Contrary to popular belief, Islam made its mark in Ireland long before the current migration and while Muslims didn’t overly concern themselves with Northern barbarians, most of their efforts were in the much more productive and civilized east, there is evidence of some interest – if only for study and trade purposes.
Ibn Khurradadhbeh (1), a Persian who wrote in Arabic towards the middle of the ninth century was employed in the state postal service in Persia and Iraq, and had a keen interest in geography said: The inhabited world is divided into four parts: Europe, Libya, Ethiopia, and Scythia.’ Europe, which he calls Urffa, consists of ‘ Andalus, the lands of the Slavs, Romans, and Franks, and the country from Tangier to the border of Egypt’. While there is no specific mention of Ireland in this account, he does go on to mention the land beyond the Pyrenees and the merchants that come from those parts and the commodities they bring. However, by the 10th century more remote northern lands begin to crop up in Islamic writings, including Ireland, Britain and Scandinavia.
Although the history is scant, many of the great tomes of literature were burned or otherwise destroyed when Christians conquered Al Andalusia, and the Irish were by and large ignorant of basic writing skills and records there is evidence that points to early contacts. For example:
1. There were trade ties and routes of influence between Islamic Andalusia and Ireland from as early as 1000CE
2. From the 17th century there are documented contacts between Ireland and other parts of the Islamic world.
3. In the 18th and 19th centuries, baptisms in Church of Ireland parish records in Diocese of Raphoe and Roman Catholic parish records in Diocese of Ferns point to a Muslim presence from Co Donegal to Co Wexford.
4. In the late 18th century, at least one Muslim was an active member of the Volunteers. Indeed the noble Shaikh Al Uthaimeen when asked about the struggle in Ireland in the 1990s, through his student Dr Salah as Salah remarked that the cause was legitimate, though he bemoaned the civilian deaths. There is ample evidence of Shia support for the IRA. Interestingly, although Zionism was quick to use Ireland as a platform for its ambitions in Palestine, once it achieved its purposes it roundly condemned the Irish struggle for freedom.
5. In 1845, the onset of the Great Irish Famine resulted in over 1,000,000 deaths. Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid declared his intention to send 10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only 1,000 sterling, because she had sent only 2,000 sterling. The Sultan sent the 1,000 sterling but also secretly sent three ships full of food. The English courts tried to block the ships, but the food arrived at Drogheda harbour and was left there by Ottoman Sailors.
6. In the 19th century, Irish men enlisted in the British army fought in Gallipoli against the Turks, what is less well known was the Ottoman support and assistance offered to the insurgents in Ireland who would wrest control from the British in 1921.
Clearly modern day Ireland owes a debt to Islam and Muslims.
(1) The Muslim Discovery of Europe, Bernard Lewis, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 20,
No. 1/3, Studies in Honour of Sir Ralph Turner, Director of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, 1937-57 (1957), pp. 409-416
In the 1400s the Muslim reign in Spain came to an abrupt and bloody end. For over 600yrs Islam had dominated the Spanish landscape, bringing to the west learning and sciences that made Medieval Europe look positively barbaric. Despite the inculcation of a largely egalitarian society based on Islamic mores, Christian kings in the north plotted a reconquest, one that would give rise to one of the darkest moments in European history – the Inquisition.
