Irish, Catholic and Scouse: The History of the Liverpool-Irish, 1800-1939

by John Belchem

Irish, Catholic and Scouse highlights the complex interplay of cultural and structural factors experienced by the most significant ethnic group in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century pre-multicultural the Irish in Liverpool. Drawing upon new approaches to our understanding of diasporas, this study emphasises the role of ethnic agency as Catholic migrants and their descendants made Irishness their own. Belchem looks in detail at those who remained in Liverpool, the hub of the Irish diaspora, and contrasts them with their compatriots who continued on their trans-national travels. This path-breaking study will be required reading for those who wish to understand the Irish diaspora and the cultural melting pot of nineteenth-century Liverpool.

Genres: History

364 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2007

Reviews

[Mick Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got halfway through this book before giving up. This is not really a criticism - it's just that I thought that this would be a history of the Irish in Liverpool but really it is a sociological inquiry into the history under several headings, so to read the book it would be necessary to already know a considerable amount about the history of the Irish and the history of the political parties involved with them (both Irish and English) and the religion (Catholic and Protestant) that motivated the politics. It would also be handy to know quite a bit about the history of trades unions and working-class organisation.

So it might be a good book - I'm not qualified to judge.

[Oonagh Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read.

[Kevin McAvoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book as I am a Scouser but it dealt very little with Scouseness in fact about 2 pages at the end were all. Mostly about Catholics VS Protestants, White Irish VS Black and Chinese immigrants, Government VS free state Ireland and other complicated political strifes.
They just didn't interest me. Perhaps if you want to be a Liverpoolophile all of the names and meetings and protests are needed but I don't think the book revealed where Scousness came from.
Also too much IRA and Sinn Fein info which muddled up the focus for me.