Montserrat — books & literature

The story of Montserrat

Montserrat, a small volcanic island in the Lesser Antilles, was sighted and named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after the Monastery of Montserrat in Spain, though he did not land. English and Irish colonists, many fleeing religious persecution on nearby Nevis and St Kitts, established the first permanent settlement in 1632, giving the island an unusually strong Irish heritage that earned it the nickname 'The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean'. Sugar and slave plantations shaped the colony for two centuries until the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in the 1830s. Montserrat later became a magnet for the music world when Beatles producer Sir George Martin opened AIR Studios on the island in 1979, drawing global superstars until Hurricane Hugo wrecked the studio in 1989. The island's modern story was transformed on 18 July 1995, when the long-dormant Soufrière Hills volcano erupted, eventually burying the capital, Plymouth, and forcing roughly two-thirds of the population to leave. Today Montserrat is rebuilding around its northern parish, governed as a self-governing British Overseas Territory with a resilient, close-knit community.

Timeline — key moments

1. 1493

   Christopher Columbus sights and names the island 'Santa Maria de Montserrate'.

2. 1632

   English and Irish settlers establish the first permanent colony on Montserrat.

3. 1782-1783

   Briefly captured by France during the American Revolutionary War, then restored to Britain.

4. 1834

   Slavery abolished across the British Empire, ending the plantation-era slave economy.

5. 1958-1962

   Montserrat is part of the short-lived West Indies Federation.

6. 1979

   Sir George Martin opens AIR Studios Montserrat, recording global music stars.

7. 1989

   Hurricane Hugo devastates the island and wrecks AIR Studios.

8. 1995

   The Soufrière Hills volcano begins erupting on 18 July, starting a prolonged crisis.

9. 1997

   The capital, Plymouth, is permanently evacuated and later buried by pyroclastic flows.

10. circa 2010

    Major dome-building activity at Soufrière Hills subsides; island continues rebuilding in the north.

Top 10 things to know about Montserrat

1. Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory nicknamed 'The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean' for its Irish colonial heritage and green hills.
2. Plymouth, the former capital, has lain buried under volcanic ash and mud since 1997 , sometimes called the "Caribbean's Pompeii".
3. The Soufrière Hills volcano remains active, and a large southern exclusion zone still covers much of the island.
4. Montserrat is one of the few places outside Ireland with St Patrick's Day as a full national holiday, marking a planned 1768 slave uprising.
5. Beatles producer Sir George Martin built AIR Studios on the island in 1979, recording albums for The Police, Elton John, Dire Straits, and Paul McCartney.
6. Calypso and soca star Arrow, famous worldwide for 'Hot Hot Hot' (1982), was born in Plymouth, Montserrat.
7. The population fell from roughly 12,000 before 1995 to about 5,000 today because of the volcanic crisis.
8. The currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, shared with several neighbouring island nations.
9. The Montserrat oriole, the national bird, is found nowhere else on Earth.
10. English and Irish colonists settled the island from 1632, giving Montserrat one of the highest shares of Irish ancestry in the Caribbean.

Famous people from Montserrat

Say it in Montserrat's language

Did you know?

• ★Plymouth is one of the only capital cities in the modern world to have been fully evacuated and abandoned because of a volcanic eruption, buried under several metres of ash and mud.
• ★Montserrat's Irish colonial roots are celebrated every March with a 10-day St Patrick's Festival blending Irish and African-Caribbean traditions.
• ★Some of the biggest albums of the 1980s, including Dire Straits' 'Brothers in Arms', were recorded on Montserrat at AIR Studios before Hurricane Hugo destroyed the facility.

Montserrat culture

• St Patrick's Festival (10 days each March) blends Irish and African-Caribbean heritage with music, masquerade dance, and food.
• Masquerade (Jumbie) dancing, with vivid costumes and drumming, is a signature Montserratian performance tradition.
• Goat water, a spiced stew, is widely regarded as the island's national dish.
• Calypso and soca remain central to island celebrations, carrying forward the legacy of native son Arrow.

Why read Montserrat's books

Montserrat's small but resilient literary voice reflects a community rebuilding after volcanic upheaval , stories of an island split between memory of a buried capital and the everyday life of the north. These are books that carry that story forward.