Irish Community Services: Looking after the London-Irish

When she heard that little children in London, where she lived, were being bullied and called “bombers,” “murderers” and “thick Paddies”, Eileen Taylor felt she had to do something about it. There had been a significant increase in anti-Irish sentiment following the IRA bombing campaign of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in her home borough of Greenwich, which had an army base.

So Taylor got involved in organising a one-day conference called Irish in Greenwich, which led to the formation of a non-political, non-sectarian organisation to defend the rights of members of the Irish community. That group, which has since gone from strength to strength, was later renamed Irish Community Services and is a registered charity providing a range of support and welfare services to Irish people in south London.

Taylor, who has now retired from her most recent position as family carers’ manager with Irish Community Services, told Irish Times Abroad about her own journey to London, and how the service came into being.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in Dublin in 1949 with a father from Cavan and mother from Dublin. I was the last of five children, having three brothers and a sister. In 1916 my father remembered hearing the Sherwood Foresters march past his boarding school where he was in the sick bay. He was on active service during the Civil War on the anti-Treaty side and had his leg amputated after he was shot. He went on to qualify as a medical practitioner. On her way back from school my mother would watch Countess Markievicz drilling her troops in St Stephen’s Green. During the Civil War, when she was about 16 years old, she was imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol for a short time and complained to the governor about the poor conditions and dreadful food.

What was life like for you in Ireland?

Our home was welcoming with lots of relations and friends visiting. We were taught a love of our country: its culture, language, music, poetry, dance, drama and prose. We were all musical, learnt the piano and sang. My eldest brother Ciarán was active in the ballad scene. He met Ronnie Drew, Barney McKenna and Luke Kelly and formed The Dubliners; the rest is history. Brian joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and later Máire went off to England to study ballet. Rónán and I were still at school then.

What took you to England?

I had a good job but had friends in London so off I went. In those days jobs were easy to find. I met my future husband and we settled in southeast London. I joined a Women’s Aid group and, after a lot of hard work, we set up a refuge in the early 1970s. Two of the women who were social workers are still great friends.

How did you get involved in community work?

I was not working outside my home as I had two children by then, so I became the temporary refuge worker. This experience got me thinking about a career. I went to college, trained in community, youth and social work and got a job as a community worker in Charlton.

Did you know many Irish people in London?

Unlike a lot of our community I did not have many Irish friends. I was aware politically of what was happening in the six counties and of the Woolwich bombings. The Charlton project was for local people and we were involved with them in groups, campaigns and we also gave advice and information.

What made you think of starting a group for Irish people?

My colleague drew my attention to the fact that some of the Irish parents were in trouble with their schools for keeping their children at home. They told us the little children were being bullied and called “bombers,” “murderers” and “thick Paddies”. We called a meeting and a lot of information was shared about the anti-Irish feeling in the area.

Woolwich was a garrison town; the local army hospital had a special unit for soldiers injured on tour of duty in Ireland. With the support of my management committee we set up an Irish group and met on a regular basis. I soon realised that people outside our area were attending the meetings and that we needed a Greenwich borough-wide group with its own funding.

How did you get funding?

With the assistance of the borough community workers we made contact with Ken Livingstone's greater London council (GLC). Financial assistance was offered and we hosted a one-day conference for our community called The Irish in Greenwich – the Way Forward. The aim was to initiate an organisation to defend the citizens' rights of members of the Irish community. The day was a big success in terms of the number of attendees, however a lot of them were from north London.

It became clear we were at a crossroads as some of the group wanted to have a campaigning group with a political agenda but the local people wanted a group for all Irish people from the 32 counties living or working in the borough. This is exactly what I thought was needed too so the group split.

We worked on a funding application and I spoke at a Greenwich council meeting on this and, despite many questions, we were granted five years’ funding. The Irish in Greenwich organisation was set up and we appointed two excellent workers who had a brief of promoting Irish culture, working in schools to raise a positive image of Irish people and giving advice and information to our community. This was 1984-5.

You left the organisation for a while, when did you return?

In 2013 I applied for a job in what was still Irish in Greenwich. I worked initially as an advice worker and then as family carers’ manager. This was a new post so I had a wide brief. I started a family carers’ group, which was a time for them to raise and discuss issues as well as hopefully enjoy some of my home baking.

My experience as a reminiscence worker – working with those affected by dementia and memory loss – was invaluable when it came to launching the reminiscence group for clients with dementia and their carers. The volunteers who worked with me were wonderful. I loved the sessions especially seeing how people who had been quiet or not speaking being able to respond and enjoy themselves. Singing and reciting was encouraged. The Irish in Britain contacted and we were involved in the wonderful Cuimhne project, a national campaign to address the needs of all Irish living in Britain who experience any form of memory loss. The Irish Embassy invited our family carers to afternoon tea to celebrate Carers Week.

Of course all this would not have been possible without a strong supportive director, staff team, volunteers and board of trustees.

Are you still involved with Irish Community Services?

I am now retired but I am a signed-up volunteer. I have children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild. So my life is now filled with other interests and I am as busy as ever.