Jewish historian compromises on definition of the Limerick Pogrom

A LEADING Jewish historian has said he is “happy to compromise” on calls for the Limerick Pogrom to no longer be referred to as such.

Simon Sebag Montefiore appeared at an event in the Hunt Museum - virtually - as part of Limerick Civic Trust’s heritage week.
Instigated by a Redemptorist priest, Fr John Creagh - who referred to Jewish people as “leeches” in a sermon - the Limerick Pogrom took place between 1904 and 1906.

It saw an economic boycott waged against the Jewish community and was accompanied by stone throwing and intimidation.
Many Jews fled the city as a result.

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Mr Montefiore’s intervention is interesting, given his family, the Jaffes, were directly impacted in those events.

The historian and television presenter acknowledged that what occurred in Limerick was on a lesser scale to the abuse of Jewish people in other countries around the same time.

“The word pogrom comes from the Russian ‘to destroy’. It doesn’t mean there has to be a massacre and people killed. People were stoned and beaten up, houses were smashed. This is still a pogrom,” he said.

Challenged on this by Thomas Wallace O’Donnell, who was chairing the talk in the Hunt Museum, he then went further.
“There definitely was violence. The Royal Irish Constabulary said they were protecting the Jews. The Jews said they weren't being protected at all. I have to agree with you. By the standards of the Russian pogroms, this was not Russian cassocks riding through the streets of Ukraine.

“I'm happy to compromise and call it the Limerick events,” he added.

In December 2024, the Israeli government announced it would close its embassy in Dublin.

This was based on what Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar saw as “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government”.
Israeli ministers have tried to make a case around Ireland’s alleged anti-semitism in the past.

Mr Montefiore weighed into the debate, referencing the Limerick Pogrom in a - now deleted - post to social media website X, where he has almost 100,000 followers.

It sparked a reaction from Limerick Civic Trust, whose chief executive David O’Brien suggested it is unfair to label the city as anti-semitic based on one event.

This opened a dialogue with Mr Montefiore which culminated in the talk here.