Montserrat
Yesterday, I posted about the Irish in Latin America, so today, I figure the Caribbean might be another destination worth looking at, since it was the hub of England's "Irish Slave Trade."
So...how did the Irish wind up in the Caribbean?
Krystal D’Costa of Scientific American notes that after the Battle of Kinsale, in 1601, the Irish clan system was abolished and around 30,000 prisoners of war were shipped off and sold as laborers to the colonies of the Caribbean and United States.
“The first Irish slaves were sold to a settlement on the Amazon River In South America in 1612. It would probably be more accurate to say that the first “recorded” sale of Irish slaves was in 1612, because the English, who were noted for their meticulous record-keeping, simply did not keep track of things Irish, whether it be goods or people, unless such was being shipped to England.”
“In 1629 a large group of Irish men and women were sent to Guiana, and by 1632, Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat in the West Indies. By 1637 a census showed that 69% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves, which records show was a cause of concern to the English planters.”
The Irish were a more desirable “slave stock” than Africans, who had to be bought, or bartered for, because the Irish could be obtained for free and sold at a profit. The term "kidnapping" was coined during the period, to describe the British practice of abducting Irish women and children on Ireland's roadways.
Because they were “cheaper” the Irish would often suffer harsher punishments from their plantation masters.
So, today, a lot of different groups have some Irish admixture. It's a good thing to keep in mind....and a sad, but real truth that out of this period of Colonial abuse, came this mixing of diverse people's that should serve to unify various segments of humanity. ((https://www.google.com/…/irish-roots-in-the-caribbean-run-d…
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