Irish play revisits 18th-century German refugees’ struggle to settle in rural Ireland
A new play revisits the 18th-century German refugees who settled in rural Ireland after fleeing persecution and hunger. Their experience of suspicion, exclusion and violence echoes present-day debates about how societies treat newcomers, while the story also explores the alliances and tensions between refugees and those with power.
Refuge, by Irish playwright Deirdre Kinahan, follows Hannah and Peter, a German couple farming near Limerick, and includes the story of a contemporary Afghan boy. More than 100 German families settled on the lands of English landlord Thomas Southwell; over 40 years, just seven recorded marriages were with people outside their community. In 1709, more than 13,000 Germans set out for England, far exceeding the number expected, and one in five died during the journey.
- A play brings Ireland’s overlooked German refugee history to the stage.
- More than 13,000 refugees set out in 1709; one in five died en route.
- The story connects past exclusion with current immigration debates.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “‘How do we welcome the stranger, with humanity or anger?’ The forgotten Germans who found refuge in Ireland”.