Phil

Phil, Baby Philip and Tommy

A photo of Phil with her first baby, Philip, and her husband Tommy. It was taken in Wexford, in front of Pierce's Foundry, in 1961.

Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.

Phil, Baby Philip and Tommy
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.

Phil, Baby Philip and Tommy

A photo of Phil with her first baby, Philip, and her husband Tommy. It was taken in Wexford, in front of Pierce's Foundry, in 1961.

Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.

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Some of the women found out quickly that they did not wish to settle in London. Phil was certainly one of these. After two months in London, she decided to return home to Wexford.

Phil made the crossing to London in 1959 with her sisters Avril and Mariah. She got a job in a hotel, which paid £4 a week. Every week, she would send ten shillings to help support her family at home.

Here Phil remembers the circumstances that brought her back to Ireland:

'I only spent two months in London as my husband got a job back in Ireland. He was a printer in the Munster Express newspaper in Waterford city. I was very lucky to get back to Ireland, as I was frightened in London.''