Filmmaker Cathal Ó Cuaig writes about Mary Lamb Waugh, subject of his film Viva Mary and how the 'unquenchable and contagious zest for life' she has inspired him to make a film about her.
I met Mary Lamb Waugh a number of years at Creative Connexions, an Irish Catalan culture festival in the beautiful seaside town of Sitges. A number of people in attendance knew I was an Irish speaker and excitedly suggested I meet Mary, as she also spoke Irish. This is something that often occurs abroad when amongst the Irish, we get giddy about the Irish language, especially if scrumptious local cava is flowing.
Bhuail mé le Mary Lamb Waugh don chéad uair roinnt blianta ó shin ag Creative Connexions, féile Éireannach Catalónach i mbaile cois cósta darbh ainm Sitges. Bhí a fhios ag roinnt daoine a bhí i láthair gur Gaeilgeoir a bhí ionam agus mhol siad go fonnmhar dom bualadh le Mary, mar bhí Gaeilge aici freisin darbh leo. Is rud é seo a tharlaíonn sách minic thar lear feictear dom agus sinn i measc Éireannaigh, go háirithe má bhíonn an fíon agus an cabha áitiúil á shlogadh siar.
I obliged and was introduced to Mary and at first thought it was a joke as she spoke with an eloquent English accent, her voice relaxed and mellifluous. However, once she was told I was also from Connemara, she immediately sat up and switched to the most passionate, vivid and fluid Gaeilge I had heard articulated in a long time.
When she explained she had emigrated to London in 1951 and only returned to Connemara on yearly holidays, I was astounded. How could someone leave home, live entirely in an English-speaking milieu in London for the best part of seventy years, and yet retain the same level of Irish as they day she left?
D'éiligh mé agus cuireadh in aithne do Mhary mé agus ar dtús shíl mé go raibh ceap magadh a dhéanamh dom mar gur labhair sí liom i mBéarla ghalánta le líofacht mhilisbhriathrach Shasanach. Dúradh liom go dtugtar Banríon Sitges uirthi go háitiúil agus nuair a chuala mé blas a Béarla, dúirt mé liom féin, is duine do uaisleacht Shasana í seo, agus siúráilte cinnte tá bob buailte ag mo chomhluadar orm. Ach ansin dúradh léi gur as Conamara mise freisin, d'éirigh sí láithreach, theanna anall níos gaire dom agus d'iompaigh ar an nGaeilge is bríomhaire, beoga agus paiteanta a chuala mé le fada an lá.
Nuair a mhínigh sí dom ansin go ndeachaigh sí ar imirce go Londain i 1951 agus nár fhill sí go Conamara ach ar laethanta saoire bliantúla, bhí ionadh an domhain mhóir orm. Cén chaoi a bhféadfadh duine an baile a fhágáil, maireachtáil go hiomlán i saol an Bhéarla i Sasana ar feadh an chuid is fearr de sheachtó bliain, agus an líofacht céanna Gaeilge a choinneáil a bhí aici an lá a d’fhág sí?
While I was dumbstruck, she turned to her left and started chatting to a friend in Spanish. I asked her where did she learn Spanish, and she said here, in Sitges. When I lived on my little yacht in the harbour after sailing from England. She then took off to the dance-floor as I watched in awe. Who was the 90 year old powerhouse? I had to know more, and I began researching her story.
Ní raibh deis agam dul mórán níos faide len ár gcomhrá mar go dtáinig cara eile léi isteach sa gcomhluadar agus d'iompaigh Mary ar an Spáinnis. Nuair a fuair mé an seans, d'fhiafraigh mé di cár fhoghlaim sí an Spáinnis, agus dúirt sí "anseo, i Sitges, nuair a bhí mé i mo chónaí ar mo bháidín thíos sa gcalafort". Amach léi ansin ar an urlár ag damhsa le na cairde. Céarbh í an bhean seo a bhain an chaint díom? Bean spleodrach, ghealgháireach a bhí 90 bliain d'aois agus a raibh níos mó fuinnimh aici ná bhí agam féin ag 19, ná bac le anois. Bhí fhios agam ag an bpointe sin go gcaithfinn a scéal a insint.
The more I questioned Mary, the more interesting her story became to me. Growing up in Connemara in the 1930s, she witnessed both great poverty and the subjugation of women. Her father, the renowned painter Charles Lamb, instilled his daughter with a deep love for art and the west of Ireland. A love Mary carried with her all her life.
D'fhás Mary aníos ar an mBóthar Buí ar an gCeathrú Rua sna 1930í, áit a bhfaca sí bochtanas mhór ar bhun maoine ar gach taobh, ach áit a raibh saibhreas ar go leor bealaigh eile. Spreag a hathair, an péintéir clúiteach Charles Lamb, agus a máthair, an tréidlia Katherine Hueffer, suim Mhary sa gceol, ealaín agus sa teanga Gaelach. Grá a d'iompair Máire léi ar feadh a saoil. Rinne sí an-chur síos dom ar a céad turas go Sasana ar an mbád beithíoch, gan inti fós ach scoláire óg, agus an lán súl a fuair sí ar shráideanna Londain. Ní raibh an cogadh i bhfad thart agus bhí Londain dorcha, gruama agus d'airigh sí gur bhreathnaigh an Sasanach síos ar an t-Éireannach.
She described to me what it was like emigrating to England at the end of the war; being an outsider in London and trying to have a professional career at a time when married women were expected to stay at home and raise the children. She dedicated her life to educating disabled children, something shunned upon professionally by her peers. Never one to take the mundane road, she spent decades sailing the Mediterranean both with her husband and later solo, as a pensioner.
I knew immediately I had to share her story. Mary is blessed with an unquenchable and contagious zest for life. Her story is kaleidoscope of fascinating subjects; feminism, emigration, art, education and sailing the high seas. All made flesh in the life of one remarkable woman.
An chuid ba shuimiúla do scéal Mhary dar liom, ná an athrú saoil atá feicthe aici le nócha bliain. Nuair a bhí Mary ina cailín óg, bhí mná ina bpríosúnaí ar shlí ag rialacha sóisialta-culturtha na linne. Mar a mhínigh Mary dom, bhí saol an-chrua ag na mná agus ansin thagadh na fir céile abhaile ón dteach ósta agus an chéad rud eile bhí páiste eile aici féin. Muna raibh oideachas ar bhean óg, ní raibh seans dar laghad aici briseadh amach ón saol seo. Ní aon iontas mar sin, nuair a fuair mná óga an seans, gur ar an mbád bán a thug siad a n-aghaidh. Idir 1926 agus 1971, chuaigh breis agus 80,000 bean ar imirce go dtí an Bhreatain ó dheisceart na hÉireann, a dtromlach singil agus faoi 25 bliain d'aois. Ba ag obair mar chailíní aimsire i dtithe mhóra Shasana a bhí go leor acu agus faraor, mar a d'inis Mary dom, chríochnaigh roinnt acu suas ag obair ar shráideanna Soho.
I wanted this documentary to reveal her myriad of roles; the dotting grandmother, the inspirational mother, the caring friend, the coquettish singleton, the sailor on the high seas, the consummate musician, the proud emigrant and the hilarious seanchaí.
Bhí an t-ádh ar Mhary go bhfuair sise oideachas den scoth ar an gCeathrú Rua agus ansin i gColáiste Loretto i mBaile Átha Cliath, rud a thug an seans di tabhairt faoi traenáil mar mhúinteoir Montessori. Bhí uirthi dul go Sasana chun a traenáil a chríochnú agus is ansin a chur sí fúithi ag obair le gasúir le mí chumas. Níorbh é seo an bóthar éasca ach an oiread, mar nach raibh meas ar bith ar an obair seo agus facthas go bhféadfadh duine ar bith é a dhéanamh.
We filmed the documentary over a number of years, allowing Mary, in her own affable way, to bring us to the diverse locations that encompass her life's voyage. From the small west of Ireland village of An Cheathrú Rua, to the serene Spanish coastal town of Sitges, and from the heaving streets of London to the genteel English town of Worthing. The result is a series of remarkable, poignant and funny conversations in which she opens up about her life, passions and fears.
Above all, Mary's story is a portrait of a strong woman, and an equally poignant portrait of the changing place of women in Ireland. Her life-affirming attitude and sense of fun is a tonic for all and after hearing her story, I think you will say, I could be more like her. I should be more like her!
Taobh amuigh den stair shóisialta a insítear sa scannán, faigheann an lucht féachana an tseans aithne a chur ar Mhary í féin. Rinne muid an scannánaíocht thar roinnt blianta, rud a thug deis do Mary muid a thabhairt chuig na láithreacha éagsúla a bhí lárnach i turas a saoil. Ó bhaile beag ciúin i gConamara go shráideanna callánacha Londain agus anonn go dtí Meánmhuir na Spáinne. Is portráid atá anseo do bhean le spiorad dochloíte a bhfuil bua na scéalaíochta aicí go smior, agus tar éis duit a scéal a chloisteáil, sílim go ndéarfá, d’fhéadfainn a bheith níos cosúla léi. Ba chóir dom a bheith níos cosúla léi!
Viva Mary, Déardaoin, 12 October at 10.15pm on RTÉ ONE
