Episode 4
From the Famine to the Future
Brought to you by the same team behind the multi-award winning series 1916, FROM THAT SMALL ISLAND – The story of the Irish is a COCO Content production written and produced by Bríona Nic Dhiarmada.
Narrated by Colin Farrell, this episode looks at the impact of the Irish globally as it poses the question ‘What does it mean to be Irish’? Two million Irish people emigrated in the immediate aftermath of the Famine. Of these 64% went to the US, 5% to Canada, 22% to Great Britain and 9% to Australia and New Zealand. By as early as 1850 the Irish were easily the biggest single ethnicity in the USA making up 45% of the total immigrant population.
In this final episode, we look at the huge contribution of the Irish, alongside other ethnic groups, in the building of the US and their success as exemplified by the election of JFK as the first Catholic Irish American President of the US. We follow the Irish to Australia, New Zealand and look at the historic diasporas of Argentina and Newfoundland (who still speak with Irish accents ) to the more diffused diasporas of today from Dubai to Singapore to Australia. We examine the role of the Irish in the world since Ireland became a sovereign state: its role in the UN as peace-keepers and aid workers, for example. We look at the extent of Irish‘ soft power in the world exemplified by St Patrick’s Day. We also look at the changes in contemporary Ireland which have led to an increasingly diverse population. How has this increasing diversity effected our identity. What does it mean to be Irish today? The episode ends not with an answer but a new understanding of the importance of the question.
