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Jews have lived in Ireland for centuries. The earliest reference is in the Annals of Innisfallen, a chronicle of medeival Irish history, in the year 1079, that states, “five Jews came from over the sea with gifts to Tairdelbach [king of Munster] and then were sent back again over the sea.” It is probable that they came as merchants from Rouen in France.
Early Jewish History
Following the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal in 1496, some Jews made their way to the South coast. In the town of Youghal in Cork County, the the first Jewish Mayor in Ireland, Mr. William Annyas, was elected in 1555. In later years, Mr. Robert Briscoe was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1956 and 1961, his son Mr. Ben Briscoe in 1988, and Mr. Gerald Goldberg, Lord Mayor of Cork, in 1977.
In 1660, the earliest recorded synagogue was established, consisting of a prayer room in Crane Lane, opposite Dublin Castle. The oldest Jewish cemetery dates from the early 1700s, and is situated near Ballybough Bridge, Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Small numbers of Jews came and went between tne 12th and 18th centuries, but by the beginning of the 19th century, the Jewish community had dwindled to just three families. Jewish immigration picked up in the 1820s, mainly from England, Germany, and Poland.
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, there was some Jewish immigration from Central Europe. By 1880, over 450 Jews had settled in Dublin. They spoke English and were very prosperous. There was a synagogue on Mary’s Abbey, just north of the River Liffey. Lithuanian Jews began arriving in 1881, and by 1900, Dublin was home to more than 3,000 Jews.
 The Jewish Museum in Dublin |
The largest influx of Jews occured between 1880 and 1910, when approximately 2,000 Jews arrived from Eastern Europe and settled mainly in Dublin, with smaller numbers settling in Belfast, Cork, Derry, Drogheda, Limerick, Lurgan, Londonberry and Waterford. They engaged in trade, manufacturing, and other professions.
In Dublin, the Lithuanian Jews settled south of the center, in an area that was eventually dubbed “Little Jerusalem.” Many of the immigrants became peddlers, petty traders and moneylenders. The second-generation would eventually go on to become a major force in the manufacture of clothing and furniture.
Only a handful of Jews came during the Nazi period and shortly after the end of World War II. Ireland remained neutral during this time.
The Jews of Ireland had a silver age, when their population peaked at approximately 5,500 during 1880 to the end of the 1940s. The numbers have since declined to about 1,700, but the the Jewish population is slowly growing for the first time in 50 years.
Modern Day Community
After World War II, slow economic growth and the tendency for young people to study abroad took a heavy toll on the Jewish community. Ninety percent of those who left settled in Britain, Israel and the United States. Since the mid-1990s, as Ireland’s economy began to grow, a small number of Israelis, Americans and South Africans have started to return. About 1,300 Jews reside in Dublin today and another 400 are scattered about the country.
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Most now live beyong the Grand Canal, which is the southern border of Little Jerusalem, to the south Dublin neighborhoods of Terenure, Rathmines and Rathgar. Today, many are doctors, laywers and university professors, although some still own retail shops.
In the 1990s, the Irish Parliament, the Dail, had one Jewish member from each of the three major parties. Today, the lone Jewish member of the Dail is Alan Shatter, who represents South Dublin for the Fine Gael Party.
Dublin has three synagogues:
- Dublin Hebrew Congregation on Rathfarham Road in Terenure is the largest of the three, and is the seat of Irelans’s chief rabbi (currently Yaakov Pearlman). It follows the Orthodox tradition, with a tendency towards the modern Orthodox.
- Orthodox Machzikei Hadass is at the rear of 77 Terenure Road North and is more traditional.
- Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation is at 7 Leicester Avenue in Rathgar and is more liberal.
Although Cork was once home to some 400 Jews, it now only boasts a population of five. However, at least three times a year, for Passover, the High Holidays, and Hanukkah, Jewish life in Cork becomes vibrant once again, as the synagogue fills with as many as 100 people. Cork’s synagogue is located at 10 South Terrace and was built in 1896. Shalom Park, directly in front of the Hibernian Buildings along Albert Road, honors the street’s Jewish history, although the last Jewish family moved out over 30 years ago. It was dedicated in 1989.
The Jews of Northern Ireland
Prior to the 19th century, no record existed of a significant Jewish settlement in Northern Ireland. There was, however, at least one Jew residing in Belfast in the year 1652, a tailor named Manuel Lightfoot.
Around 1845, Mr. Daniel Jaffe, a merchant from Hamburg, visited Belfast to establishing contacts in the sale of linens. Within the next decade, he established three Jaffe Brothers, George Betzold & Company and Moore & Weinberg linen houses in Belfast. During this time the Dublin Jewish minister was the Rev. Julius Sandheim. In his Register of Births, the earliest recorded Jewish birth was a male child born in 1849 to Meir Levy.
By the year 1869, the number of Jewish residents in Belfast had grown to twenty-one. In the following year, a synagogue in Great Victoria Street was founded by Mr. Jaffe, Mr. Weinberg, Mr. Betzhold, Mr. Boas, Mr. Lippman and Mr. Portheim. The project was funded by Mr. Daniel Jaffe. Rev. Dr. Joseph Chotzner officiated and conducted Hebrew and religion classes for the Jewish children of Belfast at his home in 71 Great Victoria Street.
In 1891, 282 Jews lived in Northern Ireland, 205 of whom were located in Belfast, and five in Londonderry. The introduction by the Russian Parliament of the “May Laws” in 1882, caused an exodus of Russian Jewry fleeing Tsarist oppression. A sprinkling of such fugitives found their way to Belfast. The Belfast Hebrew Board of Guardians was then formed by Mr. Max Veital in 1893 Mr. Veital, along with a Mr. Cohen, was also instrumental in founding the Belfast Chevra Kadisha, or the Belfast Holy Burial Society. In 1896, a Belfast Hebrew Ladies Foreign Benevolent Society was created. By 1901, 708 Jews resided in Belfast, 58 in Londonderry, and 899 in all of Ulster.
 The former Greenville Hall Synagogue |
The several Russian Jewish families that arrived in Belfast were given a safe haven from the pogroms and vicious persecution of their homeland. Despite economic hardships, these families managed to rent a small house in the Carlisle Circus, New Lodge Road and Lower Antrim Road area. They were kindly received by the local inhabitants and, shortly afterwards, established a prayer house on Jackson Street. With an increase in childbirth, the Regent Street School was soon established at the rear of the present Clifton Street Orange Hall. The Greenville Hall Synagogue, located on Annesley Street, opened in 1904, after a significant donation from Sir Otto Jaffe, president of the community and Lord Mayor of Belfast. Three years later, the Jaffe Public Elementary School at the corner of Cliftonville and Antrim Road was founded.
One of the most renowned figures of the early part of the 20th century was Rabbi Jacob Shachter, who officiated the synagogue from 1926 until 1953. Rabbi Dr. Herzog was appointed the first Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State. Barney Hurwitz, the long-serving President of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation, was appointed a Justice of the Peace and honoured by the OBE. Louis Hyman also was appointed Justice of Peace. Jackie Morris was declared His Excellency the Israel Ambassador to New Zealand after having served as the consul in New York.
In 1907, the National School for Jewish Children was established. A children’s hostel opened on Clifton Park Avenue during the Second World War and a Millisle farm served as a refuge for children escaping the war.
Today, there are approximately 300 Jews living in Northern Ireland, 200 of whom are dues-paying synagogue members. However, only 25 percent are somewhat active, and only 30 people attended the local Belfast shul. Ireland’s total Jewish population increased by 7.8 percent from the 2002 to the 2006 government census, rising by 140 to 1,930. The Jewish community’s growth is due largely to the country's general immigration boom. Foreign residents now make up 10 percent of Ireland’s population. Jewish immigrants from Israel, South Africa, North America, and Eastern Europe have contributed substantially to the growth of Ireland’s Jewish community since the 1990s.
Sources:
Jewish
Ireland
Funke, Phyllis Ellen. “The Jewish
Traveller: Belfast.” Hadassah Magazine (November 2003).
JTA, (March 30, 20007)
Tigay, Alan M. “The Jewish Traveller: Dublin.” Hadassah Magazine (March 2008).
