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experiences of Huguenot refugees in the late 17 th and early 18 th centuries (Bracey, 1974). An
attempt to understand cultural conflict in Ireland was undertaken two years later in an MA
dissertation which focused on the late 16 th and early 17 th century plantations (Bracey, 1976).
During the researcher’s work as a teacher from 1976 and Head of History from 1983-97 there
were opportunities to relate this research interest to work in the classroom. A Mode 3 History
CSE (WMEB, 1984) course taught between 1983-87 provided opportunities to look at people
who had come to Britain from earliest times to the present day including immigration from
Ireland. A GCSE Social and Economic History Course (MEG, 1988) taught from 1986
included a unit and coursework related to migration. This provided the opportunity to develop
course work tasks related to eighteenth century slavery, Irish and Jewish immigration in the
nineteenth century and post-war immigration. The Irish Modern World Study component of
the School History Project was taught in 1983 (WMEB, 1983) and from 1996 (MEG, 1998).
The advent of the National Curriculum also provided opportunities to include an Irish
dimension within the context of the Norman invasions, religious and political conflicts in the
16th and 17 th centuries and famine/hunger in the nineteenth century (the last topic is
extremely contentious and is regarded either as a natural disaster or the result of government
policy). A topic on the Normans included an overview lesson which compared and contrasted
them with other people who have come to Britain.
Involvement in a series of projects confirmed and developed the researcher’s belief that an
Irish dimension relates to an anti-racist perspective, which will be considered later. Firstly, the
researcher was invited to contribute to two Birmingham LEA multicultural history curriculum
groups in the 1980s where curriculum structures and resources were discussed. Within these
discussions an Irish dimension featured in the context of the long-term development of