In the early 18th century, a significant number of Germans displaced by religious persecution and economic hardship found refuge in rural Ireland, forming a community known as the Irish Palatines. Originating from the Rhineland-Palatinate region in Germany, these Protestant settlers arrived seeking safety and opportunity but faced language barriers, cultural isolation, and suspicion from the local Catholic populace.
The story of the Irish Palatines is brought to stage in the production *Refuge*, a collaboration between Staatsheater Mainz in Germany and Ireland’s Fishamble theatre company. The play, largely performed in English with intermittent German dialogue, centers around a German couple, Hannah and Peter, who are struggling to establish a life on farmland near Limerick. Having lost one of their two sons to illness, the couple grapples with their precarious existence in a foreign land.
Peter’s motivations are complicated by his status as a tenant farmer on land owned by Thomas Southwell, 1st Baron Southwell of Castle Matrix. Southwell, an English landlord, sought to weaken the local Catholic community by encouraging Protestant settlers on his estates, offering the Germans low-rent leases in exchange for loyalty. Over time, more than 100 German families settled on Southwell’s lands, largely marrying within their own community. Records show that in a span of 40 years, only seven marriages took place with locals outside the German enclave, resulting in a population that grew significantly but remained culturally distinct.
Hannah, however, represents a different perspective within this insular group. She urges her husband to reconcile with the Irish neighbors, seeking connection and understanding despite their differences. Her attempts at outreach, including an ambiguous friendship with a local farmer she refers to as Mr. Ireland, create tension and highlight the challenges of integration.
Playwright Deirdre Kinahan has emphasized the relevance of this historical episode to contemporary debates on immigration and social acceptance. She points to the ongoing global challenge of responding to displaced populations — whether with openness or hostility — as a central theme of *Refuge*. The production also incorporates the story of a modern Afghan boy, linking the past with present-day issues of migration and refuge.
The play premiered at the Dublin Theatre Festival and subsequently toured to Mainz, the capital of the settlers’ original homeland, concluding a transnational cultural exchange that included a performance in Berlin at the invitation of the Irish ambassador, Maeve Collins. Collins noted the resonance of the Palatines’ experience with contemporary audiences grappling with questions of identity, belonging, and acceptance.
The initial migration of the Palatines was influenced by political and military events in early 18th-century Europe. In 1709, amid devastation in their homeland caused by wars led by France’s King Louis XIV, many Palatines were drawn by a “Golden Book” circulated throughout the region. This booklet, bearing a portrait of Queen Anne of England, promised a prosperous life mainly in the American colonies and aimed to attract Protestant settlers. While some agreed to this plan, many instead made their way to England and eventually to Ireland — forging a unique and often overlooked chapter in the history of migration and settlement in Europe.