Irish Russians are

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n nationals whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Migration occurred in the context of conflicts in Eastern Europe: the

Polish–Muscovite War (1605–18) Polish–Muscovite War can refer to: * Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars * Polish–Muscovite War (1605–18) * Smolensk War (1631–34) * Russo-Polish War (1654–67) {{Disambiguation ...

Ingrian War The Ingrian War () was a conflict fought between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia which lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles, and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duk ...

, and

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The 2021 Russian census recorded 85 citizens who claimed to be ethnic Irish, while 25 persons even claimed Irish as their native language, mostly in Moscow.

History

The first known Irish people who resided in Russia were part of a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

that, during the Polish–Russian War (1605–18), was part of a regiment under the command of Wilim Grim. Later, captain-

Rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

Jacob Shaw switched sides. In 1614 they left the fortress of Bely to join Russian forces. The regiment participated in several

Russo-Crimean Wars The Russo-Crimean Wars were fought between the forces of the Tsardom of Russia and the Crimean Khanate during the 16th century over the region around the Volga River. In the 16th century, the Wild Steppes in Russia were exposed to the Khanate ...

against the Crimean–Nogai raids. In 1626, all foreign mercenaries received Russian names, and after converting to

Orthodox Christianity Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

they received material benefits (typically lands with serfs or

rubles The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are su ...

and clothes).

Notable people

* Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky (1792–1878) was a leading personality of the

Golden Age of Russian poetry Golden Age of Russian Poetry (or ''Age of Pushkin'') is the name traditionally applied by philologists to the first half of the 19th century. This characterization was first used by the critic Peter Pletnev in 1824 who dubbed the epoch "the Golden ...

. His parents were a Russian prince of

Rurikid The Rurik dynasty, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...

stock, Prince Andrey Vyazemsky (1754–1807), and an Irish lady, Jenny Quinn

O'Reilly O'Reilly () is a common Irish surname. The O'Reillys were historically the kings of East Bréifne in what is today County Cavan. The clan were part of the Connachta's Uí Briúin Bréifne kindred and were closely related to the Ó Ruairc ( ...

(1762–1802), in baptism Evgenia Ivanovna Vyazemskaya. As a young man, he took part in the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. ...

and other engagements of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. Many years later,

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

's description of the battle in ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'' appeared inaccurate to him and he engaged in a

literary feud A literary feud is a conflict or quarrel between well-known writers, usually conducted in public view by way of published letters, speeches, lectures, and interviews. In the book ''Literary Feuds'', Anthony Arthur describes why readers might be i ...

with him. * Count

Johann Georg von Browne Count Johann Georg von Browne (or Johann Georg von Browne-Camus) (Riga, 20 September 1767 – Vienna, January 1827) was an officer in the Russian army, and settled in Vienna where he was a patron of Ludwig van Beethoven during the composer's early ...

(1767–1827) was an officer in the Russian army, and settled in Vienna where he was a patron of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

during the composer's early career. Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2019). ''Die irischen Reichsgrafen von Browne-Camus in russischen und österreichischen Diensten. Vom Vertrag von Limerick (1691) bis zum Tod ihres Hausfreunds Ludwig van Beethoven (1827) The Irish counts of Browne-Camus in Russian and Austrian service. From the Treaty of Limerick (1691) to the death of their friend Ludwig van Beethoven (1827)', in: Lazar Fleishman, Stefan Michael Newerkla & Michael Wachtel (eds.), ''Скрещения судеб. Literarische und kulturelle Beziehungen zwischen Russland und dem Westen. A Festschrift for Fedor B. Poljakov'' (= Stanford Slavic Studies, Volume 49). Berlin: Peter Lang, pp. 43–68. * Yuri Yurievich Browne,

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

von Browne in the nobility of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

(1698–1792), was an Irish soldier of fortune who became a full general in the Russian military. Browne was descended from a family which could trace its descent to the time of the Conqueror, and had settled in

at a very early period. His immediate ancestors were the Brownes of Camas,

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, where he was born 15 June 1698. He was educated at Limerick diocesan school. * Count Ioseph Kornilovich O'Rourke (1772–1849) was a Russian nobleman. He was a military leader who fought in the

and achieved the rank of lieutenant general; he is noted in present-day

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, where he led a combined Russian and Serb army to defeat the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

Varvarin Varvarin ( sr-cyr, Варварин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Rasina District of central Serbia. Population of the town is 1,805, and population of the municipality is 14,217 (2022 census). History The town is notable as the sit ...

in 1810. * Pyotr Petrovich Lassi,

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (; from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire, (''Reichsgeneralfeldmarsch ...

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2020). ''Das irische Geschlecht O'Reilly und seine Verbindungen zu Österreich und Russland he Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia', in: ''Diachronie – Ethnos – Tradition: Studien zur slawischen Sprachgeschichte iachrony – Ethnos – Tradition: Studies in Slavic Language History'' Eds. Jasmina Grković-Major, Natalia B. Korina, Stefan M. Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Svetlana M. Tolstaja. Brno: Tribun EU, pp. 259–27
(open access)
here pp. 259–261. * Alexander Arturovich Rou (also, ''Rowe'', from his Irish father's name) (1906–1973) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, and

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, actors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achiev ...

(1968). He worked primarily in the

fairy-tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

genre.

References

External links

The Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia
by Stefan M. Newerkla {{Irish diaspora Russian people of Irish descent Irish diaspora

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links