From the inception of the National Health Service in 1948, Irish women and men were actively recruited to train and work as nurses in British hospitals. By the 1960's approximately 30,000 Irish-born nurses were working across the NHS, constituting around 12% of all nursing staff. While many Irish families produced at least one nurse and many of those emigrated, so far there has been little recognition of the enormous contribution of Irish nurses to health care in Britain.
