An Account of the Irish Slave Trade
Russell Shortt asked:
In a proclamation issued in 1625, it was ordered that Irish political prisoners be transported across the Atlantic and sold as slaves to English planters who were at that time settling the islands of the West Indies. A 1637 census shows that 69 % of the population of Montserrat were Irish slaves, there were also sizeable numbers on neighbouring Antigua and Guiana. However, there were not enough political prisoners to meet the demand, so people began to be shipped for the slightest infractions and most minor of crimes. In addition, slaver gangs combed the countries capturing people to fill their quotas.
Utilising Irish as slaves was more beneficial than using Africans as they cost nothing, so the demand for the Irish became huge. The policy was continued during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, in 1654, Cromwell issued a proclamation that all Irish lands were to be confiscated and that they were to be moved west of the Shannon or to the West Indies. By the eighteenth century, the export of Irish slaves was becoming more and more uncommon.
Over time, the Irish community in the West Indies dwindled as they inter-married with the growing African community. The descendants of the Irish slaves, became known as redlegs (The name is derived from the effects of the tropical sun on their fair skin), emigrated or died off and now only form a tiny percentage of the population. To this day, Montserrat is only one of four territories (including Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Newfoundland) that observes a bank holiday on St. Patrick’s Day.
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In a proclamation issued in 1625, it was ordered that Irish political prisoners be transported across the Atlantic and sold as slaves to English planters who were at that time settling the islands of the West Indies. A 1637 census shows that 69 % of the population of Montserrat were Irish slaves, there were also sizeable numbers on neighbouring Antigua and Guiana. However, there were not enough political prisoners to meet the demand, so people began to be shipped for the slightest infractions and most minor of crimes. In addition, slaver gangs combed the countries capturing people to fill their quotas.
Utilising Irish as slaves was more beneficial than using Africans as they cost nothing, so the demand for the Irish became huge. The policy was continued during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, in 1654, Cromwell issued a proclamation that all Irish lands were to be confiscated and that they were to be moved west of the Shannon or to the West Indies. By the eighteenth century, the export of Irish slaves was becoming more and more uncommon.
Over time, the Irish community in the West Indies dwindled as they inter-married with the growing African community. The descendants of the Irish slaves, became known as redlegs (The name is derived from the effects of the tropical sun on their fair skin), emigrated or died off and now only form a tiny percentage of the population. To this day, Montserrat is only one of four territories (including Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Newfoundland) that observes a bank holiday on St. Patrick’s Day.
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