Paddy

Catalogue Reference:(MOL) A28549/127

A nasty little verse accompanies this so-called comic Valentine's card printed with a hand-coloured caricature of an Irishman published between 1850 and 1865. The tone of the verse reflects a contemporary view of the Irish as irresponsible alcoholics. The reality for many migrants to London was that pubs and ale-houses provided companionship in what could otherwise be a lonely existence. Many people in early 19th-century Ireland had been forced by the agricultural depression there to leave their homes to try to find work in England.