Understanding the Hungarian Community in Ireland: Demographics and Adaptation

Here’s an interesting demographic that goes virtually unheard of in Ireland: Hungarians. Before the formal establishment of the European Union, a lot of Hungarian refugees fled to in Ireland in the 1950’s as a result of the fallout of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Some 550 refugees arrived in Shannon Airport on the 26th of November 1956, nearly all of which were housed at an army camp in Knockalisheen, Co. Claire. In 2022, the Hungarian population of Ireland was around 8,500. In this intercultural snapshot, I take a quick look at the history of Hungarian immigration to Ireland and how Hungarians have adapted to life within Irish society…

Introduction

For my research project, I decided to focus on Hungarians living in Ireland. Hungarians have been present in Ireland before the founding of the EU and have maintained a small yet consistent population since the late 50s. According to the 2022 census, the Hungarian population living in Ireland was around 8,500 or 0.17% of the total (5,123,536 – April 2023) population.

Hungarians receive virtually no mainstream notice in Irish society, and I thought it would be interesting to shed some light on this clandestine demographic. I decided to investigate how Hungarians have adapted to life in Ireland and the rights and legislation that apply to them.

To collect data for my research I utilized sources including:

CSO and legislative data
A thesis on historical Hungarian immigration to Ireland from the DCU School of Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies
Various articles from Irish media pertaining to Hungary

Immigration

In the late 1950s, an economically impoverished Ireland was obliged by the Geneva Convention of 1951 to take in ~550 Hungarian refugees fleeing the conflict of the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution against occupying Soviet forces, an event covered widely at the time by The Irish Times. Those that came here were primarily housed in an old army camp in Knockalisheen, Co. Claire.

A variety of factors contributed to Irish acceptance of the refugees, including Catholic solidarity and “In Hofstede’s (1980; 2001) dimension, Ireland did not rank among those countries which have a high power distance culture.” (Bánki, 2009).

An interesting excerpt shows the reception of the first group of Hungarian refugees in Shannon Airport:

It was the end of a four-thousand-mile journey from towns and homes destroyed by brutal aggression. They were weary from long travel and tears came easily…As they made their way to the public dining hall, where hot dinner – including Hungarian goulash – was being served, many broke down and unashamedly wept. They seemed deeply touched by a welcome in Hungarian printed on the menu (The Irish Press 26 November 1956).

One can imagine that this event contributed to an established Hungarian presence in Ireland today, whether from descendants of those refugees or from the connections they had from their homeland. Refugees continued to trickle in over the decades, as suggested by figures shown in Bánki’s thesis (pg. 127):

In recent times, Hungarian Culture Days is a vibrant cultural festival that takes place annually in Dublin. It is a showcase for Hungarian culture, art, and heritage – which connects the Hungarian community in Ireland, and builds new connections with Irish communities.

The organisation works to:

help the integration of the Hungarians in Ireland
represent the diversity and richness of Hungarian Culture in Ireland.
enhance cultural exchange and dialogue between Hungarian communities and the Irish public
build community spirit through fun activities for all ages and backgrounds.
foster and promote the work of Dublin-based Hungarian artists (painters, photographers, dancers, and singers) and enhance the cultural life of Dublin city by bringing the unique elements of Hungarian culture into the artistic and public arena
introduce Hungarian Businesses, make links with Irish Businesses

(Hungarian Culture Days, 2019)

Education

Being part of the European Economic Area (EEA), Hungarian students can avail of Erasmus+ international studies and traineeships. Of the 35,140 registered international enrolments in higher education for the academic year 2022/2023, Hungarian students accounted for 0.3% of students (~105), with most of them spread between TCD and UCD (HEA, 2023).

A Corki Magyar Iskola és Óvoda (The Corki Hungarian School and Kindergarten) opened in the city centre of Cork in 2010. The school was founded by Hungarians Zsuzsanna Bothné Rékai (an English language teacher from Budapest) and Erzsébet Szencsenkóné Szűcs. The school is dedicated to nurturing the Hungarian language, Hungarian customs, and culture.

According to the Hungarian 2022 census, English is the second-most spoken language in the country with 2,428,295 (25.29% of the population) people fluent in it (Mooney, 2022). This indicates the language barrier is not too esoteric – we must also consider English is likely learned as part of Hungarian schooling as the census also shows a jump from 27,151 Hungarians under the age of 10 speaking English to 378,060 in the 10-19 age range.

There are also some notable Hungarians in Irish sport:

Jozsef Keaveny – professional English footballer of Hungarian and Irish descent, played for the Republic of Ireland Under 17s squad in 2016, Celtic fan.

Krisztián Adorján – Hungarian footballer that played for Dundalk in 2018.

Economics

Irish-Hungarian trade stands at about €1 billion a year, the bulk of goods being pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and ICT equipment. There is also some food trade, meaning Hungarians find Irish dairy products on their shelves such as Kerrygold butter, Irish cheese, beef, lamb, seafood, whiskey, and Guinness (2021, Ambassador Ronan: The Irish community in Hungary is active, vibrant – interview).

Politics & Legislation

The Hungarian embassy in Ireland is located at Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2. The Ambassador of Hungary to Ireland is Mr. Gergely Bánhegyi, who has held the position since March 2023. Consular services for Hungarians in Ireland can be found at the Embassy of Hungary Dublin Website.

Hungarians do not need a visa to come to and work in Ireland; however, Ireland is not part of the Schengen Area – a region of Europe where there are no border checks between countries – meaning there are immigration checkpoints between Ireland and Hungary where residents of each nation must show their passport or identity card before entering (Citizens Information, 2024).

Personal freedoms and rights afforded to Hungarian itinerants to Ireland are chiefly covered by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in addition to Irish law. Most of the rights outlined in this legislature pertain to equal and fair treatment of EEA members within the Irish legal framework such as:

Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial
Right to respect for private and family life
Freedom of expression
Social security and social assistance
Right to asylum
Right to access to placement services – assist of people looking for work
Right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections

A full breakdown of these rights can be found on Citizens Information.

Conclusion

Despite a rocky start with the 1950s Hungarian refugees, Ireland and Hungary today share a warm, unassuming relationship we do not often hear about in Irish media. The Hungarian population here has steadily increased since the 50s to almost 10,000 in 2022. Many Hungarians are enrolled in our higher education institutions and celebrating our culture – I was particularly surprised to learn that Bloomsday is celebrated every year in Szombathely, Hungary and that many Irish products can apparently be found in Hungarian supermarkets. It would be interesting to see an expansion of this relationship in the future and a greater representation and awareness of Hungarian culture in Ireland.

Bibliography

Citizenship – CSO – central statistics office (2023) CSO. Available at: here (Accessed: 12 January 2024).

(2019) Hungarian Culture Days. Available at: https://hungarianculturedays.com/ (Accessed: 10 January 2024).

2021, D. (2022) Ambassador Ronan: The Irish community in Hungary is active, vibrant – interview, Daily News Hungary. Available at: here (Accessed: 10 January 2024).

Citizensinformation.ie (2024) Rights of Residents in Ireland, Residence rights of EU citizens and their families in Ireland. Available at: here (Accessed: 21 March 2024).

Citizensinformation.ie (2024a) EU Law, Charter of Fundamental Rights. Available at: here (Accessed: 21 March 2024).

Bánki, K.P. (2009) Crossing borders from Hungary to Ireland: The cross-cultural adaptation of Hungarian refugees from the 1940s and their compatriots from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, thesis. DCU. Available at: https://doras.dcu.ie/15003/1/katalinbankiphdthesis.pdf (Accessed: 02 April 2024).

HEA (2023) International Enrolments in Higher Education, Higher Education Authority. Available at: https://hea.ie/statistics/data-for-download-and-visualisations/key-facts-figures/ (Accessed: 20 March 2024).

Pollak, S. (2019) New to the Parish: Zsuzsanna Rékai from Hungary says Ireland will always be home, The Irish Times. Available at: here (Accessed: 21 March 2024).

Mooney, J. (2022) Hungarian population by language knowledge, Census database – Hungarian central statistical office. Available at: here (Accessed: 24 March 2024).

~ G.G. Aug 2024