The Irish have generally been ignored in studies of the health needs of ethnic groups in the U.K. despite being the largest immigrant group and having the highest Standardised Mortality Ratio of all first generation immigrants.

Using the OPCS Longitudinal Study, the present paper shows that this excess mortality persists into the second generation Irish in the U.K., regardless of the part of Ireland from which their parents originated or whether one or both parents were Irish. The effects of social class, age, sex, year of entry to the U.K. and period of death are explored, and variations with these factors are found to be complex.