Published in 2001 by the Irish in Britain Representation Group   “The Wearing Of The Green” is part of a radical tradition of history, a  history that is written by the people who make the history and one that  seeks to encourage readers to follow in their own path.

Michael Herbert had been  a member of the Labour Committee on Ireland in Manchester, a past editor  of the journal of  North West Labour History  Society, and  for a time a Trustee of the Working Class Movement Library.

In this  study he  sought to tell the story of  people who were activists in their own history and rescue them from becoming bystanders in the academic fodder of history as it is too often produced  in colleges. It is important to state that Michael produced the book whilst working fulltime and being active in his trade union.

The Wearing of the Green  is still unique in its endeavour in producing  a full-length study of two hundred years of Irish political activity in Manchester. It joins the dots of a Manchester Irish community that played an important role in the ongoing  struggle for Irish independence and freedom in political movements, while also highlighting  their role in the British radical and labour movement.

Michael points out that the relationship between Ireland and Britain was unique in the history of the British Empire. As he says: “Migrants travelled to Britain from almost every land she possessed but none save the Irish came in such large numbers from a land whose occupation, pacification and subjection proved so consistently troublesome and problematic to the politicians and civil servants in London and Dublin.”

The relationship was imperial and colonial. The Irish in Britain were conscious of and political aware of the events in Ireland and those happening to the Irish in this country , as well  Irish communities in the USA, Canada and Australia who  played significant roles in this history.

In just over 200 pages Michael paints a picture of a vibrant and highly politicised  community,  one that experienced racism alongside imperialism which is deeply embedded in British society. He shows how the Irish challenged not just the occupation of their country but the occupation of their minds and sought peace and justice,  both here and on the island of Ireland.

Michael’s knowledge of Irish history  was informed by his contacts with  socialist historians such as Desmond Greaves, Ruth  and Edmund Frow and  attending History Workshops which gave a voice to activists.

He also  took people on Irish history walks which allowed attendees to  speak about their own experiences as well as giving a context to people new to this history.

          It was a time when history meetings were not dominated by the academics but in the hands of Marxist historians such as the Frows who encouraged other trade unionists/activists to write up their own history: meetings which were accessible and inviting where you were more likely to meet a trade unionist interested in their own/union’s activity.

The first section of the book takes us from the C16th  to the  Second World War. It is a period of history that is reasonably familiar.  Less familiar is  the way that the  Civil Rights struggle  in the Six Counties in the late 1960s had an impact in Britain. Most studies of  Civil Rights , even today,  exclude the one in the North of Ireland.  

This is where the cover photo comes in.  It shows the commitment of these young Irishmen (there were women there but not photographed)  from De La Salle College to camp out in Manchester overnight  16 and 17 January 1969 to raise the issue of civil rights in the North of Ireland. Local newspaper the Manchester Evening News published the photograph.

Michael  makes the links between the Irish in the North of Ireland and in the UK. He shows the growth of new groups from Peoples Democracy in Derry and the links they made to UK based groups such as the Connolly Association and Clan na hÉireann over here. He traces  the most difficult times for Irish people from the 1970s to the 1998 Belfast Agreement and  reflects on the response of Irish people over here to the war in the north of Ireland.

The final chapter on the Irish in Britain Representation Group  shows how events such as the Hunger Strikes in 1981 sparked a whole new generation of Irish (and British) activists to campaign for a united Ireland and equality and justice for the Irish in Britain.

 It is a reminder of the key role that grassroots organisations are in changing society.  And how important it is for activists to write up their own history and not leave it down to academics.

You can buy the book from News From Nowhere https://www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk/

Read more about IBRG here https://lipsticksocialist.com/history-of-the-irish-in-britain-representation-group/