Lithuanians in Ireland
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Most Lithuanian immigrants arrived in Ireland in the 2000s, when the Irish economy started booming. It is estimated that 100,000 to 150,000 Lithuanians are currently living in Ireland, [citation needed] of whom about one third are planning to settle there. It is also estimated that around one third of immigrant Lithuanians live in the Dublin area.
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[edit] History
In the beginning of 20th century, thousands of Lithuanian Jews (known in Yiddish as Litvaks) lived in Ireland. Robert Briscoe, who served as lord mayor of Dublin in 1956-57 and 1961-62, was son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants to Ireland. In contrast, the current immigration is of majority Catholic Lithuanians, as Lithuania contained few Jews in 2000.
In 1935, Feliksas Vaitkus, the sixth person who had a successful flight over Atlantic Ocean with a single engine single seat fixed-wing aircraft, landed in Ireland. Vaitkus flew his transatlantic flight with Lituanica II. Vaitkus had to fight the worst possible weather conditions and was helped considerably by hourly broadcasts from an Irish radio station. He learned that Dublin was fogged in, as well as all areas heading east as far as the Baltic Sea. He knew that he could not make it to Kaunas due to his low fuel supply, and being exhausted after a 23-hour struggle fighting the elements, he felt it was best to come down somewhere in Ireland. He spotted an open field in Cloongowla at Ballinrobe, County Mayo and came down, with the aircraft suffering extensive damage [1]. He was lucky to survive and not sustain any significant injuries. Lituanica II was crated for shipment to Lithuania, where it was restored. Vaitkus made his way to Kaunas, by ship and train, where he was given a hero’s welcome [2].
[edit] Present
The Lithuanian Association in Ireland Limited, officially registered in January 2005, has been active since 1999. The association organises Lithuanian concerts and other events in Dublin, Cork, Monaghan and Portlaoise, runs four Lithuanian weekend schools in Dublin, Cork, Dundalk and Galway for Lithuanian children, runs a mailing list lithuaniansinireland[1] with over 700 members, publishes information for Lithuanians in Ireland on a web site[2] and organises monthly Lithuanian gatherings in Dublin, Galway and Cork.
Saloje (In the Island) [3] published twice a month, which has around 20000 readers, and the weekly Lietuvis (Lithuanian) (5000 copies) are the most popular local papers among the Lithuanian community.
[edit] References
- ^ (Lithuanian) Karolis Vaitkevičius. Airijoje - "Lituanicos II" skrydžio pėdsakai, Lietuvos žinios No. 116 (11 453), 24 May, 2006
- ^ Edward W. Baranauskas The Second Transatlantic Flight. Felix Waitkus: Forgotten Hero
[edit] External links
- Lithuanian Forum in Ireland
- (Lithuanian) Newspaper "Saloje" (In The Island) for Lithuanians in Ireland
