An article by the VOICES project Principal Investigator and ADAPT-TCD academic, Prof. Jane Ohlmeyer, is shedding new light on the deep and complex colonial ties between Ireland and Jamaica.
The piece examines the shared history linking the two islands since the mid-17th century. The VOICES project, based at Trinity College Dublin and funded by the European Research Council, combines traditional historical scholarship with digital innovation to uncover overlooked global connections.
Interest in the link between Ireland and Jamaica surged after Irish politician Thomas Gould attracted attention across the Caribbean when a video of him speaking in the Irish parliament went viral. Viewers in Jamaica remarked on the striking similarity between his Cork accent and the Jamaican one, sparking discussion about the historical links between the two regions.
Jane’s research traces those links back to the 1650s, when Oliver Cromwell expanded the English Commonwealth’s reach. After completing the conquest of Ireland in 1653, Cromwell’s forces seized Jamaica from Spain in 1655, bringing the island into England’s growing empire.
Hundreds of Irish Catholics were subsequently transported to Jamaica as indentured servants. Their labour contracts, often lasting up to seven years, bound them to plantation owners in exchange for passage, food, and shelter, with the promise of small “freedom dues” (land and money) when the contract ended.
By the 1660s, further Irish migrants moved to Jamaica from elsewhere in the Caribbean, enticed by offers of land if they agreed to new periods of indenture.
According to Ohlmeyer, these movements of people helped shape the intertwined histories that continue to connect Ireland and Jamaica today.
Read the full article here.
