Irish Nurses in the NHS

An Oral History

Gráinne McPolin, Louise Ryan, Neha Doshi

• Publisher: Four Courts Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781801512282
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: History

From the inception of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, Irish women and men were actively recruited to train and work as nurses in British hospitals. By the 1960s approximately 30,000 Irish-born nurses were working across the NHS, constituting around 12% of all nursing staff. While many Irish families produced at least one nurse and many of those emigrated, so far there has been little recognition of the enormous contribution of Irish nurses to health care in Britain. Based on 45 interviews, this book tells the stories of Irish nurses in their own words using rich oral history and photographs. From the rigours of training to the fun of dancehalls, the book explores their life experiences as nurses and also as Irish migrants in British society.

Table of contents

• Half title
• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Re-writing history
• Chapter 3: ‘I up and went’
• Chapter 4: ‘What an adventure’
• Chapter 5: ‘On the wards’
• Chapter 6: ‘Let free for the first time’
• Picture section
• Chapter 7: ‘The world is my oyster’
• Chapter 8: ‘You’re ok, even though you’re Irish’
• Chapter 9: Conclusion
• Appendix 1: The Interviewees
• Appendx 2: Undertaking interviews
• Appendix 3: Outputs
• Bibliography
• Index