Interview: VMR-013

Summary

Rose, 80s, was raised on a farm in near Greencastle, Co. Tyrone. She left for England in 1939 to train as a nurse and worked in London right through the blitz and the war. In 1972, she decided to return to Derry where she worked at Altnagelvin Hospital. Due to the difficult times, however, she left again in 1974 to return to England. She retired to Gortin, Co. Tyrone in 1980.

Record Data

Gender
Female
Age
80s
Denomination
Roman Catholic
Birthplace
Tyrone
Childhood Residence
Tyrone
Current Residence
Tyrone
Date of Interview
2004-10-12

Destinations

  • England
  • London

Emigration Decades

  • 1930
  • 1970

Return Decades

  • 1970
  • 1980

Listen
1 Birth, Greencastle, Co. Tyrone, parents origins and marriage, family farm 5:38
2 Father’s occupation, farmer, handyman, old courthouse, Gortin village 2:56
3 Emigration in family, sister died of tuberculoses in America, Philadelphia, sister in England, niece in America 2:14
4 Aunts and uncles in New York and Philadelphia, letters from America, parcels 3:00
5 Uncle in Schenectady, New York, bringing uncle home 2:59
6 Family home, ghost townlands, lack of electricity, empty townlands, depopulation 3:58
7 Family farm, farm animals, depopulation 1:50
8 Childhood, country school, farm chores, turf, selling eggs, turkeys and pigs for income, salting pigs 4:08
9 Childhood, food, meat, father made coffins, furniture 4:23
10 Childhood, house dances, school dances, social life, music, accordion, fiddle, set dances, role of priest, waltz 3:22
11 Secondary education, Loreto Convent, Omagh 3:35
12 Closing of Tyrone County Hospital, no births in Tyrone 2:07
13 Career as midwife instructor, London and Kingston-on-Thames 1:30
14 Childhood family photograph, siblings, clothes from America 2:04
15 Emigration to England, nursing training, no opportunity at home, midwifery training course, University of Surrey 2:31
16 Emigration to London, departure, journey, boat to Heysham 3:44
17 Nurses’ accommodation, student nurse, probationer, Western Hospital Fulham, fever hospital 2:05
18 Nursing training, working conditions, duties, cleaning, lectures, hours of work 2:28
19 London, World War II, 2, war duties, fire watching, filling sandbags, telephone exchange, blackout, war casualties 4:06
20 Homesickness, writing letters, first visit home 1:26
21 London, settling 1:40
22 London, bombing raids 1:12
23 Transfer to Middlesex Hospital, midwifery training, army nursing as marriage market 3:01
24 Midwifery training, conditions 1:27
25 Battle of Britain, bombing raids 3:36
26 Transfer to Hackney Hospital, Ward Sister, then to teaching hospital at Walsall, Birmingham 1:52
27 Teacher training, Walsall 2:36
28 Move to Wimbledon for 5 years, then move to Derry, Altnagelvin Hospital, return, The Troubles 1:33
29 Return to Northern Ireland, Derry, The Troubles, retaining staff 1:15
30 Return, Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry, teaching midwifery, The Troubles 2:39
31 London, social life, theatre, holiday travel 2:16
32 England, attitudes towards Irish 0:47
33 Return to England, influence of The Troubles, Altnagelvin Hospital, highest birth rate in Europe 2:40
34 Altnagelvin Hospital, maternity ward, Traveller women 2:16
35 Return to England, London, Lewisham, visits home, journey, public transport in rural Tyrone 5:38
36 Return to London, Lewisham, then Barts Hospital, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, then Harrow, then retirement 1:18
37 Return to Northern Ireland, retirement, finding accommodation 1:40
38 Retirement in Ireland, decision, family pull 1:12
39 Return to Ireland, settling, social activities, organising Age Concern in Gortin, purchasing bus for elderly community 6:06
40 Gortin, population, children, schools 2:44
41 Return, evaluation, connection to home 3:01
42 Unsung Hero Award for Northern Ireland, Lakeland Trust, award ceremony 3:37