Total population | |
---|---|
60,000 – 100,000 About 1.5% of the Irish population (2011 census). [1] Other sources estimate from 1% to 3%. | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Ballyhaunis, Galway, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Athlone including respective suburban areas | |
Languages | |
English, Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, Punjabi, Bengali, Other Indo-Aryan, Malayalam, Tamil, and Other Dravidian languages. | |
Religion | |
Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, others | |
Related ethnic groups | |
British Asians |
South Asian people in Ireland are residents or citizens of Ireland who are of South Asian background or ancestry. There has been an important and well-established community of people of South Asian descent in Ireland since the eighteenth century. [2] Non-Chinese Asian people (the category which mainly includes South Asian people) were reported to be the fastest growing ethnic group in Ireland in the 2011 census. [3]
There is great variation in how much the South Asian people are integrated into Irish society. Many people of South Asian descent are well-integrated and embrace the culture of Ireland. Many children of South Asian descent are born in Ireland or have come to Ireland at a very young age, and therefore learn the Irish language in schools (which is compulsory to children who have been living in the country before the age of 7). There are South Asian people who are up to 2nd and 3rd generation Irish-born. However, many South Asian people still maintain their ancestral customs and languages, and therefore many religious festivals (such as Diwali) are well-known and accepted within Ireland. [4]
As the Irish government does not collect detailed data on ethnicity in Ireland, population estimates vary, and non-Chinese Asian people are generally grouped in one category rather than groups based on people from individual South Asian countries. [1] Estimates say that people of South Asian ethnicity make up around 1 to 3% of Ireland's population. The Irish-India Council estimates that there are approximately 91,520 Indian-born people in Ireland. [5]
Early South Asian presence in Ireland can be traced back to the role played by the East India Company in the eighteenth century. [6] White Irish men working for the East India Company often returned to Ireland with domestic servants and lascars from India, many of whom found themselves in a state of vagrancy, particularly in port towns like Cork. [7] [8] On their return to Ireland, some Irish men working for the East India Company were also accompanied by their Indian wives, mistresses, and mixed race children. This may have been the case for Captain William Massey Baker, a Company officer and the brother of Godfrey Evans Baker who was the patron of Sake Dean Mahomed. [9] Historian Michael H. Fisher speculates that Captain Baker may have been accompanied by his Indian mistress and their teenage Anglo-Indian daughter, Eleanor, on his return to Cork from India. [10] Through the import of Indian domestic servants and lascars, and their relationships with their mistresses, wives, and children, Irish men working for the East India Company played an important role in creating a sizeable South Asian community in Ireland from the eighteenth century onwards. [2]
The late eighteenth century also saw the arrival of Dean Mahomed, an Indian entrepreneur and the most notable Indian resident of Ireland during the eighteenth century. Unlike the domestic servants and lascars imported as cheap labour from India, Mahomed was supported by Godfrey Evans Baker, an East Indian Company officer. Baker sponsored Mahomed's education in Cork where he met his wife Jane Daly, a Protestant woman from an Irish gentry family. [11] [12] Mahomed's connections with Baker allowed him to build his wealth in Cork, and his notable work The Travels of Dean Mahomet was published with the support of Ireland's wealthy elite. [11] After two decades in Cork, Mahomed and his family emigrated to London in 1807. [13]
South Asians continued to visit and settle in Ireland in the nineteenth century. One of the most prominent South Asians to arrive during this time was Mir Aulad Ali (1832–98), a Muslim Indian scholar who worked as Professor of Arabic, Hindustani, and Persian at Trinity College, Dublin. [14] [15] Beyond his academic engagements, Aulad Ali was an example of significant South Asian presence in Dublin's social circles, well-regarded and lauded for his charitable work in the parish of Rathmines. [14] He frequently attended formal events in traditional Indian attire and was often one of the main local dignitaries present to greet and guide foreign parties upon their arrival to Dublin. [15] In this respect, Aulad Ali represented a South Asian community that was not only accepted and welcomed in nineteenth century Ireland, but one that also directly contributed to the enhancement of social and political life. [15] He also represented an increasing presence of mixed race families in Ireland during the nineteenth century, marrying an Englishwoman named Rebecca with whom he had a son, Arthur, who was baptised at the parish of Rathmines. [14]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, South Asian doctors began to settle in Ireland. Ireland has long had a shortage of doctors and nurses, partially due to the emigration of indigenous doctors, [16] and therefore hires many foreign medical staff. [17] Most of the foreign medical staff come from India and Pakistan. [17] [18] This is probably due to the large numbers of medical graduates in those countries who are attracted to Ireland by its use of the English language, living standards, salaries, opportunities and new lives in Europe and the Western world.
While South Asian doctors continue to come to Ireland, over the recent years (especially during the Celtic Tiger, a period of major economic boom in Ireland), a significant number of other non-medical South Asians have come to live in Ireland, seeking labour, opportunities, better standards of living and money to support their families at home. These people may be skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled and have varying knowledge of the English language. Thousands of South Asians work in construction, business, industry, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, management and education in Ireland. There are hundreds of Indian restaurants and Kebab shops that are entirely South Asian-owned and run in nearly all of Ireland's major urban centres.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest within students from South Asian countries or South Asian background to undertake third level education in Ireland. Some of these students decide to stay on and work in Ireland after they graduate. Many of Ireland's major third level institutions, most notably Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin City University, Dublin Institute of Technology, National University of Ireland, Galway and National College of Ireland have a substantial number of students of South Asian descent. The Irish government wants to double the number of overseas students in Irish universities by 2015, and has shortlisted India as one of the key areas for bringing in foreign students. [19]
These figures are based on the 2011 census figures. As the Irish government does not take detailed statistics based on race and ethnicity, these figures may not be exactly accurate and should therefore only be taken as an indicator.
City or town | County | Approximate Asian population [20] |
---|---|---|
Dublin (and suburbs) | Dublin | 33,225 |
Cork City and suburbs | Cork | 3,240 |
Limerick City (and suburbs) | Limerick | 1,734 |
Galway City (and suburbs) | Galway | 1,590 |
Ballyhaunis | Mayo | 478 |
Waterford City (and suburbs) | Waterford | 846 |
Letterkenny | Donegal | 600 |
Sligo (and suburbs) | Sligo | 590 |
Athlone | Westmeath and Roscommon | 525 |
Kilkenny City | Kilkenny | 506 |
This table gives a brief indication of the religions followed by the people of South Asian descent in Ireland. These were the figures from the 2011 census. There are numerous Islamic centres and mosques and many Hindu temples in Ireland, although as with most Irish the most-confessed faith by South Asians is Catholicism.
Religion | Approximate Asian followers [21] |
---|---|
Roman Catholic | 24,250 |
Islam | 19,451 |
Hinduism | 8,279 |
Orthodox Christianity | 1,660 |
Church of Ireland and Church of England | 669 |
Other Christian religions | 846 |
Sikhism | 1,200 |
No religion | 3,010 |
Atheist or Agnostic | 52 |
Jainism | 1,000 |
South Asians are diverse in their cultures and speak different languages as well. Many South Asian people are well-integrated into Irish society and embrace the culture of Ireland. However, the presence of South Asian people in Ireland has noticeably affected many aspects of Irish life. Festivals such as Diwali and Eid al-Fitr are celebrated every year in Ireland by South Asian people and native Irish people alike. There are many different organisations in Ireland that promote South Asian events in Ireland.
Every year, there is a large Diwali celebration in Dublin, with fireworks demonstrations, performances from well-known Indian musicians, traditional dancing from different parts of India, art, children's activities and a wide range of Indian cuisine and merchandising stalls selling traditional jewellery, clothing, Henna, etc. The use of fireworks are generally restricted in Ireland, but the government makes an exception due to the importance of the festival to the Hindu people. There are also such gatherings during the festival of Holi. The Ireland India Council, a voluntary council made to serve the needs and business relations of the Indian people in Ireland, organises many events and gatherings on a regular basis. [22]
Some South Asians have also been influenced by parts of Irish culture. For example, every year in Ireland many South Asian people participate in the annual St Patrick's Day parades throughout the country. The Sligo parade is one example that has regular participation from the local Riverstown Cricket Club, mainly represented by people of Pakistani origin. [23] In Dublin, Indian people are known to have regular involvement. Also, there is a huge interest in Indian cuisine within Ireland. There are many Indian restaurants in Ireland, some are even being set up run by native Irish people.[ citation needed ]
South Asians have also influenced sport in Ireland. There are numerous cricket clubs throughout the country that are run by South Asians or have large South Asian involvement and participation. One example is Riverstown Cricket Club in Sligo. This club also promotes cultural events such as parties for Eid-ul-Fittr. [24]
There have been very few cases of problems experienced by the South Asian people in Ireland, and in general the South Asian people live happily alongside the native Irish population. [ citation needed ] However, a few known cases are noted here.
After the September 11 attacks, there was an increase of attacks against Sikhs; in response many Irish Sikhs decided to remove their turbans and cut their hair as they were being mistaken for being Muslim. [25]
The most prominent case is the death of Savita Halappanavar, a woman of Indian origin from Galway, who died aged 27 after being refused an abortion. She was reportedly refused an abortion because Ireland is "a Catholic country". [26] This led to protests outside the Irish embassies in New Delhi, [27] London, [28] Berlin [29] [30] and Brussels, [31] as well as protests from local communities in Ireland. The Indian Minister for External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, summoned the Indian ambassador to Ireland, Debashish Chakravarti, to India for deliberations over the issue. [32]
Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights with its variations also celebrated in other Indian religions. It symbolises the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance". Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin and Kartika—between around mid-September and mid-November. The celebrations generally last five or six days.
The terms multiracial people or mixed-race people are used to refer to people who are of more than one race and the terms multi-ethnic people or ethnically-mixed people are used to refer to people who are of more than one ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including multiethnic, polyethnic, occasionally bi-ethnic, Métis, Muwallad, Colored, Dougla, half-caste, ʻafakasi, mestizo, mutt, Melungeon, quadroon, octoroon, sambo/zambo, Eurasian, hapa, hāfu, Garifuna, pardo, and Gurans. A number of these terms are now considered offensive, in addition to those that were initially coined for pejorative use. "Melezi" are called the offspring of Muslim Romani men and woman of host populations.
Anglo-Indian people fall into three different groups: people with mixed Indian and British ancestry, people of Indian descent born or living in the United Kingdom, and people of British descent born or living in India. The latter sense is now mostly historical. People fitting the middle definition are more usually known as British Asian or British Indian. This article focuses primarily on the modern definition, a distinct minority community of mixed Eurasian ancestry, whose first language is English.
A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland or other lands east of the Cape of Good Hope who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the mid-20th century.
Dean Mahomed (1759–1851) was a British Indian traveller, soldier, surgeon, entrepreneur, and one of the most notable early non-European immigrants to the Western World. Due to non-standard transliteration, his name is spelled in various ways. His high social status meant that he later adopted the honorific "Sake" meaning "venerable one". Mahomed introduced Indian cuisine and shampoo baths to Europe, where he offered therapeutic massage. He was also the first Indian to publish a book in English.
British Asians are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian British in the 2011 United Kingdom census. This represented a national demographic increase from a 4.4% share of UK population in 2001.
The word shampoo in English is derived from Hindi chāmpo, and dates to 1762. The Hindi word referred to head massage, usually with some form of hair oil. Similar words also occur in other North Indian languages.
Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities.
The historical immigration to Great Britain concerns the movement of people, cultural and ethnic groups to the British Isles before Irish independence in 1922. Immigration after Irish independence is dealt with by the article Immigration to the United Kingdom since Irish independence.
Indian New Zealanders are persons of Indian origin or descent, living in New Zealand. The term includes Indians born in New Zealand, as well as immigrants from India, Fiji, as well as other regions of Asia, parts of Africa such as South Africa as well as East Africa, and furthermore, from other parts of the world. The term Indian New Zealander applies to any New Zealanders with one or both parents of Indian heritage. Although sometimes the Indo-Kiwi definition has been expanded to people with mixed racial parentage with one Indian parent or grandparent, this can be controversial as it generally tends to remove the ethnic heritage or identity of the foreign parent or grandparent which may be termed as insensitive to those with mixed parentage, who tend to value both their Indian and non-Indian parents and grandparents.
British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 1.8 million people in the UK, making them the single largest visible ethnic minority population in the country. They make up the largest subgroup of British Asians and are one of the largest Indian communities in the Indian diaspora, mainly due to the Indian–British relations. The British Indian community is the sixth largest in the Indian diaspora, behind the Indian communities in the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Nepal. The majority of British Indians are of Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali and Malayali descent, with smaller Tamil, Telugu, Konkani, and Marathi communities.
The number of Romani people in Ireland is roughly estimated, as the Central Statistics Office collects its data based on nationality and not ethnic origin. For this reason a precise demographic profile of the Romani in Ireland is not available. Some estimates of Romani in Ireland give the population at 1,700 in 2004, rising to between 2,500 and 3,000 in 2005. The majority derived from Romani populations originating in Ukraine and Hungary.
Afghan cameleers in Australia, also known as "Afghans" or "Ghans", were camel drivers who worked in Outback Australia from the 1860s to the 1930s. Small groups of cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to service the Australian inland pastoral industry by carting goods and transporting wool bales by camel trains. They were commonly referred to as "Afghans", even though the majority of them originated from the far western parts of British India, primarily the NWFP and Balochistan, which was inhabited by ethnic Pashtuns and Balochs. Nonetheless, many were from Afghanistan itself as well. In addition, there were also some with origins in Egypt and Turkey. The majority of cameleers, including cameleers from British India, were Muslim, while a sizeable minority were Sikhs from the Punjab region. They set up camel-breeding stations and rest-house outposts, known as caravanserai, throughout inland Australia, creating a permanent link between the coastal cities and the remote cattle and sheep grazing stations until about the 1930s, when they were largely replaced by the automobile. They included members of the Pashtun, Baloch, and Sindhi ethnic groups from south-central Asia ; others from the Punjabi, Kashmir, and Rajasthan regions of the Indian subcontinent; as well as people from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They provided vital support to exploration, communications and settlement in the arid interior of the country where the climate was too harsh for horses. They also played a major role in establishing Islam in Australia, building the country's first mosque at Marree in South Australia in 1861, the Central Adelaide Mosque, and several mosques in Western Australia.
Indian Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The term Asian Indian is used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "American Indians." With a population of more than 4.4 million, Indian Americans make up approximately 1.35% of the U.S. population and are the largest group of South Asian Americans, the largest Asian-alone group, and the largest group of Asian Americans after Chinese Americans. Indian Americans are the highest-earning ethnic group in the United States.
Bangladeshis are one of the largest immigrant communities in the United Kingdom. Significant numbers of ethnic Bengali peoples, particularly from Sylhet, arrived as early as the seventeenth century, mostly as lascar seamen working on ships. Following the founding of Bangladesh in 1971, a large immigration to Britain took place during the 1970s, leading to the establishment of a British Bangladeshi community. Bangladeshis were encouraged to move to Britain during that decade because of changes in immigration laws, natural disasters such as the Bhola cyclone, the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan, and the desire to escape poverty, and the perception of a better living led Sylheti men bringing their families. During the 1970s and 1980s, they experienced institutionalised racism and racial attacks by organised far-right groups such as the National Front and the British National Party.
Overseas Indians, officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are Indians who reside or originate outside of India. According to the Government of India, Non-Resident Indians are citizens of India who currently are not living in India, while the term People of Indian Origin refers to people of Indian birth or ancestry who are citizens of countries other than India. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) is given to People of Indian Origin and to persons who are not People of Indian Origin but married to People of Indian Origin. Persons with OCI status are known as Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs). The OCI status is a permanent visa for visiting India with a foreign passport.
South Asians in the United Kingdom have been present in the country since the 17th century, with significant migration occurring in the mid-20th century. They originate primarily from eight sovereign states in South Asia which are, in alphabetical order, the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. There is also a history of migration of diasporic South Asians from Africa and Southeast Asia moving to, and settling in, the United Kingdom.
Luso-Asians are Eurasian people whose ethnicity is partially or wholly Portuguese and ancestrally are based in or hail primarily from Portugal, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. They historically came under the cultural and multi-ethnic sway of the Portuguese Empire in the East and retain certain aspects of the Portuguese language, Roman Catholic faith, and Latin cultural practices, including internal and external architecture, art, and cuisine that reflect this contact. The term Luso comes from the Roman empire's province of Lusitania, which roughly corresponds to modern Portugal.
Indians in the New York City metropolitan area constitute one of the largest and fastest-growing ethnicities in the New York City metropolitan area of the United States. The New York City region is home to the largest and most prominent Indian American population among metropolitan areas by a significant margin, enumerating 711,174 uniracial individuals based on the 2013–2017 U.S. Census American Community Survey estimates. The Asian Indian population also represents the second-largest metropolitan Asian national diaspora both outside of Asia and within the New York City metropolitan area, following the also rapidly growing and hemisphere-leading population of the estimated 893,697 uniracial Chinese in the New York City metropolitan area in 2017. The U.S. state of New Jersey, most of whose population is situated within the New York City metropolitan region, has by a significant margin the highest proportional Indian population concentration of any U.S. state, with a Census-estimated 4.6% of New Jersey's population being an individual of Indian origin in 2023.
Michael Herbert Fisher is emeritus Robert S. Danforth Professor of History at Oberlin College. He has published extensively about the interplay between Europeans and South Asians in South Asia and Europe. His three most widely held books are: The Travels of Dean Mahomet: An Eighteenth Century Journey through India, Migration: A World History, and A Short History of the Mughal Empire.
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