Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain
‘Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain’ is a curated showcase of the Irish community in Britain’s activism, organisation, and civic pride since the 1970’s. It is a tale of migration, community building, cultural preservation, and innovation and recounts personal histories against the backdrop of changing British-Irish relations and shifting attitudes towards Irish immigrants, from conflict to consensus, through to the aftermath of Brexit.
Spearheaded by the Irish in Britain organisation, the exhibition captures the sacrifice, joy, challenges, and vital role played by the Irish in modern Britain.
Inspiring stories in at-risk testimonies
The audio-visual experience, showcasing the inspiring and often heartbreaking personal stories of the Irish community in Britain, was created after 50 volunteers from the Irish community in Britain undertook specialised training to ensure the preservation of at-risk testimonies from the last half-century.
From the construction worker who stepped onto English soil speaking only Irish, to the daughter of one of the falsely accused Birmingham Six fighting to free her father; to the woman who had no choice but to leave the institutional Ireland she grew up with, and another who helped organise lesbian and gay ceilidhs when she moved to Britain; the exhibition aims to prevent their stories being forgotten.
Community contributions
The exhibition features dozens of community contributions including several from esteemed Irish cultural figures such as actors Siobhán McSweeney, Adrian Dunbar, Aisling Bea, broadcaster Terry Christian, musician Jah Wobble, and Moth Poetry Prize Winner Laurie Bolger, who has composed a bespoke poem for the exhibition.
At the launch of the exhibition in Dublin, chief executive of the Irish in Britain organisation said: “The world is on the move and has always been on the move. [The Irish] know what it means to cross borders and build new lives in other cities… Irish migration is central to the story of modern Britain, and it is a story that’s shared with our friends and neighbours from the Commonwealth and the development of postwar Britain.”
Visit the exhibition online
The exhibition has visited London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Dublin, and the Irish in Britain organisation have now made a digital version of the exhibition available on their website.
Irish in Britain are an important partner for the Department of Foreign Affairs, and receive yearly funding of £400,000 to aid their work in supporting the Irish community in Britain. The project was also originally awarded funding by the Heritage Lottery in Great Britain.