Huddersfield area/Irish Communities

[jillruss]

Hi,

I'm in need of some help from someone who knows something about early 19th century Huddersfield and area. Were there any particular areas of Irish communities?

Most of the information about my great grandparents comes from my 80 yr old aunt. it usually turns out to be correct - in some way! e.g. she said my gt g'father was Scottish. He wasn't, he was born in Liversedge! But it turned out that the man who became his stepfather when he was still a baby was Scottish.

Similarly, my aunt says that my gt g'mother was Irish. She wasn't! She was born in Huddersfield in 1857. Her parents seem to have come from either the Kirkheaton or Almondbury areas. My aunt's memories are of an Irish woman in a shawl who smoked a cob pipe.

Is it possible that there was an Irish community in this area so tight knit that their habits and customs would have survived a couple of generations?

I'd be grateful for any help.

Jill.

[Lindyboo]

Don't know if this will be of much help, but at present, on behalf of the Calderdale FHS www.geocities.com/cfhsweb/siteindex.htm, I'll soon be launching a new section of the society, 'The Irish Ancestry Group'.  This of course looks at Halifax and districts, but I have taken a brief look at Huddersfield in 1871 and can say that the number of Irish settlers (1633) was around half that of Halifax.  Assuming it followed the trend for Hx, the numbers peaked in 1871 and had declined substantially by 1901.  I mention this in case it helps to show that yes, there was an Irish community of reasonable size at that time.   The number of Irish-born persons in Huddersfield areas ranged from 1 up to 390 and in general they would cluster around the same streets.  The likelihood therefore of customs and habits being preserved would presumably be greater.

I'd speculate that if your relative is recalling a particular figure from the past it may be that the Irish lady (pipe/shawl) was a second wife or an Irish-born relative whose identity has become confused in memory over time.

Here's a link to the Huddersfield FHS, in case you don't already have it.  They might be able to help you.  www.hdfhs.org.uk/

[Sisterjane]

Hi Jill
I have just been talking with one of my mates whos G Granndfather came here from Ireland in about 1910 and settled into a place in Huddersfield called Hillhouse which still exists today and still has a sizable amount of Irish families living there.
She also says that the main Huddersfield Town centre had a large irish community until they cleared everyone out to make way for shops etc and were given housing in a place called Turnbridge .Hillhouse and Turnbridge are both on the very edges of the town centre in Huddersfield,as is Moldgreen and Aspley where there were large Irish communities.Ihave lived in Huddersfield all my life and never heard of any Irish communities in Almondbury or Kirkheaton.
Ihope this helps you a little bit and if i can be of further help to you at all (look ups ) please just ask
Joe

[Christopher]

Hello Lindyboo,

I'm interested in places in Britain which have Irish communites so clicked on the first link in your post to read the article. I was disappointed to see the following message "Sorry, the page you requested was not found." Do you know the new URL please?

Christopher

 

[dave the tyke]

http://www.geocities.com/cfhsweb/

didn't see anything about Irish Communities though. I too have interests
Dave

[Christopher]

http://www.geocities.com/cfhsweb/

didn't see anything about Irish Communities though. I too have interests
Dave

I think you're right Dave.

The Huddersfield Irish Project by the University of Huddersfield might make more interesting reading www.hud.ac.uk/hip

Hi,

I'm in need of some help from someone who knows something about early 19th century Huddersfield and area. Were there any particular areas of Irish communities?

Most of the information about my great grandparents comes from my 80 yr old aunt. it usually turns out to be correct - in some way! e.g. she said my gt g'father was Scottish. He wasn't, he was born in Liversedge! But it turned out that the man who became his stepfather when he was still a baby was Scottish.

Similarly, my aunt says that my gt g'mother was Irish. She wasn't! She was born in Huddersfield in 1857. Her parents seem to have come from either the Kirkheaton or Almondbury areas. My aunt's memories are of an Irish woman in a shawl who smoked a cob pipe.

Is it possible that there was an Irish community in this area so tight knit that their habits and customs would have survived a couple of generations?

I'd be grateful for any help.

Jill.

Hi Jill,

The University site looks quite good ... I've just had a quick look.

Christopher

[Davy Boy]

Jill,
There is a book, fiction, by Alexander Cordell called 'Tunnel Tigers' about the navvies who cut the tunnels through the Pennines. There is a great deal about the Irish community working there.
If nothing else you might find it a good read!!!
David

[jillruss]

Hi,

The University site does look interesting - but covers a period a little later than I'd hoped.

David, I'll see if I can get hold of a copy of that book. I like a good read!

Jill

[cathaldus]

Simply because I am Irish myself,  tho' brought up in Manchester I was interested in the comment about the Irish lady in a black shawl, smoking a pipe.  That's a dead ringer from my maternal granny (died 1943).   She smoked a broken clay pipe,  filled with Gallaher's thick twist.   My paternal granny,  also Irish,  did not smoke at all!!   So there you go!

Bill