The history of how the Irish ended up in the Caribbean is an interesting one and something I wanted to know more about. This has been a topic of controversy for many years but especially in the past five years as many there have been some extremely problematic and insensitive sentiments comparing the trans-atlantic slave trade to indentured servitude that started in Britain in the 1630s. Although I think that is a very irresponsible comparison, I wanted to know more about the history of how indentured servitude began for the Irish beyond arrangements to barter passage to America.

This book talks about how indentured servants "worked for a certain period of time and received land or sugar upon completion of their service. Although Irish people transported to the British West Indies were mostly indentured servants in scale and consequence, they were also planters, merchants, and in-betweens." They mostly left Ireland voluntarily, but the book posits some were forcefully transported, but I wished for a more substantive explanation in this section.

The role of Oliver Cromwell in the 1600s is discussed extensively along with political strife and some of the circumstances leading up to the Irish being sent to what were then known as the "British West Indies."

As well, the book discusses the social and economic conditions leading up to the 1600s, the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, William of Orange, and other disputes happening during the era that laid the context for all of this.

The author draws similarities between how Britain established Australia mostly as a penal colony, and how there were parallels to how they transported the Irish from Ireland.

I wondered about how the Irish would have interacted with the African slave population of some of these Caribbean islands, and as the book mentions, "Irish people climbed up the social ladder by acquiring land, their own slaves and status and by being elected and appointed to the Council or Assembly."

The book does a good job explaining the social and economic conditions of the jobs and industries the Irish got involved with when establishing themselves in the British West Indies, such as sugar plantations. It also discusses in great depth what types of foods were eaten, both native to the region and imported (diet), jails, diseases and outbreaks, as well as punishments that Irish servants faced from displeased planters. Barbados is discussed most extensively but other countries such as Jamaica are also discussed. Religion, another matter that goes beyond Catholic and Protestant tensions, also comes into play, particularly with the Quaker influence in the region.

There is a discussion of the Irish movement to Philadelphia and some other American cities, particularly in the 1700s to add further context to the topics at hand.

Pirates are also, interestly, a part of this discussion. Toward the end of the book, abolitionists are also discussed. Frederick Douglass visited Ireland for four months in 1845 and as the author says, "Apparently, Ireland was an eye opener for Douglass" and that he felt an instant empathy toward the local people. He was said to have been "shocked" and "distressed" to see poverty in Ireland and destitute local people.

Overall, it is a well-researched exploration into a topic that is in need of more scholarly and substantive discussions with nuance and respect.

I read non fiction pretty regularly and some can be a pretty tough subject matter. This book could have easily been dry so but it was such an interesting read Presented in a concise but understandable manner that I really loved. When I told people what i was reading they all said “there were Irish in the Caribbean?” Some of these people were born in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico and they definitely were interested in learning about this aspect of their islands.

Many Irish settled in the Caribbean region, particularly in Barbados, fairly early. They mostly came as indentured servants, but this led to a rumor of enslavement. The sugar trade in the Caribbean drove the need for workers in the region, and the Irish, considered less-than-desirable by other Europeans, produced the essential labor until their replacement by African slave labor. While the book seems to be well-researched, it is not well-documented. With an average of one end note every two pages, the author failed to credit many sources and inadequately cited others by including a title in the text without including pages. The lack of documentation makes the work less useful and less credible. I received an advance review copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Caribbean Irish provides an insight into the lives of Irish who have been transported to Carribbean areas like Jamaica, Barbados, St Martin, etc. These migrations might have been voluntary in search for better opportunities or forced because of the requirement of labour in certain regions. After England took over Ireland and the Protestant religion was extended to Irish people, some people just fled to preserve the Catholic religion. In all In Caribbean, Irish men accumulated in numbers, this book briefs one with their journey, their livelihoods, and there means of existence.

Cromwell transported various men as slaves so an insight into their treatment, their clothing, their wages and their means of sustenance is also provided. Further political situation during those times and details about revolutionary groups like Quakers have been provided as well. So basically anyone who likes history and is interested in Irish history can pick this up. It is written from a subaltern perspective that is from lower sections of the society's perspective and this aids one to look at the other side of the coin which might not be that popular.

This, for me, was a fascinating read as much of what I have read in the past relating to Irish history has been focused on the country itself. It was no news to me that a great many Irish left their homeland following war and the Famine, whether voluntarily or not - my own family arrived in Australia in less than auspicious circumstances. And it is only lately, in this last decade, that I have begun specifically exploring the full extent of the reach of Irish migration to Spain, South America, and now the Caribbean - places, except for Spain, that I was unfamiliar with. So, in addition to the recently read [book:Paisanos|30201297] by Tim Fanning, I will add this tome by Miki Garcia, as a must read.

For me, this was a valuable insight into the Irish diaspora as well as the history of the British West Indies. As this was not really my field of expertise, I had no idea that Europeans supplanted the native Amerindian populations; that the Irish were transported in their hundreds of thousands (willingly or not) before the introduction of African slaves; and that once there, there was frequent cross migration between the islands and the Amazon Basin.

Garcia's narrative style makes it easy to follow this tangled web, At times it feels as if you are sitting across from her having a conversation. It is easy, after reading this, to understand how the Irish slave myth arose and it is a topic well worth exploring further. Garcia's book will start you on your journey.

This was an amazing history book -- especially given my fascination with Irish history and having parents from Puerto Rico. I don't claim to be a historian at all and normally stick to fiction, however the subject fascinated me and I learned so much; even knowing that Irish came to Aguada, Puerto Rico explains quite a bit of the people from that area centuries later. I was able to share what I learned with my mother (the historian in the family) and plan to give her the book once it's published. I think it's a great book for those that fall under the odd niche fascination of both Irish/Caribbean history.

Book: The Caribbean Irish: How the Slave Myth Was Made
Author: Miki Gracia
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Chronos Books, for being so kind as to think of me again. I would like to send a shout out to Ben and Sarah for sending me an ARC of this book.

I’m just going to put this out there: I had no idea there was such an Irish presence in the Caribbean. Mikki introduced a completely new topic to me and I love that. I love learning new things and being exposed to things that aren’t often talked about. Whenever I think of the historical Caribbean I always think of the Spanish and the African slave trade. I had no idea that something similar was going on with the Irish.

This book couldn’t have come at a better either. For those of you who don’t know, I teach fifth grade history. We are getting ready to talk about the Caribbean and the impacts that European exploration had on the region. This will be a nice little add on for my students. It’s not talked about at all in our program, which don’t even get me started on that. This book will help give my students a little extra edge. Not only we will be talking about a subject that isn’t hardly spoken of this book does a nice job of explaining the difference between a slave and indentured servant.

I love how easy this book is to read. I’ve already said that I didn’t know anything about this subject prior to reading this. Like with all books I’ve read by this publisher, it is super easy to read and everything is explained very nicely. You can jump into this book without knowing anything and walk out with a feeling that you’ve learned something. This is what I like in my nonfiction. I like being able to easy read it and learning at the same time. The everyday language and easy to follow format makes this read more like a novel than anything. I guess what I’m getting at is we don’t have that dry textbook read here.

I also liked that we got to see some everyday people. A lot of times history just focuses on the upper class. I get it: we have more records about the upper class than the lower class. Here, it’s almost like Mikki does the opposite. We get to experience history through the poor and rougher ends of society. Now, the Church is involved a lot in the book and I believe that’s where a lot of the refences came from, but still. I give this book a round of applause for including all aspects of life.

Overall, I am very happy that I read this. It’s an easy to read book and isn’t very long at all. It’s only 240 pages.

This book comes out on December 1, 2019.