue Anchor Yard E1, 1848

Finding Ireland in the History of London