Coming to Canada

The 1970's in Ireland saw bank and industrial strikes. This created a bad economy. It lasted through the 1980's and on into 1995. Then the Celtic Tiger boom happened, due to better government and some help from the European Economic Market.

Like many Irish people in the 1970's my husband and I decided to emigrate to Canada to find a better life. Landing at Pearson airport in Toronto in July 1974 was to us the equivalent to landing on another planet. We were not used to seeing such a diverse group of people. The food and the accents were so novel. Born in the capitol city, Dublin, we were no country bumpkins. We had that superior veneer all big city people have. It made us smug in the false knowledge that we were worldly, sophisticated, open minded individuals. We had entered a new environment of culture shock. At that time Dublin was full of mostly white Catholics. If someone's English relative came to visit a community, their accent, mannerisms and religion were a wonder to see and hear about. Stepping outside to get into my uncles car we were hit with a wall of suffocating heat. That was a summer of temperatures in the high 80's and 90's. In Ontario there is high humidity in the summer, and both heat and humidity stay pretty much the same at night.

Our native tongue may have been English but our accents and slang were not understood by Canadians. We spent many evenings practicing saying "thirty three and one third", as our pronunciation of it "tirty tree and one tird" was not understood at all. "I slept out" instead of "I slept in" as my excuse for being late for work was met with "where did you steep"? "What a strange culture,”I thought. Newfoundland natives sound just like Irish country folk. Whenever I heard one speak I immediately warmed up to them. "What county in Ireland do you come from? Have you been here long"? I would ask. They are, anyhow, descended from my ancestors who came over on the famine ships.

For the first few months we stayed with my uncle in Etobicoke which is part of greater Toronto. In Dublin in those days there were no big malls. One went to the city to shop for clothing and furniture. We hopped on the streetcar in Etobicoke and went downtown to Simpson's or the Bay for all our shopping. When we got our first car, a big old Chevy Biscayne, we went exploring. This is when we discovered the malls. Ontario Place which was a provincial government sponsored amusement park was a great place to be on the weekends. It was located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario. Besides the water park and water slide there were concerts and a cinesphere showing great movies on enormous screens. There was boat paddling and nature trails going from island to island. Niagara Falls, one of the Seven Great Wonders of the world was only about an hours drive from where we lived. We visited numerous times over the years. Visitors to our home needed to see this great wonder. The tremendous power of these falls never ceases to amaze people. The beautiful town and walks along the falls gives one an uplifted joyous feeling.

A big family sendoff for the two lovebirds in the centre going to Canada

The close family sendoff

We have never regretted coming to Canada in the almost 50 years that we have lived here. The country has been very good to us. Both our children, who were born here, have wonderful careers. We think however as we are nearing our seventies that we might, like the salmon, go back to where we were born, to live out our final years. This could be our second life. It's quite possible to have another 20 years left and maybe more.