Extract from a memorandum by Frank Biggar
'The Irish in Birmingham'

On the 26th and 27th June, 1956, I paid a short visit to Birmingham for the purpose of making some general enquiries as to the conditions of the Irish population there.

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Unfortunately, my visit was of a very short duration and my conversations were confined to the local clergy and two of the Welfare Officers of two of the biggest firms employing Irish workers in Birmingham. The Welfare Officers courteously made it clear that they were not, and could not, be concerned with the conditions of workers outside working hours; their attentions were directed solely and of necessity towards the conditions under which the men worked in their jobs. In effect, therefore, this report is based upon the talks which I had with Father Robinson, Private Secretary to His Grace The Archbishop;¹ Father Grey, the Chancellor of the Arch-Diocese; Father Taylor, a Curate in St. Chad’s Cathedral; and Father Dowling, an Oblate attached to St. Anne’s Church. Of these priests, Father Dowling was by far the most useful. He is the nerve centre and driving force in the active work that is being done on behalf of the Irish workers. Father Taylor also plays a part in the active work but the number of Irish people in his parish is small. Fathers Robinson and Grey are not, of course, engaged directly on parish work, and their knowledge of the conditions is based on the reports which are received in the Chancery of the Diocese from the various parishes.

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Religious

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On the whole, however, as far as the spiritual welfare of the Irish workers is concerned, I got the impression from Father Dowling that, while he was distressed at the number who cease to practise their religion through one reason or another, too much of a ‘scare’ was made out of the spiritual dangers that the Irish workers were exposed to in Birmingham.

Employment

I enquired whether, in view of the present recession in British industry, there was any likelihood of the Irish workers in Birmingham finding themselves unemployed or if there was any likelihood that incoming workers would be unable to find jobs. Father Dowling was quite certain that this would not be the case. Birmingham, he pointed out, had never suffered from unemployment even in pre-war days. The workers at present being laid off in the motor industry would, he said, have no difficulty in finding other jobs. There is plenty of work in and around Birmingham.

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Housing

The biggest problem in Birmingham today is undoubtedly that of accommodation. The city is overcrowded but it is important to bear in mind that the overcrowding affects, as Father Dowling pointed out, not only the Irish workers but all the other workers there as well, including persons who arrive in Birmingham from other parts of Great Britain and Scotland to work in the vast industries there. Overcrowding in houses does take place though the situation in this respect is not so bad as it was five or six years ago. There is undoubtedly a certain amount of exploitation in regard to accommodation charges by unscrupulous landladies but this undesirable trade is not confined to Birmingham. A number of cases of Irish boys sleeping out in disused buildings, abandoned cars, railway wagons, goods’ yards etc. have been known even in the last couple of years. Inevitably, Irish boys and girls get involved with landlords and landladies to the extent of living with them but cases of this nature are few enough and not, as far as I could ascertain, sufficient to cause any grave disquiet.

The housing situation in Birmingham is a chronic one and not likely to be solved for many years to come. Even before the last war, there was a serious housing arrears there which became aggravated during and immediately after the war when scarcely any house building took place. Although a good deal of building has taken place during the last ten years, it has not sufficed to catch up with the vast amount of arrears. A good deal of clearance of the centre of the city is going on and families who have been living there since before the war are being rehoused. This inevitably takes away from the number of houses available to those who have come into Birmingham since the end of the war. I believe that the housing situation is not likely to approach anywhere near normality for another fifteen years.

In order to help the Irish coming into Birmingham to find accommodation (and also to help to keep in touch with their spiritual welfare), Father Dowling formed some time ago the Irish Immigrants’ Association. A good deal of excellent work seems to have been done by this Association since its foundation. There is a large poster at the station which directs Irish boys and girls to call to the offices of the Association at St. Anne’s. When they arrive there, they are looked after and accommodation, temporary or permanent, is usually found for them. The Association has compiled (with the aid of every Birmingham parish) a list of houses of a suitable type in which accommodation is available. This work of compilation of lists of such houses is progressing. In addition, the Association keeps a black list of the houses to be avoided. In regard to the houses on their good list, they have established a good relationship with the landladies who notify the Association as vacancies occur in their houses. It is the Association’s ambition to acquire premises near to the station so that the work of receiving the incoming boys and girls could be pursued more efficiently. Father Dowling has been encouraged in this idea of acquiring a house for the Association by His Grace the Archbishop. His Grace, however, has not mentioned the matter to Father Dowling for about twelve months and it might be useful if a suitable opportunity could be availed of to remind His Grace of this pressing matter.

Recreations

Most of the Irishmen in Birmingham seem to spend their free time in public houses. The lack of suitable halls for the organisation of recreational activities is keenly felt by Father Dowling. Until about two years ago, he was able to use the hall attached to St. Anne’s but that has since been demolished and the new hall which he hopes to have has not yet been constructed. It is usually in the public houses that recruiting is done for the Connolly Association.² In spite of the fact that the bulk of the free time is spent in public houses, cases of drunkenness among the Irish population seem to have declined considerably.

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Conclusion

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I do not wish to minimise the situation in Birmingham as it is at the moment. It is undoubtedly an extremely difficult one and cases of great hardship, discomfort and spiritual danger are bound to be present in the circumstances. This, however, is inevitable in a city where the housing and general accommodation position is in such a chronic state of inadequacy and, of course, it affects not only the Irish workers there but the Birmingham workers, the coloured workers and those others who come into the city from British rural areas. Where the housing situation really hits hardest is in the case of young married couples as landladies are reluctant to afford accommodation to children; often, where a young married couple succeed in getting a room, it is on condition that they will vacate it if they have a baby. Naturally, competition on the housing list is keen but houses are allocated on the usual points system. To get on the housing list at all, however, one must have been resident in the city for five years so that married couples with children who left Ireland during the last few years and brought their families with them are not yet eligible for consideration.

Father Dowling, however, and Father Robinson, His Grace’s Private Secretary, were at some pains to assure me that, despite the severe conditions, the hardships and the general human difficulties and problems that cropped up daily, the situation was fairly well under control now. Between the Irish Immigrants’ Association and the other welfare organisations, they had managed to reach a position where they could cope with these problems on their urgency and complexity. Despite these assurances, I would like to end this report by reiterating that the situation is not one that gives any remote grounds for complacency and that the efforts and resources of the welfare organisations will continue to be stretched to the utmost for many years to come.

For the future, I would recommend that persons writing either to Dublin or to the Embassy in connection with the accommodation and other problems in Birmingham should be referred to Father Dowling or the President of the Irish Immigrants’ Association.