Personal narratives of Irish and Scottish migration, 1921–65

Book excerpt: Between 1921 and 1965 Irish and Scottish migrants continued to seek new homes abroad. Using the personal accounts of these migrants from letters, interviews, questionnaires, and shipboard journals, together with more traditional documentary sources such as immigration files and maritime records, this book examines the experience of migration and settlement in North America and Australasia. Through a close reading of personal testimonies the author highlights the assorted similarities and differences between the Irish and Scots. Subtle differences rather than yawning cultural gaps are apparent; similarities in attitude and expectation are more common than divergent or unique experiences. The key revelation of the work is that, despite a number of peculiarities characterising their individual and collective experiences of migration, both the Irish and Scots were relatively successful migrants in the period under consideration. Using interviews, both spoken and written, and tackling issues of why and how versions of the past are represented and what they mean, this fascinating study considers individual and collective memory and the use of personal testimonies as historical evidence: their uniqueness and typicality. Furthermore, in using personal narratives the book portrays individual migration experiences which are often hidden in studies based on statistical analysis.