Thank you - go raibh maith agaibh 17 March 2014

The Pentacle Drummers, Medway st Patrick Parade
Image credit: SM Jenkin

Go raibh maith agaibh

It means so much more than, thank you. It's more along the lines of "may the good be at you"


Thank you, everyone, thank you pleural. To all of the people who made the parade a success, who helped behind the scenes, filling in forms and directing traffic. Those standing in front of the cameras, waving flags would not have achieved what we did without you

The sun shone, and there was a real feel good factor.

Would you like to know how to say St Patrick's day in Irish? Try this link here

Headstone unveiled - Louis Brennan

Today, I attended a service of thanksgiving and remembrance for the life of Louis Brennan, which included the unveiling and blessing of his headstone.

Image credit: SM Jenkin

The headstone was arranged by the Louis Brennan memorial committee, and is the result of two years of determined fundraising and coordination from the group. Thank you all very much for your hard work, and for ensuring that Louis Brennan is remembered and honoured this way. Until now, Louis had been interred in an unmarked grave, in plot 2454 St Mary's Cemetary, Harrow.

I'm pleased that Louis is getting the recognition that he deserves, after having being forgotten for so long. This is part of the work we are trying to do with the Medway St Patrick's Day Parade, to celebrate the positive contributions that the Irish communities have made over the years. 

The ceremony was well attended, with many important people from the UK, Ireland and Australia. There was a tribute from An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD. Present also were Karen and Gene Bobrow. Karen is a distant cousin of Louis Brennan, and she had traveled over from America. Karen is doing a lot of research into her family, especially her father who had emigrated from New Jersey to the USSR in the 1930s. It's a fascinating story, and she hasn't finished unraveling it yet! I would recommend that you visit her blog Do Svidanya Dad

As Louis is a Maigh Eo (Mayo) man, please do visit their library web page for more information about his life here

Forgotten Irish, forgotten stories

I recently attended the launch of Maria McCarthy's latest book, a collection of stories called As Long as it Takes. The stories are told from the perspective of the lost generation of Irish women who sailed to England in the middle of the 20th century to find work. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but Maria's work is usually of an excellent standard and while Maria can write beautifully she doesn't pull her punches.

My family don't speak much of their time in England when they first came over. There is a lot that they won't say, don't want to rake up the past. I feel so ignorant, and that ignorance shames me. There is a whole generation of stories and experiences that have been missed, and will be lost forever if they are not recorded.

Image credit: Chelle

Take my mother, for example, she emigrated to England in the 1950s and then trained as a nurse. In the 1960s she worked in Northern Rhodesia as it was called then, just after independence. She was part of a wave of nurses called "The Sunshine Girls" who went out. But I have not been able to find much in the way of information or stories, or any recording of the experiences of other Sunshine girls. Do you know of anyone who was a sunshine girl? (I think I feel a project coming on)

The one mention I've found online about Sunshine girls is on the Great North Road messageboard
The Forgotten Irish Campaign details are online here

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Image source: http://www.morguefile.com