Bríd Ní Ghriallais Gughin (Guglich)

As: Baile Chruaich, Iorras, Co. Mhaigh Eo

Dáta Breithe: 1935

Áit Cónaithe: Ottabha, Ontáirio

Bríd Ní Ghriallais Gughin was born in 1935 in Baile Chruaich, Iorras, Co. Mhaigh Eo, Ireland. Raised amidst the rugged beauty of Mayo's countryside, she grew up immersed in the Irish language, surrounded by peatlands, rivers, and cliffs that now form part of a National Park. Despite the seclusion of her upbringing, nestled among the Nephin Mountains, Bríd was deeply connected to the place:

“I was born in an ‘áit iargúlta,’ as we say in the Irish language, an ‘out of the way spot.’ A place called Ballycroy, which is now a National Park. There wasn’t much traffic going through there, so we were rather isolated. You have to go around the Nephin Mountains to get out of it one way, or another. We had a lot of fun growing up. I still remember very fondly all the days of my youth.”(1)

Upon turning 18, and with few opportunities in Ireland, Bríd emigrated to England. She later described the heartbreak of leaving her home:

“Going off with the little bag, that was the story of the people in and around Ballycroy, Co. Mayo where I came from. Life was hard… we knew at a very early age that we’d have to be leaving and taking the bag. But there was nothing in Ireland for us. That I had to give up my homeland was maybe the saddest thing in my lifetime.”(2)

Following several years working as a district midwife in London she moved onwards to Canada. Despite her deep longing to return to Ireland, the scarcity of job opportunities compelled her to seek a new life abroad. Bríd arrived in Canada on the 11th of April, 1961, taking up a position with the General Hospital in Montréal. Making her new home in Canada, Bríd reconnected with the language of her childhood. In the years since, Bríd has been dedicated to preserving and promoting the Irish language in Canada, and has been a beloved teacher of Irish. Recognized for her efforts, she was honored as Uachtarán of Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada in 2016.

• Footnotes

  1. Fitzgibbon 183:

  2. in Sheelagh Conway’s The faraway hills are green : voices of Irish women in Canada 123-124