LONDON LIVES: ‘Love of county goes deeper than country’

Seamus Enright

“The love of your county goes that little bit deeper, deeper even than your love of country. You know that your Irish, people will know that you’re Irish, but it’s something unique to be able to pinpoint it back to you own county,” PRO of the Cavan Association of London Tom Duffy tells The Anglo-Celt.
“It’s something that stays with you, it’s at the very root level of Irish people living over in London. They might say they’re Irish to someone who doesn’t know, but to any Irish person where you’re from is specific to what county and sometimes even town, village and townland,” he says with a laugh.
Established in 1952, the first and oldest of its kind - its first chairman and founder member being James Conway from Mullagh.
The association was developed as an anchoring point for young and often vulnerable emigrants arriving in the English capital.
Along with the London Irish Centre, founded in 1955 by Fr Tom McNamara from Cork, both offered much-needed advice to Irish immigrants arriving in the city at the height of emigration in the 1950s onwards.

Fateful
Today, while the needs demanded of the association have changed, its ethos, which is steeped in connecting local people living there, remains the same.
From Shercock, Tom himself went to London in 1965 following in the footsteps of his three brothers.
Landing in Ealing in West London and finding it hard to get work, he almost returned to Ireland, had it not been for one fateful bar he wandered into.
While “throwing a few darts”, the owner told Tom that a “good hand” was needed behind the counter “to keep things going” for a fortnight while he went on holidays.
Those two weeks turned into 20 years and saw Tom working with the company until he opened his own franchise of Duffy’s Pubs across the city.
Kick-started through to the tireless work of priests from the Kilmore Diocese, who served in London parishes, it sought to capitalise on linking together the growing pockets of Cavan people.

Jubilee year
Last year the association celebrated its diamond jubilee, and many of those same priests remain welcome guests at the organisation’s Christmas dinner held each year.
Tom says the association not only served to form friendships between people from the home county but afforded new arrivals the opportunity to connect with those already established.
“London is a tough place to live, its a great place when you’ve got people and you know a lot of people, but it can be a very lonely place if you don’t.
“The association always has been there as a way to help people. Even now I might get the odd phone call saying the likes of Fr Johnny Cusack - who worked over here for many years - gave them my number and asking if I might be able to help them out.
“Of course, you do, that’s just the way it is. Just because you’re in London doesn’t mean you forget, because home is home at the end of the day, and the people from home are the people who know.”

Social element
Current association Chairman Bernard ‘Ben’ Cahill agrees. A native of Maghera, he made the move to London in 1969, finally settling in Croydon. This year marked his first year as chairman.
While the phasing out of the dance halls and other regular meeting haunts marked a sea-change in how generations of the Irish in London interacted, Ben believes county and Irish associations will now play an important part in maintaining those same ties.
With 50 or so members, a major challenge facing the association is to appear relevant to the current generation of young people from Cavan going to work in the city.
Recent measures included a re-launched website - www.cavanlondon.org.uk - and the ongoing process of developing an association Facebook page.
“The social element back then was the dance halls, the pubs or what have you. Young people now don’t have the same need to go to these places. In the late sixties, seventies, people came from Ireland, a lot of them were unskilled and they went to these clubs as much to meet as to forge connections in the hope of getting work. That was the way it was. Today, most coming over now are skilled people, they come prepared to work in the jobs here.
“But the association is and can be that social thing, it’s about bringing people together. The association still has its place, its part to play in all of that. From the annual dinner dance to the bacon and cabbage evening, the charity walk and golf tournament, we have monthly meetings as well and our AGM.”

Fundraising
A big part of what the association does now is raising money for charities across the city. All the while, the association has had many visiting dignitaries over the years, who have attended various events and there has always been a strong appreciation of what the association does within the London Irish community.
Tom says: “It is a fantastic thing, that by socialising, that those of us who are fit and well can do that bit more and raise a bit of money while we’re at it for people a lot less fortunate. It’s a tremendous association for supporting charities and most years were able to give around €8,000, which is a lot of money these days.”
For further information about or how to join the Cavan Association London, visit www.cavanlondon.org.uk, write to the Cavan Association London, The London Irish Centre, 50-52 Camden Square, London NW1 9XB or visit the organisation’s Facebook page.