ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers how people have moved into, around, and out of Ireland from the Viking era right up to the present day. It offers a fresh lens regarding narratives of movement, allowing a deeper analysis of Ireland's migration relationships. The book shows what constitutes Irish society by including other significant population movements to and from Ireland. This is particularly important because increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric in Ireland remains disconnected from Ireland's diasporic history. The book demonstrates how Irish diasporic subjects negotiate racial, ethnic, religious, cultural and gendered lines, but all are connected by their consideration of movement. It focuses on three themes: expressions of home and location; memory, identity and material culture; and global culture and consumption. The book suggests a provocation of traditional notions of the Irish diaspora, its heritage and relationship with migration around the world.
