Swans in the park
Mariah's daughter Jennifer, Berney, Mariah's husband Paddy, Mariah and Jean walking in Hyde Park, 1970s.
Swans in the park
Swans in the park
Mariah's daughter Jennifer, Berney, Mariah's husband Paddy, Mariah and Jean walking in Hyde Park, 1970s.
Mariah emigrated to London at seventeen. Her eldest sister, Jean, got her a job in London. All of her sisters have a lot of respect for Jean, because she paved the way for them to join her abroad.
Mariah loved living in London. On their days off from work, she and her sisters would explore some of the city's famous parks, such as the Regent's Park and Hyde Park. She also went shopping on Oxford Street and dancing in the Hammersmith Palais.
When she lived in the East End of London, she would go to the market and spend an hour or so searching for bargains. Mariah loved London because there was always so much do and see.
A Better Place to Play
Mariah married and had children while she was still living in London. She eventually decided to return to Wexford. Here she tells us why:
'My only reason for coming home to live was my two children only had the street to play on. The garden at the back of the house was very small and they missed out a lot on the fresh air and open spaces. I wanted them to have much the same childhood as I had.
We never regretted coming home because we bought a house with a big garden and there was a field at the back of us, where the girls spent many a happy hour picking primroses and crows feet in the spring, and blackberries in September. An echo of my own childhood in it.'