| Description | Tracks 1 - 5: Actuality with 'Jim McHugh' from Edenderry, County Offaly, and Charles Parker. McHugh talks about returning to Ireland and how it had changed (1950s). He speaks about trying to find work and accommodation there, but eventually deciding to return to England with his wife and their children in order to earn enough money to support them. McHugh talks about wanting to return to Ireland, but he does not think that he will be able to return. He criticises the pension system in Britain (1960s)and so speaks about his fears for his future.
Tracks 6 - 8: Jim McHugh's wife joins the discussion. She talks about her children having better prospects if the family stay in England. She speaks about coming over to Britain when she was 16, from County Westmeath (1937) and her first job cleaning a boarding house. She describes her experiences in various jobs in hospitals in London (University College hospital and St Pancras hospital), and missing her family in Ireland. She talks about how she met her husband through her friendship with his sister, and she describes their courtship.
Track 9: McHugh speaks again about the reasons that Irish people leave Ireland, and the feeling of being exiled from home. He describes how the depression of being an exile changes a man.
Total: 24.44 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF571E0571280 |