Born in 1950

Ireland in 1950 was a quiet, deeply conservative country — the Church shaped everything from schooling to politics to what films could be shown in cinemas. Most people lived in rural areas, farming small holdings that had been in families for generations. The parish was the centre of social life, and the pub came a close second.

Emigration was a constant shadow — young people left for England and America in their thousands every year, sending money home and writing letters that kept families together across oceans.