The Caribbean’s Celtic history goes back hundreds of years to the
region’s cane sugar fields. This St. Patrick’s Day, on an island
known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, they will close up the town for the
day and the residents will don the green and the streets will fill with music
and dance, rum and green beer. These will be served by the gallons
as the soca and calypso sounds fill the air. You know that we
are talking about the island of Montserrat, nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the
Caribbean.
This
came about as a result of an interesting history spotted with glimpses of sugar
and rum. The Irish arrival in the West Indies happened on the far
away side of the Atlantic during the mid-17th century. There was a huge amount
of political problems that included the English Civil War that left the British
Isles in a state of disorder as the attempted overthrow Charles II in England,
and the Irish Rebellion was in full swing at the start of 1641. The latter
involved Irish Catholics vs English invaders, with a resistance movement that
persisted until Oliver Cromwell’s forces finally put down the insurrectionists
in the early 1650s.
That was followed by many Irish
catholic rebels being exiled overseas to prevent them from re-arming and
re-rebelling. Named as traitors and “white slaves,” they were
sent to provide labor on island colonies. Those who tried to
escape and were caught were branded with FT, for “fugitive
traitor.” An Irish rum that
honors the memory of a band of Irish people who escaped indentured slavery and
political upheaval in Ireland to become stinky pirates in the Caribbean. Known
as “wild geese”, these Irish escapees became wildly successful in the
plundering and marauding business.
Keeping in mind at the same time,
many peaceful Irish sought to flee the chaos. Many had lost
everything including their lands and livelihood during the wars. Many of
them agreed to be shipped out as servants and indentured laborers on the
booming sugar plantations, most of which were producing rum as well as
sugar on the islands. Indentured laborers signed up for up seven
years of work in exchange for their passage. As a result, Irish shipped out
across the waters, washing ashore at sugar plantations on British islands,
including Barbados, Jamaica, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua and
Montserrat. The Irish managed to infiltrate nearly every island in
the Caribbean, including those held by the Spanish and French. This
is made clear by the names of many of the towns on these islands, give
providence to how far they roamed. You can find names like Cork
Hill, Irish Town, Belfast, Sweeney's Well, Riley's Estate, and Kildare, among
them.
