An Bhliain 1912 | The Year 1912

Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1948). This short story conveys the repressed emotions of a mother who realises that she will probably never see her emigrating daughter again. Translated by Eoghan Ó Tuairisc as 'The Year 1912' (1981).

Dialann Deoraí | An Irish Navvy: The Diary of an Exile

Dónall Mac Amhlaigh (1960). This autobiography gives real-life insight into the Irish emigrant experience in the UK in the 1950s and is especially attentive to questions of language and identity among minority immigrant communities. This text was translated by Valentin Iremonger as An Irish Navvy: The Diary of an Exile (1964).

Esperanza | On Board the Esperanza

Liam Mac Uistín (1994). Published at the time of the 150 year commemoration of the Great Famine in Ireland, this novel contains chilling accounts of famine refugees who travelled on ‘coffin ships’ to America in the nineteenth century. This excerpt was translated by Séamus Ó Coileáin as ‘On Board the Esperanza’ (2019).

Fáilte Uí Dhonnchú | O'Donoghue's Welcome

Louis de Paor (2005). This poem depicts the marginalisation of a contemporary Romanian migrant on the streets of Galway city. Translated by the poet himself as 'O'Donoghue's Welcome' in 2005.

Gluaiseacht | On the Move

Alan Titley (2009). This novel tells the powerful and shocking story of a young boy who flees his war-torn home in Africa to make the perilous journey across land and sea to Europe. This excerpt was translated by Eilís Ní Dhúill as ‘On the Move’ (2019).

Na Murúcha a Thriomaigh | The Assimilated Merfolk

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (1998). These four poems address universal themes of displacement through the voice of a population of mermaids who have been forced to leave their marine habitat and assimilate to life on land. Translated by Paul Muldoon as 'The Assimilated Merfolk' (2007).

Nóra Mharcuis Bhig | Nora, daughter of Marcus Beag

Pádraic Ó Conaire (1906). This is a short story of a young woman who emigrates from the west of Ireland to London, and her resulting decline into alcoholism and prostitution. Translated by Thomas McCarthy as 'Nora, daughter of Marcus Beag' (1986).

Ochón! A Dhonncha | My Sorrow, Donncha

Pádraig Ó hÉigeartaigh (1906). This poem gives a personal account of the drowning of the poet’s son in the USA and the resulting anguish caused by being removed from his ancestral home in Ireland. Translated by Thomas Kinsella as ‘My Sorrow, Donncha' (1981).

Rogha Dánta | Selection of Poetry

Máirtín Ó Direáin (1942-1957). These four poems portray the decline of the poet’s native island and express his sentimental bond to a lost home. Translated by Peter Sirr (2016) and Frank Sewell (2017).

Rotha Mór an tSaoil | The Hard Road to Klondike

Micí Mac Gabhann (1959). This autobiography describes the poor conditions in which young Irish men worked as immigrant labourers on farms in the UK in the early twentieth century. This text was translated by Valentin Iremonger as The Hard Road to Klondike (1962).