Footage from the film ‘The Black Irish’ of Montserrat, an island of a unique history of the Irish - indentured and slave owners, the impoverished and enriched. See below:
1. The indigenous name for Montserrat is Allioguana, meaning land of the prickly bush.
2. 1632: Montserrat becomes an English colony when Sir Thomas Warner, sends Irish Catholics from his territory to Montserrat to create a settlement. He did so as relations between Catholics and Protestants had become hostile.
3. 1634: Irish Catholics from the Jamestown colony in Virginia (USA) arrive in Montserrat.
4. 1649: Over 1,000 White families live in Montserrat; most are of Irish descent. They are a mix of landowners, merchants, and indentured servants.
5. 1649: an influx of Irish political prisoners who English General Oliver Cromwell deported after the Battle of Drogheda in Ireland.
6. 1651: Enslaved West Africans begin to arrive, the slave ships from Africa initially arrived in the Caribbean region, stopping at port towns like Bridgetown , Barbados.
7. 1660s: The social structure of Montserrat includes an Anglo-Irish planter class like the Kirwan family, with white indentured servants and an increasing population of enslaved Africans.
8. 1678: Governor of the Leeward Islands, commissions the first leeward islands census, stating Montserrat’s population is 3,674, of which 2,682 are White (1,869 Irish), and 992 are Black. 10 yrs later The Irish outnumber the British 3 to 1 on Montserrat and threaten to denounce their British allegiance and align with the French.
9. Population jumped to 6,908, with 5858 enslaved Africans and 1,050 Whites.
10. 1768: A slave rebellion was planned for St. Patrick’s Day in Montserrat, but the plot was discovered, and the main organizers were executed by the whites.
11. 1775: Montserrat’s population jumps to 11,148, and just 12% are White.
12. 1788: The White population decreases to just 290 in Montserrat, the majority are Irish Catholics.
13. 1834: Emancipation comes into effect on August 1, and an apprenticeship system is established with the ormerly enslaved Black people to continue working for their former masters for 4 to 6 yrs in exchange for provisions.
