The Jewish community in Ireland

KAREN GINSBERG

Leopold Bloom, the protagonist in James Joyce’s Ulysses, may be Ireland’s most famous Jew but he is certainly not its only Jewish connection. A recent trip to Ireland and, in particular, to the charming Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, provided an opportunity to learn some of the fascinating history of Jewish settlement in Ireland, as well as about the current situation of the country’s Jewish communities.

Various artifacts within the museum indicate that the first evidence of a Jewish population in Ireland dates back to about 1660. Cromwell was believed to have brought over a community of Sephardi Jews after their expulsion from Portugal and Spain. Shortly after their arrival, these Jews built the first synagogue in what is now Dublin’s fashionable Temple Bar area. While the synagogue gave these early Jews a place to pray, when they passed away, their bodies had to be shipped to London, where the closest Jewish cemetery was located.

The next sizeable influx of Jews to Ireland came in the late 1880s, from Russia. In March 1881, revolutionaries assassinated Alexander II and called on the people to rebel. Confusion reigned throughout Russia and, to protect itself, the government found a scapegoat in the Jews. Government-organized anti-Jewish riots (pogroms) broke out in a number of towns and shtetls in southern Russia. When the new czar, Alexander III, created provincial commissions to investigate the causes of the pogroms, the findings pointed to “Jewish exploitation” and “the liberal policies of Alexander II.” Based on these “findings,” the May Laws were introduced, which, among other things, forbade Jews to settle outside the towns and shtetls; cancelled any deeds of sale or leases of real estate held in the names of Jews from outside the towns and shtetls; prohibited Jews from trading on Sundays and Christian holidays; and limited Jewish college student enrolment to 10 percent. Subsequent to the passage of these laws, many Jews emigrated from their homeland.

Ireland happily received many of these new immigrants. By 1910, there were about 3,000 Jews in Ireland. Although there were small Jewish populations in several Irish towns, most chose to settle in Dublin, in an area then known as Little Jerusalem. By 1916, two adjoining houses on a street of row houses in Little Jerusalem were merged to form a synagogue. Displays within the Jewish museum, including several elaborate Torah scrolls, a traditional kitchen and a beautiful wooden chuppah, suggest that the Jewish community enjoyed a period of relative calm and prosperity. However, by the 1950s, about a third of the community had left for other places – Israel, England or North America – where economic conditions were more favorable and where there were larger Jewish communities. In 1985, the synagogue was converted to the Irish Jewish Museum and opened by then-Israeli president Chaim Herzog, himself an Irish-born Jew. Herzog’s father had been Ireland’s chief rabbi in earlier years.

Since the mid-1980s, many of the small synagogues that existed throughout Ireland have had to close for want of a congregation to serve. Much of their priceless Judaica has found its way into the museum collection, which is curated and managed on a strictly volunteer basis.

The current Jewish population in Ireland is thought to be about 2,000. One of the volunteer curators said that the Jewish community is considered well established, and is held in high regard by Irish society. About 30 to 40 percent of the 2,000 are believed to be in the 30-to-45-year-old age range, but there is only a small percentage of the total Jewish population in the country that is of college/university age. College-aged Jews tend to go abroad to study and rarely return to Ireland, particularly in recent years, as the economic prospects have significantly diminished, noted the curator on duty.

Two themes dominate the description of current Jewish life: integration and cooperation. For example, Ireland has a Muslim population of about 30,000 and a large mosque in Dublin. From the perspective of the Jewish community, there is no tension between the two communities. In fact, relations are cordial and positive, said the curator. As well, the care home for the Jewish elderly is shared with the Quaker community – a variation of that oft-quoted “Some of my best friends are Jewish.” And, on Dec. 5, 2011, the Irish Central, a popular e-newsletter, gave another example of how the Jewish presence has become interwoven with the mainstream population in an article entitled “Surprisingly, Jewish Hanukkah menorah is now a favorite Irish Christmas tradition.” The article, which can be found online, creates a powerful visual image: “Driving west from Dublin to Galway in December, you can count them by the hundred now, shining out from the polished windows of Irish living rooms. Some feature candles, some electric lights, and all seem designed to perplex or mystify their Jewish neighbors, who must shake their heads in wonder at the sight.”

In terms of Jewish contribution to public life, there have been at least three lord mayors (Cork, Belfast and Dublin) in recent history and two government ministers, including the current and former ministers of justice, equality and defence. There has been a Jewish district judge, as well as a recent Supreme Court judge. Oscar nominee Daniel Day-Lewis is an Irish-born Jew and Daniel Radcliffe, most known for his role as Harry Potter, is the son of a northern Irish Jewish father. (Maybe Quidditch was really Kviddish?)

In terms of Jewish community institutions in Dublin, there is a Jewish day school and an afternoon school. For those Jewish children who are not in the Jewish day program, they likely attend Protestant, rather than Catholic, day schools. There are Orthodox and Reform congregations; while the Reform does not have a full-time rabbi or synagogue building, there are two Orthodox synagogues in Dublin, one in Cork and one in Belfast, and there is one full-time Orthodox rabbi and one Orthodox chazzan employed in Dublin, and one Orthodox rabbi in Belfast. There is a mikvah and there are Jewish cemeteries in Ireland. While it is apparently challenging to keep kosher in Ireland, there are supermarkets carrying kosher products. There is a kosher butcher and slaughterhouse, which has also been known to serve the needs of the Muslim community for halal meat.

While the Irish Jewish Museum does not feature the entire story behind the Jewish community in Ireland, it is an excellent place for tourists to start. It is located at 3 Walworth Rd., off of South Circular Road, Dublin 8, and you can plan a visit by contacting [email protected]. Summer and winter hours vary, so do check the hours at jewishireland.org. Prospective visitors may also wish to view a promotional video on YouTube, which was made in celebration of the museum’s 25th year of operation and is about a recently approved and much-needed expansion project for the museum.

Karen Ginsberg, a travel writer based in Ottawa, feels such affinity for the Irish Jewish connection, she named her firstborn son Erin.

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