Social commentators of the time often blamed the rampant spread of disease on Irish habits and lifestyle rather than the abject poverty that surrounded them. John Mouchet, a doctor from neighbouring Birmingham accused his city’s Irish community of spreading disease through their own actions. He reported that disease was spreading amongst them not because of poverty, but by
"the want of ventilation and the cleanliness of person".
His belief that by opening windows and washing more often typhus fever would abate reveals not only medical ignorance but racial prejudice.
Prejudice like this was fuelled by the social composition of the Irish community in Wolverhampton. Those most vulnerable to famine in Ireland were the poorly paid labourers for whom the potato composed their income and diet. Therefore the Irish in Wolverhampton were generally from the poorest strata of Irish society. According to historian Roy Foster, middle-class settlers tended to distance themselves from the working-class majority – "micks on the make" is how he described them. The unrepresentative demographic of the town’s Irish made it easy for Wulfrunians to generalise and see the Irish as an impoverished burden and eyesore, bringing little benefit to the city.
Print this page
