Irish politician Thomas Gould has become a bit of star in the Caribbean after a video of him speaking in the Irish parliament drew comments for the surprising similarity of his Cork accent to the Jamaican one.
His viral speech is a powerful reminder of the shared histories of Ireland and Jamaica, which date back to the mid-17th century and lasted for the next 200 years. During this period Jamaica became an important destination for Irish people.
In the 1650s, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, was on a mission to expand the British empire. Having completed the conquest of Ireland in 1653, he captured Jamaica from Spain in 1655.
