My name is Brighid McDonough, which is obviously very Irish. My dad’s grandparents came from County Galway, and my mom’s parents came from County Kerry. My grandmother, whom I call Nana, only went to school until the fourth grade and is barely literate. She began working in Ireland when she was nine as a servant, and only saw her family on Sundays at church. My Nana is eighty-eight, and she has not seen her siblings in over fifty years. My Nana speaks very little of Ireland, she lived in a one room house without a floor, and but she always mentions that she had to clean herself with cabbage leaves or sheep’s wool if it was a special occasion. She loves Christmas because she can receive gifts now, whereas when she was a girl she would only get an orange if it was a good year. My nana and her sisters shared one pair of shoes and one dress, and I am so lucky to have the opportunities I do since she came to the US. She came to the US on a boat when she turned eighteen, and met my grandfather in Boston. They lived in Dorchester and began a family in the early 1950’s. A month before my mother was born, they moved to West Roxbury. My mom was poor growing up, as she was one of seven, and she was never pushed into higher education, so she just barely finished high school.
My dad’s grandparents came from Ireland in the 1910’s, and began families in the 1920’s. My grandma’s family wa hit hard during the Great Depression, as her father could never hold a steady job or have valuable skills. Her father, Edward Stenson, was one of nine boys, but the Stenson name died with him. My grandfather and great grandfather were both police officers, so the Depression was easier for him. My dad’s parents met at a Forest Hills Marine Dance, and my grandfather asked to mary my grandmother that night. She promptly refused but they were married less than a year later. My grandpa was a marine in the Pacific, along with his brother. My dad always talks of how badly my grandfather’s feet stunk, as he had trench foot still decades after the war ended. I have never been to Ireland, but I would love to go and visit some of my family. My mom had to always have Christmas without any of her aunts, uncles or cousins, so I would love to give her a Christmas where she can see them.
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Brighid McDonoughComprehensive Chinese at Boston Latin School. Archives
December 2016
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