Avril

The Swans, 1953

This is a photo of the Swans siblings taken in 1953. Left to right are: Avril, Jean, Phil, Alec, Berney and Mariah Swan.

Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.

The Swans, 1953
Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.

The Swans, 1953

This is a photo of the Swans siblings taken in 1953. Left to right are: Avril, Jean, Phil, Alec, Berney and Mariah Swan.

Courtesy of Wexford County Council Public Library Service.

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Avril's story of her journey by boat to England is somewhat similar to that of Hannah.

Avril relates that she was very anxious about the journey:

'A year and a half after I had first left Wexford for work in Dublin, I was off to England. It was another scary journey. When I set foot on board the boat I looked everywhere for a priest or a nun. I knew if there were any of them on board we would reach our destination safely and we did. But I still prayed all the way.'

Do you get nervous on journeys to foreign countries? In the days when these women were emigrating, very few people had television and there was no Internet. Many people knew very little about life outside their own country or even town. It was much more of a step into the unknown to travel abroad, even to go across to England.

First Impressions

All the women who emigrated from Ireland were struck by different aspects of England when they arrived there. Hannah found the difference in accents the most striking change on her arrival, but Avril was taken by the lack of friendliness of most of the people in London.

Here she recalls her first impressions of London and her realisation that she had to grow up quickly in order to survive there:

'When we got off the train at Paddington, I was smiling at everyone like I did at home, but all I got back was blank looks. It was the same on the bus we got to take us to the huge hotel where we would work for many years to come.

That was when I realised I wasn't a kid anymore. I had to grow up and fast, otherwise I would be miserable and I didn't want to worry my sisters. I settled down to work but the loneliness was awful and to make matters worse I was given two flats to clean.'

Around eight million people lived in London compared to about 8,000 in Wexford. Why do you think people in some big cities might be less friendly than in small towns?