Patricia Kennedy 
Welcoming the Stranger [PDF ebook] 

This lively book tells the untold story of the crucial work carried out by the Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy in Britain on behalf of Irish emigrants for over half a century. The service was established by the Catholic Church in 1957 and the hidden history revealed is one of political intrigue; economic booms and busts; MI5; international relations; miscarriages of justice; Papal Encyclicals; Gospel teaching and the struggle for equality and justice. The vital work of the Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy was conducted against a background of battling against the odds and the establishment. It is the story of Irish and British migration history in modern times and Anglo-Irish relations unfolding over turbulent and politically sensitive decades.Based on archival research, a wealth of personal interviews and newly discovered material — most notably those of Bishop Eamon Casey and Archbishop John-Charles Mc Quaid — the roll-call also includes the most prominent world and church leaders of the period: Margaret Thatcher, John Hume, Mary Robinson, Mary Mc Aleese, and Cardinals Hume & O Fiaich. Welcoming the Stranger critically examines how the Irish government was forced to take responsibility for the Irish abroad.