INTERVIEWS WITH HISTORIANS AND ACADEMICS
We are in the process of interviewing a number of historians and academics who are experts on aspects of Irish or Caribbean history or culture.
We are in the process of interviewing a number of historians and academics who are experts on aspects of Irish or Caribbean history or culture.
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Mary Caton Lingold
Mary Caton Lingold is a professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. Her research specialisation in terms of literature is in the colonial Americas: colonial travel writing about the Caribbean, the Atlantic world and descriptions of plantation slavery. In her interview she discussed African musical culture in the seventeenth century, how musical traditions were maintained and transformed by the experience of slavery in the Caribbean. |
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Laurent Dubois
Laurent Dubois is a professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, USA. He works on the history and culture of the Caribbean and is the author of "The Banjo: America's African instrument". In this interview excerpt Laurent talks about how Sir Hans Sloane documented the musical traditions of African slaves working in Jamaica in the 1680s. |
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Eamonn Galldubh
Eamonn is a musician (uilleann piper and flautist) and researcher from Dublin. He is carrying out research from Dundalk Institute of Technology and his research interest is on the history of Irish music. In his interview he described the musical history of Ireland from the Early Medieval period up to the Cromwellian conquest and settlement of Ireland. |
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Dr Nicole Jacoberger
Dr Jacoberger is an assistant professor of history at Camden County College in New Jersey, USA. She is an Atlantic World historian specialising in the seventeenth to nineteenth century Irish Caribbean. The similarities and differences between the lives of Irish indentured labourers and African slaves in the seventeenth century Caribbean were discussed in her interview. |
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Sir Howard Fergus
Sir Howard is a Montserratian author and historian. He is a former professor at the University of the West Indies and is interested in the history of the Caribbean and Montserrat. He is also an established poet. When we interviewed him he discussed how the Irish came to be in the Caribbean and settle in Montserrat. Sir Howard explains the significance of the St Patrick's Day celebrations that take place on the island and how African and Irish influences shaped its culture. |
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Dr Meleisa Ono-George
Dr Ono-George is an associate professor of Caribbean history based at the University of Warwick. She discussed the experience that enslaved Africans and indentured Irish labourers faced when they were transported to the Caribbean in the seventeenth century. |
INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE FROM SLOUGH
In 2018-2019 we interviewed the following people: Carmen Callaghan, Martin Conroy, Martin Coyne, William Hilton, Paddy and Philomena Farlan, Eustace Herbert, Tom King, Clinton Jack, Bill and Gwen Bramble. The contributors talked about a range of topics including leaving their homes in the Caribbean or Ireland to come to England, finding work and accomodation, what traditions they brought with them and how they contributed to the cultural life of Slough with music. Bill and Gwen are from Montserrat and talked about how the Caribbean island has strong Irish traditions.
In 2018-2019 we interviewed the following people: Carmen Callaghan, Martin Conroy, Martin Coyne, William Hilton, Paddy and Philomena Farlan, Eustace Herbert, Tom King, Clinton Jack, Bill and Gwen Bramble. The contributors talked about a range of topics including leaving their homes in the Caribbean or Ireland to come to England, finding work and accomodation, what traditions they brought with them and how they contributed to the cultural life of Slough with music. Bill and Gwen are from Montserrat and talked about how the Caribbean island has strong Irish traditions.
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Carmen Callaghan
Carmen was born in Anguilla and came to England on 22 June 1962, she planned to stay for five years and then return to the Caribbean. But soon after arriving she found a job on the Slough Trading Estate, she befriended other people from the West Indies and also made friends with British and Irish people, so Slough became her new home. As a singer in The Interpreters and The Tropical Steel Band she played concerts all over the UK and Europe. |
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Clinton Jack
Clinton is a musician who grew up on the island of St Vincent. He was part of a musicial family who played as the Jacks Brothers. He moved to England in 1962 in order to further his career. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also started one of the first steel bands in England. He played in the Four Ways jazz quartet. He was commended by Princess Anne for his work teaching music to offenders in prison. He also taught music to students at Henry Floyd Grammar School in Aylesbury. |
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Tom King
Tom has been the licensee and leaseholder of the Herschel Arms public house in Slough for the last 23 years. He came to the UK in 1966 and first started working behind the bar in Birmingham when he was 19 years old. His pub holds music nights featuring acts playing Irish traditional, middle of the road and jazz music and also spoken word poetry evenings. Tom is also proud of the work he and his pub do for the local community and charites. |
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Martin Conroy and Bartley Coyne
In this interview excerpt Martin and Bartley talk about how it was easy for people who arrived from Ireland to Slough to find their place, with a lively entertainment and social scene in place created by the Irish community. Playing music, sports and working on the Trading Estate allowed Martin and Bartley to mix with the other cultures that live in Slough. |
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Gwen and Bill Bramble
Gwen and Bill talk about the Irish influences on Montserrat and why they were forced to leave the island when the Soufrière Hills volcano erupted. Although the change was forced upon them they have accepted and embraced their new life in Slough. |
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Patrick and Philomena Farlan
A lack of work opportunities in Ireland in the 1950s lead Patrick and Philomena Farlan to leave for a new life in England. They soon felt at home, finding new jobs and mixing with the Irish community that was keen to continue its culture and traditions, such as Irish dancing and Gaelic sports. |
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Eustace Herbert
Eustace left the island of St Kitts to come to England in 1960. He played for Slough West Indian Cricket Club and played steel pan in The Tropical Steel Band. He has always valued connecting with people and later he set up a new steel band for the youth in Slough, coached elite athletes and was a parish councillor in Wexham. In his interview he also talked about his Irish heritage. |
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William Hylton
William Hylton came from Jamaica to Slough in 1963. Using his knowledge as an electrician he build one of the first sound systems in England and played at parties treating guests to the latest reggae, calypso, bluebeat and ska tunes. One of his proudest moments was when his son Mark raced as part of the British team that won a silver medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atalanta. |