"The Forgotten Generation" How an English-born woman came to reconnect with her Irish Roots - EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin

Irish roots raised in England – and the return to Ireland

Abigail O’Reilly may have an obviously Irish surname, but she was actually born and raised in England. It wasn’t until her secondary degree in Trinity that she moved to Dublin, and was able to reconnect with her Irish ancestry, and her Irish grandfather.

This story was submitted by Abigail O’Reilly as part of the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum’s temporary exhibition On The Move: 100 Years of the Irish Passport

abigail o reily at polling station with irish passport

My grandparents Bill and Jean both came from Dublin, Cabra and Fairview respectively, before settling in England. They were part of the ‘forgotten generation’, the 250,000 or so who emigrated in the 50s and 60s seeking work. They both moved to Brixton in London where they lived among new communities from all over the world who settled in Britain in the post-war period. They met through mutual friends in local Irish pubs and dance halls, and eventually ended up working together on London bus routes – he was the driver and she the conductor. My grandmother sadly passed away before I was born, and although I had gotten to know my grandfather, he never really spoke in depth about his time in Ireland.

“I moved to Dublin to pursue a secondary degree at Trinity College Dublin”

I knew only from snippets that my mother passed on to me that he had had a difficult upbringing. In September 2020, between COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions, I moved to Dublin to pursue a secondary degree at Trinity College Dublin and have been here ever since. In the 5 years since the move, my grandfather and I have forged a really special bond over our shared Irish connection, and he has started opening up to me about his childhood. Though his dementia has worsened over time, it seems to be some of his earliest memories of Ireland which have persisted – he’s shared how he and his friends used to cycle through Moore Street and chat with the traders, how he was second best in his class at Irish, the fact that he grew up on the same estate as Brendan Behan, and was a keen set dancer.

“I feel all the more connected to them for it.”

Ireland now seems to hold a much more romantic and nostalgic place in his mind. It’s coming up to one year now since I received my Irish passport, and I feel incredibly lucky and proud to have been able to return to a country which my grandparents were not able to remain in. I feel all the more connected to them for it. Here is a picture of my mother, grandfather and I taken shortly before the main picture: the first time I voted as an Irish citizen.