Irish soldiers demobilised in London after major eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century wars were an important but overlooked source of unintentional Irish migrants to the capital. Their migration was linked to the centralised military pension system, which meant that servicemen in English regiments had to present themselves for a medical examination at Chelsea or Greenwich hospitals — both in the London area. A lack of provision available to then get these often very disabled and wounded men back home to Ireland meant that many stayed semi-permanently or permanently in London, and their presence can be measured decades later in the 1841 census. This challenges current understandings about the Irish diaspora in Britain by highlighting the role of the government in shepherding Irish men across the Irish Sea.

中文翻译：

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军队复员对爱尔兰移民伦敦的影响，约 1750 年至 1850 年

十八世纪和十九世纪初的重大战争后，在伦敦复员的爱尔兰士兵是无意中涌入首都的爱尔兰移民的一个重要但被忽视的来源。他们的移民与集中的军事养老金制度有关，这意味着英国军团的军人必须在伦敦地区的切尔西或格林威治医院接受体检。由于缺乏足够的物资来让这些经常严重残疾和受伤的人返回爱尔兰，这意味着许多人半永久或永久留在伦敦，几十年后的 1841 年人口普查可以衡量他们的存在。这凸显了政府在引导爱尔兰人穿越爱尔兰海方面的作用，挑战了目前对英国爱尔兰侨民的理解。