Birmingham Irish - Making Our Mark

‘“Birmingham Irish: Making Our Mark” is a fascinating and unique study. Fascinating because it shows not only how and why the Irish community in Birmingham developed but also how Irish men and women have continued ti enrich the social, cultural, commercial and political life of Birmingham’s second city. Unique because, as well as presenting the varied experience of the Irish in Birmingham as others saw them, it also shows how they saw themselves, in their own words. In so doing - by exploring the human and personal ingredients of social history - this valuable local study sheds much light on the sheer variety and diversity of the Irish experience in urban Britain and, indeed on some of the complexities surrounding “Irish” and “British” identities in a multi-cultural society’.

Professor Roger Swift, Director, Centre for Victorian Studies, Chester College.

Carl Chinn believes passionately that history belongs to everyone and that everyone has made their mark on history. Well-known for his writings, both on urban working-class life in England and on Birmingham’s peoples, this book tells the story of Irish Brummies from the 1820s to the 1990s. Married to Kay, from Dublin, and having grown up with many first and second generation Irish friends, Carl asserts that the Birmingham Irish have played an essential role in the social, cultural, economic and political life of the city. Birmingham would not be the city it is today without the vital contribution of the Irish.