Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The interview with Terry Canavan is a reflective and deeply personal account of growing up in the Shannon in Enniscorthy in the 1940s and 1950s, and later emigrating to England in the 1960s.
Terry paints a vivid picture of life back then. When the war broke out, he was evacuated from England back to Ireland, and he and his cousins were reared by their grandmother while their parents continued working. His father, a native of the Shannon, joined the British Army, was sent to Asia, and was killed in Burma at the end of the Second World War.
Terry and his cousins were brought up by their grandmother and grandfather in a two-bedroom house in the Shannon. As he suffered from polio, he spent years of his childhood in hospital in Dublin. He is also a very fine singer. He sang me a few verses of two songs and told me how, while in hospital, he would listen to the radio and pick up songs that way.
He remembers going out with the May Bush and lighting May Day bonfires, the 1798 marches, the local picture houses, the games they played, the friends who died, the places they played, and where they hunted and fished.
At the age of 23, he emigrated. There was a complete lack of opportunity for working-class men and women at the time, so many took the boat to England — my own father included. Despite spending forty years there, Terry consciously held on to his accent.
The interview blends humour, hardship, memory, food, faith, work, and belonging — offering not just one man’s story, but a window into a generation of men from the Shannon. He tells it as it was, without bitterness. It was what it was, and there were so many others like him.
I’m glad I had the chance to meet him and allow him to tell his story, because otherwise the voices of ordinary men and women like Terry might never be recorded.
List of Contents
00:00 Introduction – Meeting Terry Canavan
01:45 Growing Up Along the Shannon
03:30 Family Background and Early Home Life
05:15 Life in Enniscorthy in the 1940s
07:00 Childhood Memories of the Town
08:40 School Days and Education
10:15 Rural Hinterland and Country Life
12:00 Hunting Rabbits as Boys
13:45 Learning to Work the Land
15:30 Reading the Time in the Fields
17:00 “Old Time” and “New Time” Explained
18:40 The Angelus at Midday
20:15 Faith in Everyday Rural Life
22:00 Poverty and Making Do
23:45 Food Memories from Childhood
25:30 Half a Pig’s Head at Christmas
27:15 Scarcity and Survival
29:00 Working-Class Life in Wexford
30:45 Lack of Opportunity at Home
32:30 Decision to Emigrate
34:00 Leaving Ireland in 1964
35:45 Arriving in England
37:30 First Impressions of Sheffield
39:00 Work in Abundance
40:45 Comparing England and Home
42:30 Wexford People in Sheffield
44:00 “Like Walking Down to the Shannon”
45:45 Community Abroad
47:15 Nearly Every Second House in England
49:00 Homesickness and Adjustment
50:45 Letters Home and Communication
52:30 Irish Identity in England
54:15 Holding on to the Accent
56:00 “I Didn’t Want to Lose It, Mick”
57:45 Forty Years in England
59:30 Returning Home to Enniscorthy
61:15 Changes in Ireland Over Time
63:00 The Meaning of Home
64:45 Family Bonds
66:30 Stories of Terry’s Brothers
68:15 Christmas Memories Revisited
70:00 Reflections on Youth
71:45 Hardship and Resilience
73:30 Faith and Community Then and Now
75:15 The Shannon as a Lifelong Anchor
77:00 What Emigration Meant for a Generation
78:45 Looking Back Without Regret
80:30 Advice for Younger Generations
82:15 What He’s Most Proud Of
84:00 Final Reflections
86:00 The Importance of Memory
88:00 Closing Thoughts
..........................................................
I recorded this conversation on the 2nd of March 2026 as part of a larger Oral History Project in the Templeshannon area of Enniscorthy. Although part of the wider town of Enniscorthy, The Shannon retains its own unique identity, accent, customs, and mannerisms. It also has a very strong community bond and deep-rooted connection to place, not found in other parts of the town. These interviews are being undertaken in a bid to celebrate these qualities and are supported by Wexford County Council through the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme.
..........................................................
The interview with Terry Canavan is a reflective and deeply personal account of growing up in the Shannon in Enniscorthy in the 1940s and 1950s, and later emigrating to England in the 1960s.
Terry paints a vivid picture of life back then. When the war broke out, he was evacuated from England back to Ireland, and he and his cousins were reared by their grandmother while their parents continued working. His father, a native of the Shannon, joined the British Army, was sent to Asia, and was killed in Burma at the end of the Second World War.
Terry and his cousins were brought up by their grandmother and grandfather in a two-bedroom house in the Shannon. As he suffered from polio, he spent years of his childhood in hospital in Dublin. He is also a very fine singer. He sang me a few verses of two songs and told me how, while in hospital, he would listen to the radio and pick up songs that way.
He remembers going out with the May Bush and lighting May Day bonfires, the 1798 marches, the local picture houses, the games they played, the friends who died, the places they played, and where they hunted and fished.
At the age of 23, he emigrated. There was a complete lack of opportunity for working-class men and women at the time, so many took the boat to England — my own father included. Despite spending forty years there, Terry consciously held on to his accent.
The interview blends humour, hardship, memory, food, faith, work, and belonging — offering not just one man’s story, but a window into a generation of men from the Shannon. He tells it as it was, without bitterness. It was what it was, and there were so many others like him.
I’m glad I had the chance to meet him and allow him to tell his story, because otherwise the voices of ordinary men and women like Terry might never be recorded.
List of Contents
00:00 Introduction – Meeting Terry Canavan
01:45 Growing Up Along the Shannon
03:30 Family Background and Early Home Life
05:15 Life in Enniscorthy in the 1940s
07:00 Childhood Memories of the Town
08:40 School Days and Education
10:15 Rural Hinterland and Country Life
12:00 Hunting Rabbits as Boys
13:45 Learning to Work the Land
15:30 Reading the Time in the Fields
17:00 “Old Time” and “New Time” Explained
18:40 The Angelus at Midday
20:15 Faith in Everyday Rural Life
22:00 Poverty and Making Do
23:45 Food Memories from Childhood
25:30 Half a Pig’s Head at Christmas
27:15 Scarcity and Survival
29:00 Working-Class Life in Wexford
30:45 Lack of Opportunity at Home
32:30 Decision to Emigrate
34:00 Leaving Ireland in 1964
35:45 Arriving in England
37:30 First Impressions of Sheffield
39:00 Work in Abundance
40:45 Comparing England and Home
42:30 Wexford People in Sheffield
44:00 “Like Walking Down to the Shannon”
45:45 Community Abroad
47:15 Nearly Every Second House in England
49:00 Homesickness and Adjustment
50:45 Letters Home and Communication
52:30 Irish Identity in England
54:15 Holding on to the Accent
56:00 “I Didn’t Want to Lose It, Mick”
57:45 Forty Years in England
59:30 Returning Home to Enniscorthy
61:15 Changes in Ireland Over Time
63:00 The Meaning of Home
64:45 Family Bonds
66:30 Stories of Terry’s Brothers
68:15 Christmas Memories Revisited
70:00 Reflections on Youth
71:45 Hardship and Resilience
73:30 Faith and Community Then and Now
75:15 The Shannon as a Lifelong Anchor
77:00 What Emigration Meant for a Generation
78:45 Looking Back Without Regret
80:30 Advice for Younger Generations
82:15 What He’s Most Proud Of
84:00 Final Reflections
86:00 The Importance of Memory
88:00 Closing Thoughts
..........................................................
I recorded this conversation on the 2nd of March 2026 as part of a larger Oral History Project in the Templeshannon area of Enniscorthy. Although part of the wider town of Enniscorthy, The Shannon retains its own unique identity, accent, customs, and mannerisms. It also has a very strong community bond and deep-rooted connection to place, not found in other parts of the town. These interviews are being undertaken in a bid to celebrate these qualities and are supported by Wexford County Council through the Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme.
..........................................................
