Interview With Grandma

Q1: Which country did you immigrate from?

A: "Northern Ireland."

Q2: Why did you immigrate to America?

A: "Because my father was American and lived here. He was an American soldier. He and my Mother were married in England during the World War II.  My Mother did not want to immigrate to the USA.  She loved Ireland and refused to immigrate for many years”.

Q3: How old were you when you immigrated to America?

A: "I was almost 11."

Q4: How did you feel about immigrating to the America?

A: "Sad and upset. I didn't want to leave my family and friends."

Q5: Was immigration difficult for you?

A: "I would say yes. I had to get a whole bunch of shots, which was annoying. When I came to this country I spoke with an Irish accent; an Irish brogue. So people didn't always understand me, and the kids at school made fun of me."

Q6: What was the trip like?

A: "Well, first of all, we took a ship to Scotland, then we took an airplane from Scotland to New York, then we had to take another plane from New York to Minneapolis. Then airplane trip from Scotland to New York took a total of about 20 hours.  Planes were not as fast back them and people didn’t fly as often as they do now.  Altogether, the whole trip from Ireland to Minneapolis, Minnesota took about three or four days."

Q7: What was your first day in the U.S. like?

A: "I was very sad because I didn't like Minneapolis and I was far away from the oceans, and I felt so far away from my aunts and uncles and cousins. Minneapolis was not a very attractive place in those days."

Q8: How did Ireland look compared to Minneapolis?

A: "When we left Ireland it was springtime with all the flowers blooming and there are beautiful mountains and the sea. Minneapolis had no flowers because it was getting over winter, and there were no mountains and no ocean.  In Ireland, everything was green and beautiful, in Minneapolis everything was gray."

Q9: Did you have difficulty adjusting to American Society?

A: "Yes. For two years I had to sit and do the same school work I did two years before in school in Ireland because American schools were two years behind academically. There was a language barrier even though I spoke English because we used different words, sayings, and phrases.  For example instead of saying “Goodbye” we said “Cheerio”. In America a cheerio was a type of a breakfast cereal and also a name for an ice cream bar they called a “Cheerio Bar”. In Ireland we called the hood of a car “The Bonnet”   and the Trunk was called “The boot”.  In Ireland the bathroom is called the”Lavatory” and in Minneapolis the kids called it the “toilet”.  There were also some words that were spelled different in Ireland than here in America.

Q10: What were the kids in Ireland like compared to the ones in Americas.

A: They behaved very different than the kids in Ireland, for example they talked back to their teachers, and called adults by their first names.  We would never have done that in Ireland as it was considered very disrespectful.  I thought many of the kids here behaved very badly. We were much more formal in Ireland. The kids also dressed very different, they wore jeans. Boys in Ireland did not wear jeans they wore pants or trousers and the girls always wore dresses or skirts, never pants. In Ireland we liked American music, but we also liked traditional Irish music, so I missed the traditional music.  We also liked American Movies so that was no big difference. In American everyone had TV’s; in Ireland only a few people had television back in those days. So having TV was fun.  

   

Q11: Which do you prefer, America or Ireland?

A: "Ireland."

Q12: What do you prefer about Ireland?

A: "I love the ocean and I miss it, and just the beauty of the whole country. Even now, I would still love to live there."

Q13: If you could go back in time and prevent yourself from immigrating, would you?

A: "Yes. I like America because I've gotten used to it, but my heart is still in Ireland."