Introduction: Gathering Tensions; Johanne Devlin Trew and Michael Pierse.- Part I: Policy Contexts and Political Change.- 1: Diaspora engagement in Ireland, North and South, in the shadow of Brexit; Johanne Devlin Trew.- 2: The Irish government’s diaspora strategy: Towards a care agenda; Mark Boyle and Adrian Kavanagh.- 3: The need for a national diaspora centre in Ireland; Brian Lambkin.- 4: Marriage equality North and South: The journey after The Gathering; Danielle Mackle.- Part II: Echoes from History and Irish Imaginaries.- 5: Bringing it all back home: the fluctuating reputation of James Orr  (1770-1816), Ulster-Scots Poet and Irish Patriot; Carol Baraniuk.- 6: Gathering Antipathy: Irish Immigrants and Race in America’s Age of  Emancipation; Brian Kelly.- Part III: Hidden Diasporas.- 7: Hidden diasporas:Second and third generation Irish in England and Scotland; Bronwen Walter.- 8: Placeless patriots: The misplaced loyalty of The Middle Nation; Ultan Cowley.- 9: Rafferty’s Return: Diaspora and dislocation in Edna O Brien’s Shovel Kings; Tony Murray.- 10: “Coeval but out of kilter”: diaspora, modernity and ‘authenticity’ in Irish emigrant worker writing; Michael Pierse.- Epilogue; Johanne Devlin Trew and Michael Pierse.-  

“This timely book achieves two unusual aspirations in Irish diaspora studies as it seeks to appraise various lacunae in relevant policy, academic and commercial fields. It considers perspectives from Northern Ireland on diaspora alongside those of the more commonly addressed Republic of Ireland, demonstrating in the process the rootedness in the national of all diaspora imaginaries. And, while both the main destinations of Irish emigrants - USA and Britain - are examined, more space is devoted to reviewing the dynamics of diasporic relations between Britain and Ireland, an often neglected aspect of Irish diaspora imaginations and images.” (Mary Hickman, Emeritus Professor of Irish Studies and Sociology, London Metropolitan University, UK)

Provides scholarly perspectives on a range of timely concerns in Irish diaspora studies Opens up fresh interchanges and theoretical insights on questions of identity, Irishness and historiography Sheds light on the significant public debates on Irish and Irish emigrant identities that have emerged from Ireland’s The Gathering initiative (2013)