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Finally Safe at Home Again

By
APRIL DREW,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 1:31 AM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:04 PM

 

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A compilation of stories by 36 Irish immigrants who returned to Ireland after decades of living in another country was launched in Ireland by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Martin earlier this month.

The book, called "Coming Home," details in their own words the tales of emigrants who were forced to leave Ireland in the fifties and sixties either as children or teenagers to start new lives in the U.S., Britain, Europe, Africa and Australia. They have now returned to spend their later years in Ireland with the help of the Irish government supported Safe-Home Program.

The program is a voluntary organization, established by former Mayo politician Dr. Jerry Cowley, which provides valuable assistance to elderly emigrants who want to return to Ireland. It has been supported by the Irish government with grants of €1.1 million.

Last week Frances Browner, who compiled the stories for the Safe-Home Program, was in New York promoting the 399-page book. This is Browner's second compilation.

While living in New York and working at the Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers, Browner was responsible for "While Mem'ry Brings Us Back Again," a 295-page memoir about Irish emigrants' journeys from Ireland to the U.S. and how they settled into the American way of life.

Upon returning to Ireland in December 2006, Browner was seeking a second similar project. When the executive director of the Safe-Home program, Mairin Higgins, approached her to record the tales of Irish emigrant trips back to Ireland she agreed.

"This was another beautiful project," said Browner during an interview with the Irish Voice last week.

Similar to her first book, Browner interviewed 36 Irish immigrants who had all left Ireland decades ago for one reason or another, but mainly financial, and returned to Ireland within the past few years through the program.

Browner interviewed people who have lived on all continents, including some in Australia, more in the United States, and one in Zimbabwe, but the majority lived in England.

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