Maltby: Book tells tale of Irish miners in Maltby

The self-published title, The Forgotten Irish - The history of a South Yorkshire Irish mining community 1906-60, is written by Sean Carney. It tells the tale of emigration in the early 20th century to the infamous deep gaseous mines of South Yorkshire.

“Irish emigrants like my father from Donegal, and men from Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon, soon formed a unique thriving community in Maltby,” said Sean.

“United by their culture and faith and a capacity for hard work. These men and women set about creating a little bit of home. They built their own school church and social club.”

“The miners were soon joined by teachers and parish priests who crossed the Irish Sea to Yorkshire. By the 1950s there were 2,000 families living in Maltby.”

“The story also looks at my family’s poignant emigration to the Irish owned copper mines of Butte, Montana in the 1890s.”

The book is now available to loan from libraries in South Yorkshire and will shortly be on sale in a local Retford bookshop.