We Shall Never Speak of This Again

Introduction

This is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.   

        John F. Kennedy, Speaking of Ireland

      Seventy million people in the world are said to have Irish ancestry. If you are reading this, you may be one of them. However, many of these millions are unaware of the relentless and prolonged racial and religious persecution perpetrated on the Irish and Irish Catholics in a period of history when Irish Catholics could not vote, own land, bear arms, hold public office or even worship together unless it was in hiding. Centuries of English domination and authoritarianism crippled Irish resolve and left a beleaguered people unable to respond to the oppression. 

      A million Irish died of starvation and disease in the Potato Famine, a famine that could have been largely mitigated by England, Ireland’s supposed sister country. Millions also emigrated throughout the 19th and into the 20th century. More than a million left during the Famine, literally driven out of Ireland by England’s dogged attempt to depopulate the island. A country of more than 8 million at the mid-19th century shriveled to nearly half that by 1900. This book will tell the story of that dark time in Irish history. Volumes have been written about Ireland’s history in the 19th century. This is a concise but informative version of that sad tale.

      With family, most of us have very little tolerance of abuse from others. It should be the same for our ancestors. This book about your family and mine was written with the purpose of identifying those responsible for the maltreatment of the Irish and determining their accountability. The Catholic Irish were subjected to centuries of human rights violations. The draconian Penal Laws of the 18th century literally stripped Irish Catholics of their basic human rights. The farce titled the Act of Union removed Ireland’s right to govern itself and put all power in London. The English government dispossessed Irish Catholics of their land. This story will describe a token Catholic Emancipation in the 19th Century that did not live up to its name. You will read of an English Parliament that was totally indifferent to and bore no sympathy for the Irish during the Potato Famine. Furthermore, their actions and omissions seemed to fulfill their desire to eliminate one quarter of the Irish population for their self-serving needs. Was anyone called to account for these egregious acts? This book will identify those responsible and their centuries of human rights violations. This happened to your family.

       Read this book. You will experience outrage, frustration, sadness and finally a glimmer of hope. It should instill in you a new Irish pride. If it does not, then I haven’t accomplished my goal.   

      The Irish family included in this history is named Casey, my family. Imagine your family in this history because they would have received the same abuse as mine. Many Irish did not survive it; likely some of my family as well as yours died. Their descendants are missing from the Irish diaspora of today. 

      My family became part of the millions who emigrated, the millions who had hopes and dreams for a better life in a New World. I sincerely hope this book causes you to take a new look at your heritage and to be cognizant of your ancestors at your next family gathering or reunion. They are there with you and within you.