‘Come and find sanctuary in Eire’. The experiences of Ireland’s Belgian refugees during the First World War

Abstract

Ireland provided sanctuary for over 3000 Belgian refugees throughout the First World War. The article will analyse Irish reactions to the plight of Belgium, the effect that real and imagined stories of German barbarity had on the Irish relief effort, as well as the extent of the efforts made by various national and local authorities, charitable organisations and the general public during the first eighteen months of the war. However, the question that ultimately arises is how Ireland’s political climate and the prolonged war affected the generosity and accommodating spirit shown by its people after the Easter Rising of 1916?