Irish Empire

"The story of the Irish diaspora represents a great historical triumph of the human spirit. Ireland has a present population of about four million, but it can claim seventy million descendants worldwide - seventy million people whose families turned tragedy into triumph, by fleeing poverty, hunger, and political and religious oppression to start a new life in far-flung lands." "In The Irish Empire Patrick Bishop looks at why, in the last four hundred years, to be brought up in Ireland meant being prepared to leave it, an Irish cultural mind-set that has persisted almost to the present day." "From the origins of the scattering of the Irish over the centuries to the dreams of a mythical home nurtured by so many Irish migrants today, The Irish Empire is a penetrating exploration of the Irish diaspora, and of how the Irish succeeded in turning exile aboard into opportunity and, finally, worldwide recognition."--Jacket.