At the start of the spring gardening season I decided to leave a bed that I had cleared unplanted to see what would grow there of its own accord. I expected standard weeds like dandelions, and did get a few of those, but more recently I have a considerable number of Ox-eye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare). The flowers look very like those of regular daisies (of which I also have a few on the front lawn) but the plants are much bigger: I estimate they’re about 80cm tall. Anyway, I find the white and yellow very striking against the green foliage behind so I’m very happy to see these wild flowers thriving.
These must have blown in as seeds, along with the numerous other wild flowers I have in the garden. That reminds me that the term “blow-in” is used colloquially in Ireland to denote someone who has just moved into a town or village where they have no deep familial roots. I’ve been called a “blow-in” many times, not always in a friendly way.
This reminds me of an article I saw in the Irish Times soon after arriving here about British immigrants in Ireland. Being one such myself I find a lot of it rings true. You can read the article here (I don’t think it’s behind a paywall). I think it’s well worth a look.
I found quite a few things in it resonate quite strongly with my experiences since I arrived here a couple of years ago. Top of these was the realization of just how ignorant I was about Irish history, thanks to the almost total neglect of this topic in British schools. Lack of education inevitably leads to lack of understanding and more often than not leads to prejudice and one finds a lot of that in the attitude of British people, even senior figures (many of them “educated” at Oxford) who are supposed to know better.
I was also struck by the “Not Really Irish” tag, which I think about rather a lot. It’s not really just a question of whether or not you have Irish citizenship or an Irish passport, it’s about the extent to which you belong. I spent over fifty years living in England and Wales so I’m missing a huge amount of cultural background pertaining to Ireland. I won’t ever be able to catch up all that so I don’t suppose I’ll ever feel `really Irish’. Of course people speak English here, but I’m very conscious that I have a funny accent. I suppose that means I’ll always feel like a stranger in Ireland. If there is predominant attitude towards the British over here, however, in my experience it is one of sympathy rather than hostility.
Anyway, since I am a metaphorical blow-in I suppose it’s only fair that I have so many literal ones in my garden!
In the Dark 