congregation at one time proposed to affiliate itself with the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of London. Dublin in 1745 contained about forty Jewish families, comprising about 200 persons. Their synagogue was at Marlborough Green, and their cemetery in the center of the village of Ballybough.
In 1746 a bill was introduced in the Irish House of Commons "for naturalizing persons professing the Jewish religion in Ireland." Another was introduced in the following year, agreed to without amendment, and presented to the Lord Lieutenant to be transmitted to England; but it never received the royal assent. These Irish bills, however, had one very important result; namely, the formation of the Committee of Diligence, which was organized by British Jews at this time to watch the progress of the measure. This ultimately led to the organization of the Board of Deputies, an important body which has continued in existence to the present time. Jews were expressly excepted from the benefit of the Irish Naturalization Act of 1783. The exceptions in the Naturalization Act of 1783 were abolished in 1846. In the same year the obsolete statute "De Judaismo," which prescribed a special dress for Jews, was also formally repealed. The Irish Marriage Act of 1844 expressly made provision for marriages according to Jewish rites.
Daniel O'Connell is best known for the campaign for Catholic Emancipation; he also supported similar efforts for Jews. At his insistence, in 1846, the British law “De Judaismo," which prescribed a special dress for Jews, was repealed. O’Connell said: "Ireland has claims on your ancient race, it is the only country that I know of unsullied by any one act of persecution of the Jews”. Many Irish starved during the Great Hunger. Help came from unexpected sources, such as the Sultan of |
