kayla.barnside
Workers in Ireland
A brief excursion into the economy of Ireland, because—as you've probably noticed—there are many songs about poverty in Ireland. That's no longer true today, but until the early 20th century, unemployment and poverty dominated the image of this proud country. The reasons are manifold. Among them were British colonization, the lack of industrialization, very low wages, poor labor rights and the fact that the agricultural sector was almost exclusively small. Mass emigration followed in the hope of a better life. Destination countries were primarily England, the USA, Australia, and Canada.
This is maybe not the best story to talk about on "fun trips", but it is a big point in the history of this proud country and its people. I thought you should know about this, if you wonder about some of the song lyrics....
Here is another (of my favorite) songs, with this sad and serious background:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcvR6mjt9U0
The Reason I Left Mullingar - Noel Mcloughlin
Workers in Ireland
A brief excursion into the economy of Ireland, because—as you've probably noticed—there are many songs about poverty in Ireland. That's no longer true today, but until the early 20th century, unemployment and poverty dominated the image of this proud country. The reasons are manifold. Among them were British colonization, the lack of industrialization, very low wages, poor labor rights and the fact that the agricultural sector was almost exclusively small. Mass emigration followed in the hope of a better life. Destination countries were primarily England, the USA, Australia, and Canada.
This is maybe not the best story to talk about on "fun trips", but it is a big point in the history of this proud country and its people. I thought you should know about this, if you wonder about some of the song lyrics....
Here is another (of my favorite) songs, with this sad and serious background:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcvR6mjt9U0
The Reason I Left Mullingar - Noel Mcloughlin