If you are interested in knowing the history of islam and muslims in ireland, how the Early Muslim Community was formed in this country, where was the first mosque built, the Muslim population growth pattern over the years, and whether you can find Halal food and Halal restaurants in Ireland or not?, than this article is for you. So, let's begin.
Basic Facts
Ireland is an island sited north-west of continental Europe. It has been inhabited for approximately 7,000 years. It is the third largest Island in Europe and the 20th largest Island in the world. Ireland is separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea.
Located at the geographical Periphery of Europe, Ireland has always experienced delayed arrival of socio-cultural development that shaped other Western European societies. Traditionally a country of emigration with large Global diaspora it turn into a country of immigration in the mid 1990.
Religion in Ireland
The predominant religion in the Republic of Ireland is Christianity, with the largest church being the Roman Catholic Church. 88% of Irish citizens are nominally Roman Catholic. The Republic of Ireland has one of the highest rates of church attendance in the Western World (around 45% of regular Mass attendance).
Early Muslim Community
The Irish constitution says that the state may not endorse any particular religion and guarantees freedom of religion. Muslims arrived in Ireland in the early 1950s. They came as students, many of whom stayed on to work after graduation, settling and marrying Irish nationals. The first wave came from South Africa; these were the children of well-to-do Asians who fled apartheid and came to Ireland. Perhaps the Muslim students from the Republic of South Africa were the first to arrive in Ireland for this purpose. Students then followed from India, Malaysia, and the Gulf states. In the 1970s a number of trainees in aircraft engineering came to Ireland from Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
With arrival muslims from 42 countries; no longer were the majority from Arabic-speaking or Middle Eastern countries. Five years later, the Islamic community was just shy of 50,000. Muslims constituted just over one percent of Ireland's population - the country's third largest faith group, after Catholics and the Church of Ireland.
Muslims Population in Ireland
By 2002, the Republic's Muslim population numbered almost 20,000. Of these, around 2,000 were medical doctors, many from Middle Eastern and North African Arabic-speaking countries. The 2006 census identified a total of 32,539 Muslims. Most were Sunni. About 2,000 were Shi'a. In the most recent census in 2016, over 63,000 people indicated Islam as their religion. Hence, there was 29% rise in muslim population growth. In Census 2011, 49,200 people declared themselves Muslim.Islam is now listed as one of the fastest growing religions in Ireland.
Financial Status
For several decades, Muslim community was decidedly middle-class, different in profile from the Muslim communities in other European countries which attracted many poorly-educated post-colonial settlers, (as in France) or guest workers, (as in Germany). But by the turn of the century, this profile had begun to shift. Some newcomers were, like the earliest arrivals, medical students, doctors, nurses and other middle-class professionals. However, others arrived to fill comparatively poorly-paid jobs in service industries.
A vast majority of Muslims in Ireland live in urban areas with significant concentration of more than half of the Muslim population in the Dublin Metropolitan area. Interesting leave Muslims in Ireland are more likely to be married then the general population, and much less likely to be divorced. The vast majority of the Muslims in Ireland are Sunni, with estimates of food to 6000 years living in Ireland. Ireland has also witnessed growing numbers of conversions to Islam, with converts now estimates in the hundreds.
First Mosque in Ireland
In 1959, the students formed the Dublin Islamic Society. One of their aims was to source a place of worship, where they could pray their daily prayers and observe their Friday prayer in congregation. They found a premises for sale on Harrington Street number 7, Dublin 8. This became the first mosque in Dublin.
Overall, there are approximately 50 mosques and prayer centres within the State, with five Muslim are qualified imams. There is more than one mosque or prayer centre in each province. The largest mosque is in Dublin, the Clonskeagh mosque or the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, which about 5,000 people attend. The Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland or the Islamic Centre in Blanchardstown has approximately 2,000 members and the Islamic Foundation of Ireland on the South Circular Road also has the same. In Cork, there is the Muslim Foundation of Cork and the Cork Islamic Cultural Centre, each with approximately 500 members.
Halal Food
Ritual slaughter is legal in Ireland, there are many halal butchers in Dublin as well as other Irish cities, and Halal food is widely available in Ireland.,
Ireland has a thriving Halal industry which exports Halal Meat and dairy products worldwide. Lamp and increasing amounts of Halal Dairy producers, which are certified by I.I.F.A exported from Ireland. Halal certification is also carried out by department of Halal certification Island, which was established in 2004, and is linked to the Al Mustafa educational and Cultural Centre.
Halal food in particular in hospitals is widely available, due to the long tradition of medical Doctors, of Muslim background working in Irish Health Services.
Halal Restaurants in Ireland
There are also a wide variety of Halal friendly restaurants spread across the island of Ireland, including a number of dedicated halal convenience stores dedicated to serving the island of Ireland’s growing Muslim community. All major Hotels and Restaurants will provide Halal food on request and Arabic coffee, Shisha, and traditional Arabic food are served to high standards.
Hotels in Ireland are accustomed to providing for the needs of Muslim tourists. Hotels across the Ireland can provide copies of the Quran, Prayers mats, Wudu facilities, and the direction for Qibla on request. Hotels across of the Ireland are also accustomed to providing for the needs of Muslim guests, large adjoining rooms such as Family suites are widely available, as are alcohol free hotel rooms.
Muslims Charity Organizations
Islam has become the second largest religion in the British Isles a long time ago. 2.5 thousand Muslim charitable organizations operate here, and the British recognize that Muslims are the most generous philanthropists.
The middle of the 19th century was the most tragic time in Ireland's history. There was one disaster after another for the Irish back then. The bad potato harvest, which is poor people's main food, led to famine; after which the Irish began to suffer from typhus fever, dysentery, scurvy and cholera. For several lean years, more than one quarter of Irish people died or fled from the miseries inflicted on them to the United States. The authorities of the United Kingdom tried to help them, but they had very little money.
There's no telling what would happen to Ireland if it did not received help from ... Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdul-Majid one. A young Ottoman reformer, was famous for his generosity.
The sultan decided to grant Ireland financial assistance in the amount of £10,000. But a huge amount of money for those times had to be cut tenfold, because British diplomats decided that the sultan's aid should not exceed the size of the British queen's help, who sent the Irish only £2,000.
However, Abdul-Majid found a way to circumvent the laws of diplomacy by sending to Ireland not just money, but also humanitarian aid - several ships full of food that entered Drogheda's port. Since then, the Irish are very sympathetic to the Turks.
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