Arcadia Ireland

As a way to mark the celebrations of Passover in the Jewish calendar we invited our Dublin students to the Arcadia Center for some goodies this lunchtime. This was also the perfect opportunity to take some time out to sit and chat about adventures had during the Semester and the preparations for returning to the States in just a few weeks. 

We had Kosher and non Kosher sweet buns, pastries, scones and more from the Bretzel Bakery in Dublin. The Bretzel is special because it is one of the only bakeries in Dublin who bake Kosher treats and has been in Portebello since 1870.

We had a nice group gathered in the Leinster room surrounded by grape juice and delicious treats. We talked a little about the Jewish community in Ireland. I had done a little research before we met and learned some facts that I had never been aware of. 

I learned today that the earliest reference to the Jews in Ireland was in the year 1079. Very interesting to me was to read that in 1922 a female member of the Irish Jewish community was appointed to the Irish Senate in an effort to provide minority communities with political representation in parliament. She held an independent seat for eleven years and during that time was also an advocate for the Irish language. 

The Irish Constitution of 1937 specifically gave constitutional protection to Jews. This was considered to be a necessary component to the constitution by the Presidenet Éamon de Valera because of the treatment of Jews elsewhere in Europe at the time. 

The Irish Jewish Community has also been represented in sports such as soccer, rugby, cricket, chess and boxing down through the years. 

The community is small here today with 1,600 people or 0.03% of the Irish population living in Ireland.