Contributed by Susan & Tara Griffin
Susan Griffin’s story begins in Tralee, County Kerry, where
her father grew up as one of six children on Jones Street.
Her mother was the third of ten siblings, born into a family
deeply rooted in both Irish and military traditions.
On Susan’s maternal side, the Boyces hailed from
County Limerick. Paddy Boyce, Susan’s maternal
grandfather, served in the army, and of his seven
sons, three would follow his path. One of those sons,
Jimmy Boyce, joined the Irish Army and took part
in the Siege of Jadotville during the Congo Crisis
in the 1960s. After his service, Jimmy returned to
Limerick to care for his disabled brother, Joseph.
Susan’s mother Elizabeth was born in an Army barracks
in Cork and, like many of her siblings, left Ireland in
the 1950s, seeking new opportunities in England.
Susan’s mother and father first moved to Bristol with her
sister before settling in London, where she met Susan’s
father at the Galtymore Dance Hall. Susan’s father
worked as a painter and decorator, while her mother,
before having children, worked as a cleaner and had a
brief stint in a mental hospital—a distressing experience
that she quickly left behind. Her mother loved life in
London and had no desire to return to Ireland. Of her
nine siblings, all of them followed her to England, with
eight settling in West London. Susan’s mother and father
didn’t court for long, marrying in 1955. Susan, the eldest
of their four children, was born in 1959. The children
were brought up as Catholics, although they weren’t
particularly devout. The family only attended church for
major events like Christmas, weddings, and funerals.
Susan’s childhood was filled with long summer holidays
to Limerick, where her grandmother Mary Ellen would
regale the family with vivid stories. Growing up, Susan felt
more Irish than British, but it wasn’t until her secondary
school years in the 1970s that she fully understood
what it meant to be part of the Irish community in
London. The IRA bombing campaign in London brought
negative attention at school, where her classmates
mockingly referred to her bag as a bomb, leading her
to stop bringing it altogether. However, as her father’s
work came primarily from within the London Irish
community, the family was mostly unaffected by antiirish
prejudice. However, Susan remembers her father
wishing them Merry Christmas in Irish, but that from
the 70s he stopped using Irish. The Griffin’s social life
revolved around Irish clubs, surrounded by music and
familiar faces. Her parents were not politically active
and disliked the rebel songs that were often played.
For Susan, those early years in London and the sense
of being Irish yet navigating her life in England, are
memories that remain rooted in her Irish heritage.
Susan’s daughter Tara went on to work at the London
Irish Centre in Camden, and persuing a PhD in Irish
Pub Culture in London following in this path.
Tara’s father’s family were Protestants, tracing their
roots to County Armagh where they had originally
converted to escape the prejudice they suffered there.
Though her father had grown up in the north of Ireland,
he considered himself more English than Irish, wearing
Union Jack shirts and rejecting an Irish identity.