With the Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, this week promising new measures to combat racism, our experience of dealing with Jewish refugees and their assimilation into our society presents a good example according to Prof Dermot Keogh. His Jews in Twentieth Century Ireland has been awarded the James S. Donnelly Sr Prize by the American Conference for Irish Studies as the best book in Irish History/Social Sciences 1999. The citation tells us that it "holds a mirror to the face of Irish society in that long accustomed to their own history as a tale of victimhood, Irish readers may in this work come to understand the plight and achievements of members of another victim community in their midst".
Keogh, of the history department at UCC, is off to Israel in November to conduct research for the unwritten chapter - the Irish Jewish community in Israel. Jews in Twentieth Century Ireland is naturally a serious tome but there are some great photos and a few laughs. When Cardinal MacRory jocosely chided Chief Rabbi Herzog for eating only fruit at a state banquet in Dublin Castle instead of the excellent ham on offer, the Chief Rabbi replied, "let us discuss this at your wedding".
Quidnunc can be contacted at rholohan@irish-times.ie