Ireland's Jewish Community
by Pat Friend
The Jewish community in Ireland is quite small in modern times, and has been declining in size and growing in age over the last several decades. Those who remain celebrate their heritage and holidays, all the time wondering how their community will fare in the future.
The first Jewish congregation in Ireland dates back to 1660 C.E. when the first synagogue, actually a small prayer room, was established in Dublin. By 1745, there were 200 Jews in Dublin but they were not able to continue to grow their community; by 1818 there were only 2 Jewish families in Dublin. In each of the censuses in 1861, 1871 and 1881 there were fewer than 500 Jews recorded throughout Ireland.
Daniel O'Connell, champion of Irish Catholic Emancipation in 19th century Britain was to become an advocate for the Jewish community as well. He pushed to allow them the opportunity to be elected to the Parliament (approved in 1858) and for the repeal of the requirement that Jews wear special dress (1848).
As one of the few countries where there had been no anti-Jewish violence in Europe, Ireland became home to several thousand Jews fleeing from Lithuania and other parts of Eastern Europe in the face of the violent pogroms in Tsarist Russia. By 1891 the census counted 2,000 Jews; the 1901 census included almost 4,000.
Sadly, the lack of discrimination disappeared in 1904 at the urging of a Redemptorist priest whose sermons denounced the Jews in Ireland, and presented them as a threat to Christian children. He went on to call for a boycott of Jewish tradesmen in Limerick and effectively forced their withdrawal from the city and resettlement in Cork. (The Bishop dealt with Father Creagh quietly; he was sent first to Belfast and then in 1906 to the Philippines.)
Ireland was given an opportunity to welcome the victims of anti-Jewish violence again during the Holocaust of the 1930s and 1940s. Unfortunately, Eamon De Valera, Irish Taoiseach from 1932-1948, who counted the Jewish Isaac Herzog among his close friends, did not seem able to step aside from his staunch view of Irish neutrality to assist Jews in a meaningful way. In fact, Charles Bewley, the De Valera government's Irish Minister in Berlin from 1933-39, was so pro-Nazi and anti-Jewish that he denied and delayed visas for Jews seeking travel to Ireland.
It wasn't until the 1990s that the Irish government took steps to make amends for the lack of assistance Ireland provided during those years. In 1995, Taoiseach John Bruton admitted Ireland's indifference toward the victims of the Holocaust and spoke out to honor the memories of the European Jews who died in it.
In spite of the lack of significant Jewish immigration during the second quarter of the 20th century, the Irish Jewish population reached its height of almost 6,000 in the years following World War II. There have been several contributing factors to the steady decline since then. Intermarriage was the first problem. Jews marrying Catholics in the middle part of the 20th century would have been expected to convert. In later years, intermarriage would mean at least that any children born to the marriages would be raised as Catholics. The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 led to emigration of many Irish Jews, a trend that continues to this day. Finally, through much of the 20th century young Irish men and women of all faiths felt drawn away from Ireland in search of economic opportunity. Irish Jews were no different in this regard.
By 1998, the Jewish population in Ireland was down to just over 1,000. Most of those live in the Dublin area, where there are two Orthodox communities and a Progressive community
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"Last night I nearly died,
But I woke up just in time".
Duke Special