Half a million Irish women emigrated to England in the mid-20th century. 25,000 went to Birmingham, working in transport or nursing. 92,000 went to London. Trinity College researcher Sarah O'Brien interviewed some of these women, and writes today about how Britain was "no place of paradise for Irish immigrants", but a "place of protest". "We have needed Britain for our counter-narratives as much as it has needed us for its labour."
In our big read last weekend, Simon Carswell spoke to some "Brexiles" who have decided to leave the UK since the Brexit referendum. Several more stories on the Irish in Britain feature in our top stories this week, including a Working Abroad Q&A with Aoifa Smyth, who works as an "influencer manager" with a marketing agency in London, and an opinion piece by Ant Hanlon of the Leeds Irish Health and Homes organisation, who writes about how Brexit has led to a toxic "them" and "us" narrative in Britain, which must be challenged.
For something completely different, read Catherine Monaghan's lovely piece about rediscovering her love for Irish nature since moving home from Australia, and how "the smell of the earth, the damp leaves and the rain has made my heart sing".
You'll find plenty more stories by and about the Irish diaspora this week on irishtimes.com/abroad.
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