South Asians in Ireland
Early South Asian presence in Ireland can be traced back to the role played by the East India Company in the eighteenth century.
[6][7] On their return to Ireland, some Irish men working for the East India Company were also accompanied by their Indian wives, mistresses, and mixed race children.
[8] Historian Michael H. Fisher speculates that Captain Baker may have been accompanied by his Indian mistress and their teenage Anglo-Indian daughter, Eleanor, on his return to Cork from India.
Unlike the domestic servants and lascars imported as cheap labour from India, Mahomed was supported by Godfrey Evans Baker, an East Indian Company officer.
Baker sponsored Mahomed's education in Cork where he met his wife Jane Daly, a Protestant woman from an Irish gentry family.
[10][11] Mahomed's connections with Baker allowed him to build his wealth in Cork, and his notable work The Travels of Dean Mahomet was published with the support of Ireland's wealthy elite.
One of the most prominent South Asians to arrive during this time was Mir Aulad Ali (1832–98), a Muslim Indian scholar who worked as Professor of Arabic, Hindustani, and Persian at Trinity College, Dublin.
[13][14] Beyond his academic engagements, Aulad Ali was an example of significant South Asian presence in Dublin's social circles, well-regarded and lauded for his charitable work in the parish of Rathmines.
[13] He frequently attended formal events in traditional Indian attire and was often one of the main local dignitaries present to greet and guide foreign parties upon their arrival to Dublin.
[14] In this respect, Aulad Ali represented a South Asian community that was not only accepted and welcomed in nineteenth century Ireland, but one that also directly contributed to the enhancement of social and political life.
[14] He also represented an increasing presence of mixed race families in Ireland during the nineteenth century, marrying an Englishwoman named Rebecca with whom he had a son, Arthur, who was baptised at the parish of Rathmines.
There are numerous Islamic centres and mosques and many Hindu temples in Ireland, although as with most Irish the most-confessed faith by South Asians is Catholicism.
The Sligo parade is one example that has regular participation from the local Riverstown Cricket Club, mainly represented by people of Pakistani origin.
[24] The most prominent case is the death of Savita Halappanavar, a woman of Indian origin from Galway, who died aged 31 after being refused an abortion.
