This is my mother’s diary of her first kisses from the summer of 1951

“This is my mother’s diary of her first kisses from the summer of 1951 when she was 14-years-old. She grew up in England but she used to come back every summer to visit her relatives in Roscommon and Leitrim. She loved coming back and she always talked about how much she wanted to move back… One day, I was sent to Dublin to do some research for the University of Hertfordshire and I spent a good few weeks here. I had so much fun, I made so many new friends and I loved and laughed…. suddenly I understood what she was talking about… In London, I was just after a breakup and I was miserable and lonely. So, I thought maybe I could actually do what my mother had only dreamed of. I moved back to Ireland 23 years ago… I wonder what she would say if she knew what impact her summer of ’51 left on her daughter…”

This interview was taken as part of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum’s Story Collecting Weekend. Find out more https://epicchq.com