Berney, Mariah and Parents in Dublin
A photo taken in Dublin in 1959. Left to right are: Berney, Mariah, Mr Philip Swan and Mrs Margaret Swan. Mariah left for London later that year. Berney followed with her parents two years later.
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.Berney, Mariah and Parents in Dublin
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.
Berney, Mariah and Parents in Dublin
A photo taken in Dublin in 1959. Left to right are: Berney, Mariah, Mr Philip Swan and Mrs Margaret Swan. Mariah left for London later that year. Berney followed with her parents two years later.
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.In 1961, Berney's father and mother decided to take her to London. She was only thirteen years old. She stayed in London for thirteen years and had lots of interesting experiences in that time. This photo was taken in Dublin in 1959: later that year Mariah would go to London. Two years later, Berney would follow with her parents.
Here Berney describes her first impressions of the house in which she lived in London:
'The house looked lovely from the outside, but inside I was disappointed to see it was old and worn. Our first night was a nightmare. None of us could sleep for the racket of the mice. They sounded as if they had hobnailed boots on. After a week or two Mam had mousetraps everywhere and the flat was looking lovely.'
Berney went to work very young, because she did not like the idea of going to school in London. Here she describes her experiences:
'Dad got a job as a caretaker and my parents decided it was time I went back to school. I nearly died thinking of going into a classroom full of English girls, I could see them laughing at my Irish accent. I threatened to run away if they put me in school and I really meant it.
One of my sisters had a job in a laundry so she got me work there. The laundry was in Holburn and the job was live-in. My room was at the end of a long narrow corridor, at each end of it there was a shelf with a gas ring. Mariah, my sister, told me that all girls cooked on them, as the canteen food was horrible. Sometimes you had to wait hours to cook. The room was also long and narrow and it contained only a bed, sink, wardrobe and, under the window, a little radiator on which I dried my personal things.'
New Experiences
Mariah, Friend Helen and Berney
A photo of Mariah, friend Helen and Berney at Whitehall Court, their workplace at the time.
Mariah, Friend Helen and Berney
Mariah, Friend Helen and Berney
A photo of Mariah, friend Helen and Berney at Whitehall Court, their workplace at the time.
When Berney left the laundry, she got a job working for Lord and Lady Enniskillen. She remembers that their flat was very nice but it looked like a shop: 'Everything was covered in plastic, their shoes, gloves and hand bags, the furniture, even the curtains. I would not live in it for a pension!'
Berney in her Flat, 1970s
This is a photo of Berney in her flat in the 1970s.
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.Berney in her Flat, 1970s
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.
Berney in her Flat, 1970s
This is a photo of Berney in her flat in the 1970s.
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.Berney loved to go dancing every Saturday night. When she eventually returned to Wexford after a thirteen-year stay abroad, she compared the dance halls in Wexford to those in London. Some of the dance halls in Wexford were like big sheds.
Berney enjoyed her experiences in London, but she was excited to return to Wexford, where she felt a sense of belonging.