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The strength of diasporic nationalism is characterised by an uneven historical geography, with different diasporic communities functioning as ‘hotbeds’ of nationalism at different times. Mapping and explaining these historical geographies is of importance if the cultural and political experiences of diasporic existence are to be understood. It is towards a critical interrogation of the conceptual tools available to accomplish this task that this paper is dedicated. Based upon a reading of social scientific literature on the intensity of national affiliation among the nineteenth and early twentieth century Irish diaspora, and using Doreen Massey's recent advocacy of a new concept of ‘space–time’, the paper advances a case for a (re)theorisation of the phenomenon of diasporic nationalism. In so doing, it is hoped that it will contribute to ongoing efforts to (re)theorise migration in four main ways: firstly, by identifying a subject area …