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Montserrat is the other ‘Emerald Isle’ this St. Patrick’s Day

Caribbean paradise celebrates a unique Irish festival

By
CATHY HAYES,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Saturday, January 29, 2011, 7:47 AM
Updated Saturday, January 29, 2011, 7:47 AM

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Masqueraders celebrate St. Patrick's Day on the island of Montserrat.


Known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean, Montserrat is the only country outside Ireland where St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday.

Montserrat’s Irish heritage dates back to the 17th century when the island became a haven for Irish Catholics who were persecuted on other Caribbean islands. The Irish were originally sent into exile effectively as slaves by Cromwell.  The island is still a British protectorate.

By 1678, a census showed that more than half the people on the island were Irish, so it is hardly surprising that the Irish had such a strong influence on the island’s developing culture.

The week-long St. Patrick’s Festival provides a rich mix of Irish and African heritage, with some traditional Caribbean entertainment, making this one of Montserrat’s most popular annual events. 

The activities for the week include a freedom run from Cudjoe Head to Salem Park, a nature hike and a junior calypso competition. Events will take place in parks and buildings across the north of the island, while much of the activity on St. Patrick’s Day itself will center on a reconstructed slave village.

Here, stalls will sell traditional food, locals will gather to play traditional games such as dominoes and marbles, and masquerade dancers will put on colorful displays. 

This Irish history is still evident today from the moment visitors arrive at the airport in Montserrat and receive a shamrock shaped stamp in their passports. During St. Patrick’s Day, visitors will notice many locals wearing national dress -- in which green is the dominant color -- and both Guinness and green Heineken are available in bars aside the traditional rum punch cocktails. 

African-inspired events such as the freedom run and masquerade dancing commemorate the slave history in Montserrat, specifically an unsuccessful uprising that took place on St. Patrick’s Day in 1768. 

Though a volcano erupted on the island in the 1990s, the Montserrat people have rebuilt their infrastructure and have a new airport .

For all the latest information on travel to and accommodation in Montserrat, plus full events listings for St. Patrick’s week, go to visitmontserrat.com.
 

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3 Comments

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justhimself | Feb 20, 2011, 08:31 PM EST
Very accurate, AOHBard, history is my hobby, The first slaves in colonial puritan New England were Irish, I have trouble trying to get the truth back in our hitory, if people would google "white slavery in America" a lot of stuff comes to the surface.

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AOHBard | Feb 03, 2011, 10:27 AM EST
What is it with you people? First Dara Kelly writes erroneously that St Patrick was never canonized (he was) and now Cathy Hayes writes that Montserrat was a "haven for Irish Catholics". Perhaps your staff writers should be directed to a library to get the facts before they write their stories. In 1625, the King issued a proclamation to ship all Irish political prisoners to the West Indies to be sold as slave labor to the planters there (Montserrat is part of the West Indies). By 1637, a census showed that 69% of the inhabitants of Montserrat in the West Indies were Irish slaves. After the Irish rebellion of 1641, the women and children of the men who fell in battle were left destitute and had to be dealt with, so they were rounded up and sold as well. In 1649, Cromwell attacked Drogheda, slaughtering some 30,000 Irish after which he reported: those that survived are in safe custody in the Barbados (Montserrat was part of that). During Cromwell’s Reign of Terror, thousands of Irish children, generally from 10 to 14 years old, were taken from Catholic parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In 1652, Cromwell demanded that the Irish resettle west of the Shannon, in arid, rocky land, or be transported to the West Indies. By Cromwell's death, hundreds of thousands of Irish men, women, and children had been sold and most were sold to the sugar planters in Montserrat, Barbados, Jamaica and throughout the West Indies. If you really want to do a story on the Irish of Montserrat, look up the story of the 'Redlegs' who still survive there. - Mike McCormack AOH Ntl Historian

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CitizenWhy | Jan 29, 2011, 08:14 AM EST
Did you know that in Santeria/VooDoo St. Patrick represents the chief of the gods? That's why he's so popular in the Caribbean. He is the second patron of Puerto Rico after St John, and was the first when San German was the capital. In San German the new Cathedral (1700s) is St. Patricks's and the surrounding marble sidewalks have shamrocks inscribed in them.

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