The Forgotten Irish

In 2009, Animo produced The Forgotten Irish for Tv3. This two part documentary series examined the Irish men and women who were forced to emigrate to the UK during the economic stagnation of the 1950s. It looked at how many of the men became involved in building the motorways and rebuilding war-torn cities around England, while many women worked in domestic service or healthcare. Despite the enormous contribution these emigrants made, both to their new countries and to Ireland by sending money back home to their families, many of these elderly emigrants are now living lives of poverty and loneliness in their adopted lands. The Forgotten Irish was an intimate and touching series that encapsulates the personal stories of the generation who emigrated to England after the war, telling very honest, and at times harrowing, stories about the way their lives unfolded.