Shalom Ireland Clip

"...Ganley’s interviewees are a sprightly lot with an infectious blend of Irish charm and Jewish wit ... “Shalom Ireland” is good fun."

                                                                                                    -New York Jewish Week

"A SPECIAL film about the Jewish community in Ireland..."

                                                                                               -Irish Independent

"...an absorbing and irresistible documentary....This is history made endlessly fascinating."

                                                                                               -The Sacramento Bee 

"... a memorable, lyrical portrait of a people at a crossroads...thorough and captivating..."

                                                           ​​                                    -The Wild Geese Today

"...a sincere and touching document weaving together interviews with rare and often breathtaking archival material." 

                                                                                              -Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival

Shalom Ireland is a fascinating  documentary about Ireland's remarkable, yet little known Jewish community.  The film chronicles the history of Irish Jewry while celebrating the unique culture created by blending Irish and Jewish traditions.  From gun running for the Irish Republican Army during Ireland's War of Independence to smuggling Jews escaping from the Holocaust into Palestine, the film tells the story of Irish Jews involved in the creation and development of both Ireland and Israel.

From shopping at Erlich's kosher butcher shop on Clanbrassil Street, in the heart of Dublin's "Little Jerusalem," to worshipping at Adelaide Road, the nation's oldest synagogue, Ireland's small, yet devout community of Irish Jews has carried on religious customs for hundreds of years.  During the late 19th Century, there was an influx of Eastern European Jews into Ireland.  As they escaped from religious persecution during the​ Tsars' pogroms, the Jewish immigrants settled in Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Derry and Belfast.  Ireland's Jewish communities quickly grew and thrived as Jewish immigrants and their children made many contributions to Irish society. 

Shalom Ireland tells the untold story of how Irish Jews participated in both the struggle for freedom in Ireland and the effort to create the State of Israel; looks at how World War II and the Holocaust impacted the Irish people; and examines whether anti-Semitism took root in Ireland.

Shalom Ireland profiles members of Dublin's Jewish community who have worshipped together for generations at Adelaide Road Synagogue. Among them is Robert Briscoe who made news around the world when he was the first Jewish person elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1956, and his son, Ben, who followed in his footstep was elected to Dáil Éireann, the Irish Parliament, and became Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1988.  Ben and his brother, Joe, a retired dentist, take viewers on a captivating journey through the history of Jewish Ireland as they share family stories like how their father,  Robert Briscoe joined the cause of Irish freedom and ran guns and ammunition for the Irish Republican Army during Ireland's War of Independence.

After the war, Briscoe was elected to the Dáil, the Irish Parliament.   He then turned his attention  to the plight of European Jews and joined in a massive illegal effort, in defiance of the  British government, to smuggle thousands of Jews escaping from the Holocaust into Palestine.  After World War II, Briscoe worked with his friend, Rabbi Isaac Herzog, to find safe places of refuge for Jews who survived the Holocaust.   Rabbi Herzog, who had served as the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, became Israel's first Chief Rabbi, and his Irish-born son, Chaim was elected President of Israel.

Shalom Ireland features Cleo and Joe Morrison, Orthodox  Jews who  were married at Adelaide Road Synagogue more than fifty years ago. Cleo maintains a kosher home by shopping at Erlichs kosher grocery store, and Joe preserves Irish Jewish history and culture by conducting tours at the Irish Jewish Museum.

​As their population dwindles, Irish Jews struggle to find ways to maintain their institutions and pass their heritage  on to future generations.  Judy Charry and Carl Nelkin, a young Jewish couple, are raising their daughter, Jessica, to be bi-lingual.  Judy speaks to her in Hebrew, while Carl teaches her English.   Judy and Carl love living in Ireland but they are concerned about the declining Irish Jewish population and whether there will be an organized Jewish community for Jessica in the future.  Like many other young Jewish couples, they have considered moving away from Ireland.

​​​In 1999, because of declining membership, the Dublin Hebrew Congregation made a difficult decision to close Adelaide Road Synagogue.  It was a time of sadness as Irish Jews realized their community may be in jeopardy of becoming extinct.

The film culminates with the ceremony to deconsecrate the synagogue. Adelaide Road is filled to capacity with people of all ages who have come to witness the final temple service. The cantor  sings a  Hebrew  prayer and one by one, a half dozen silver  plated  torahs wrapped  in  royal  blue  velvet are removed from the ark for the last time.  Rabbis and community elders circle the synagogue holding the torahs close to their hearts as the congregants kiss their prayer books and touch the passing torahs.

"To sum it up in one word, it was like bereavement," says Joe Briscoe.  "It was like going to a funeral."The next day a yarmulke-clad congregant packs torahs and prayer books into carton boxes as a work crew dismantles the pews which will be sold at an auction.  At the end of the day, the former synagogue is closed forever.

The synagogue closure is a major turning point for Dublin's Jewish community.  For many members of the congregation, the loss of Adelaide Road reflects a seemingly hopeless situation -- the end of a way of life.  But others believe Ireland's recent robust economic growth offers new hope as young Irish emigrants begin to return home in an unprecedented reversal of historical trends.  Among the tears and farewells to this beloved historic institution, a silver lining is found.  The synagogue closure was a wake-up call and the catalyst that moved people into action. 

Irish Jews launched an effort to revitalize Dublin's once vibrant Jewish community, and as a result, according to the Irish Census, Ireland's Jewish population increased to nearly 1,800.

I grew up in a Jewish family in Los Angeles, California. My grandfather, who was raised in London, said that sometime long ago, our ancestors came from “somewhere in Russia.” While I was growing up, I asked countless questions about our family and why they came to America, but with our relatives spread to the far corners of the world – Australia, England and South Africa – it was hard to get the answers. 

When I met my husband, Michael, an Irish American, I was impressed with his strong sense of ethnic pride and his knowledge of his people’s history. It didn’t surprise me that I would fall for an Irish American. After all, I had had Irish American friends my entire life. But it had never occurred to me before why Irish and Jewish people are so compatible. While I maintained my Jewish identity, when I married into Michael’s family, I developed a deep appreciation for Irish people, their history, music and literature, and soon embraced Irish culture as my “adopted culture.” 

In 1993, Michael and I traveled to Ireland. It was my first visit. Michael found the Irish Jewish Museum listed in a travel guide. Our first reaction was one of amusement which quickly turned to curiosity about the very notion that there was such a thing as an Irish Jew. We wondered what would be the result of the blending of our two cultures. So off we went for a visit to the museum. We were greeted by two charming “little old Jewish ladies.” There was something familiar about their appearance, their mannerisms and doting personalities. They reminded me of my own Jewish grandmothers. It seemed as though they could have easily been found strolling Fairfax Boulevard, the heart of one of the predominately Jewish neighborhoods in Los Angeles close to where I grew up. But when they spoke, their thick Irish brogues were laced with Yiddish words!  

As we toured the museum, I was struck by the remarkable history of Irish Jewry and how Jewish people had risen to prominent positions in Irish society including Lords Mayor of Dublin, Belfast and Cork and that prior to becoming the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, Isaac Herzog, the internationally renowned Hebrew scholar, had been the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland.

Shortly after our return from our trip to Ireland, I received a document from a cousin indicating that my great-grandparents Fanny and Jacob Lappin had been married in Waterford, Ireland. My father didn’t believe it at first since he had never heard anything about our family living in Ireland before. I wrote to the Irish Jewish Museum seeking information about my Irish roots. One morning, I the telephone rang. It was Joe Morrison (who is featured in Shalom Ireland), a volunteer at the museum. The curator had given him my letter because his mother and I shared the same surname and that we could be relatives. Joe sent me an article that ran on the front page of The Waterford News and General Advertiser in 1894 describing in great detail my great-grandparents wedding, “the first Jewish wedding in Waterford.”  

Like most people, I was surprised at first to learn that there were any Jews in Ireland, and then to find out that my own Jewish ancestors lived there was really quite amazing. But when you look more closely you can see that the Irish and the Jews have much more in common than most of us realize. Both the Irish and the Jews have experienced religious persecution and have been victimized by historical events including the Great Hunger and the Holocaust. As a result, there is a bond that exists between these two peoples.

As I continued to search for information about my Irish roots, it occurred to me that the story of Irish Jewry would make for a fascinating documentary and that is how the film began. The longer I worked on Shalom Ireland the deeper my own sense of Jewish identity grew, and the irony is that it would happen by going on a vacation to Ireland. The film was completed in 2003, aired on RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, and continues to be shown around the world to this day.  

In 2016, I was approached by Kieran Cronin, a Deputy Librarian at the Waterford Institute of Technology (now called the South East Technological University). He was preparing to host the Representations of Jews in Irish Literature Exhibition, and asked me to collaborate in creating a complimentary display featuring my family. Kieran commenced extensive genealogy research and found the following. 

My family participated in the formation of the Jewish congregation in Waterford. The first service was held in a borrowed room on the Jewish New Year in 1893. The following year, great-grandma Fanny and great-grandpa Jacob were married there. Fanny’s brother Louis served as the Auditor for the congregation, and another bother Aaron was instrumental in setting up the Hebrew School.

My great uncle Joseph is honored in a memorial to soldiers from Waterford who died in WWI. My great-uncles William and Aaron Diamond were members of the Waterford Bicycle Club, a prestigious organization whose members included prominent local magistrates and politicians. On the occasion of a royal visit to Ireland in 1885, William wrote a letter to the Editor of the local newspaper demanding a retraction because his name had been included in a list of Waterford citizens testifying their loyalty to their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales. It appears that we had some rebels in the family! Two men were found guilty of assaulting my great-great-grandfather Joseph Diamond. Joseph’s courtroom testimony was provided in Hebrew and interpreted by his son — a rare occurrence in an Irish court. 

I now embrace being Irish as part of my identity too.

Subsequently, the Hidden Diamonds: A Waterford Jewish Family’s Journey Museum Exhibit was created. It is a social history about late 19th Century Irish Jewish life in Waterford based on the Lappin/Diamond family story. The panels were displayed along with the Representations of Jews in Irish Literature Exhibition at the 2017 Irish Arts & Writers Festival in Los Gatos, California and again at the 2018 Festival during an Irish genealogy lecture presented by Kieran Cronin.

In 2023, the Waterford Civic Trust approved the erection of a blue plaque, an historical marker, commemorating Waterford’s Jewish community. The blue plaque will be placed at 88 The Manor, the first house of worship for Waterford’s jewish community and the site of Jacob and Fanny’s wedding, which is now the Babylon Grill and Kebab Shop. The blue plaque is expected to be unveiled in 2024.