The Whispering Wall story is inspired by the immigration story of Brendan and Catherine O’Grady, their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
In 1954, two brothers, Brendan and Kevin O’Grady left Ireland to find work with the British Railways. Their journey took them to England, and then onwards to Africa, as the British Railway system expanded from “Cape To Cairo”.
They landed in South Africa in 1955, and began their careers as firemen and drivers of locomotive engines.
In 1957, Brendan married Catherine in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and together they had 4 children. Their journey together had them moving to a different town or country every 2 years, and by the time they retired, they had lived in XX different towns, and XX different countries.
Their children were born in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and at the end of the Rhodesian War in 1980, Brendan, Catherine and their 2 youngest children moved to England for a few years, before returning to Africa, this time to settle in South Africa, to join their eldest daughter. Over the next 15 years, 5 out 6 grandchildren were born there, until once again, the family continued their migration story in 1997. Over the next 2 years, some went to Canada, some to Scotland, some to England, and some remained in South Africa. Brendan and Catherine, together with Brendan’s brother Kevin, returned to the Republic Of Ireland, and settled not 2 kilometres from where the O’Grady brothers were born, first in the town of Collooney, County Sligo, and finally in the village of Ballisodare, County Sligo.
The next time that the expanded family was all together again was in April of 2000, this time with the addition of the 6th and final Grandchild, when we all descended upon the village and squeezed into a tiny little house with 1 bathroom.
Fast forward to 2012. It was at this time that Brendan and Catherine’s only grandson (born in South Africa) who had originally moved with his parents to Canada, then relocated to Ireland, and settled in Ballisodare, also, where his 3 daughters were born.
In the years since 2000, the children and grandchildren have visited often, and it is through these visits, that the landscape for The Whispering Wall story began to unfold.
Brendan, Catherine, and Uncle Kevin moved into a little house on a hill in the village of Ballisodare, barely 4KM’s from where the O’Grady brothers were born. The little house on the hill backs onto a farmer’s field, separated by an ancient dry-stone wall. The farmer’s field butts up to the abandoned St Fechin’s cemetery and churchyard, where Brendan and Kevin’s Grandfather Owen O’Grady is buried.
On the other side of the cemetery, is the sea – Ballisodare Bay to be precise. And on the other side of the bay, lies the imposing tabletop mountain, Ben Bulben.
It is in the tangled garden of this little house on the hill, that everyone gathers when we find ourselves back for a visit. And the dry-stone wall is the main assembly point – simply because the little house can’t contain all the visiting relatives at once!
Each of us has their favourite feature of the view from the stone wall… for some, it’s talking to the cows in the farmer’s field. For others, it’s trying to spot Owen O’Grady’s gravestone in the cemetery, for others it’s watching the sea tides change in the bay, and of course – watching the clouds dance around old Ben Bulben mountain in the distance.
I imagined that these features symbolized the various parts of our family’s journey across the decades and continents. And slowly, the story of The Whispering Wall began to take shape in my mind.
The story seems to resonate with other families who have taken similar migrations across time and distance, and who are cherishing the discovery of their own Irish heritage. While the story is set specifically in the village of Ballisodare in County Sligo on the North-West coast of Ireland, it really could represent any little village on the island of Ireland, and indeed anywhere in the British Isles.
We invite you to visit our link XXXXX and share your own family’s journey and which place on planet earth represents your very own origin story.
