Fenor 2010 – Growing and Changing

Mná na hÉireann

This is the name of an article by Mrs. Rita Byrne in the book Fenor 2010 – Growing and Changing. Eight women shared their experiences with Rita who recorded the conversations on an old-fashioned “steam tape cassette” and transcribed them for the book. Isn’t it what we all say we should do when we meet with the older generation and get them talking? But we don’t do it and the memories are lost for ever.

The experiences related by these women are both funny and tragic and may cause you to weep on both accounts. We have taken the liberty of including some extra material (mostly in dark blue type) which, we hope, will provide added interest. You can access the stories from the menu on the left.

[ Here, now, is Rita Byrne’s short introduction to the article: ]

“Mná na hÉireann”

by Rita Byrne

As remembered by the late Mary Long, Nora Crowley, Josie Drohan, Baby (Anna) Hynes, Mary B. and Peig Power, Kathleen Keniry and Josie Gough in taped conversations made in the 1980s. To their memory I dedicate this article. We will never see the likes of them again.

[ Rita ended the article with the following: ]

“It was my privilege during the 1980s and 90s to talk with the senior citizens of the community and to call them my friends. Sadly, they are all now gone to their reward in heaven. While the men told me their marvellous stories of football matches and farming and the spirit world, the ladies talked about their day-to-day lives and the hardships and happy and sad times of their youth.

They were ordinary people with extraordinary faith. By today’s standard their lives were hard and their work load horrendous, but what they had they shared willingly and they thought about others before they thought about themselves. In a society where families of eight, nine, and ten were the norm, there was little time for themselves, yet they were concerned for elderly neighbours, the sick, and the travelling people.

Nádúr, good nature, or being a good neighbour was always on their lips. The strength of women and their strong religious faith helped them to survive. Their belief in the after-life helped them in their understanding of the circle of life. Their relationship with God sustained them. This relationship was a very personal one. God was with them in everything they did and the name of God was never far from their lips.