The Story of Deirdre Gallagher’s Immigration Experience

Deirdre (Molloy) Gallagher, my mother, was born on May 14, 1969 (45). She spent the first 21 years of her life living in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, Ireland with her family. She then decided to move to Chicago and has been living in there for the past 24 years. Her transition from one country to another was pretty smooth with maybe a few bumps on the way.

How was your childhood?
I had a very nice and normal childhood. I lived in a bigger house with my parents and my six siblings. I have four brothers, Tom, Michael, Sean and Noel, and two older sisters, Kathleen and Ina. My father had a stable job as a sale representative for a knitwear company. My mother had a stay at home job as a homemaker. Father travelled a lot which none of us loved, but he needed to.

Was schooling much different for you as a child opposed to your children?
Oh my God, yes. I had to walk two miles to school everyday with my brothers. Rain, or shine and let me tell you, it rains a lot in Ireland. On our way there I used to hold on to their school bags and they’d pull me up the hill. *laughs*. My school was very small. I had about ten kids in my class and I was the only girl. One other girl, Grace, came in second grade. High-school was a dramatic change for grade school. I attended an all girls, catholic school, run by nuns. Which we only spoke Gaelic at. I also took four years of German which made me fluent in that too. I studied at Letterkenny Institute of Technology. It was about four hours from home, so I only occasionally went back for weekends and then all holidays. The summer of 1988, my friend Brendan in Germany. We stayed in the Black Forest area. It was quite an experience. We were 19 and it was like a whole new world. The first night we got there we had to sleep on a bench, but I’m not going to get into that.

Did you have any traumatic experiences as a child?
When I was two years old I accidentally pulled a boiling pot of water down on myself off of the stove. I had severe burns all of my ankles and feet. My next-door neighbor, also my godfather, Michael O'Brien had to drive my mother and I to the hospital, because my mother hadn’t had her license yet. I ended up staying in the hospital for seven weeks. I had to have multiple skin-grafts. Back then your parents weren’t allowed to stay with you while you were in the hospital. My father was gone Monday-Thursday every week and Mother had to be home to tend to the other six, so I barely saw any of them. By the time I came back I didn’t remember any of my siblings.

What urged you to move to the United States?
I had just gotten done with school and didn’t have a job. At the time the Irish government was handing out alien cards, or you guys might call them green cards. The way the government was giving them out was based on a lotto system. You had to apply to the government for one and some people were lucky enough to get them. If you got one you had to go within a year of the time it was issued or you lost it. I received mine October of 1989 and moved to the United States February 7, 1990.

How was the trip over to the United States?
It was pretty easy. I flew with my brother, Michael, who was 24 at the time. I was 21. Our brother Tom had bought us the tickets. We flew on Delta Airlines. The ticket had costed around $400-$500. Tom already pretty much had his whole life together though, so it wasn’t too big of a deal for him to buy them for us.

Why did you choose Chicago?
My brother Tom had already been living here, so I knew I had a place to stay when I came. The main reason though was that I had a job lined up here already. In order to come over to the United States on this lotto system, we had to come with work. I came with a letter stating that I had a job. My cousin worked at a law firm called Workers Compensation Law Firm on Wacker Dr. The firm sponsored me to come over and guaranteed me the job otherwise I wouldn’t be here. The United States didn’t want young immigrants coming over and living off of welfare.

Was it hard to adjust to a big city like Chicago? Let alone just adjust to America in general?
So I moved here on a Wednesday and started work the following Monday. That Monday my brother put me on the train and told me what stop to get off at. I had never been on a rail-system like the “L” before. I was so nervous. That evening after work my cousin, Anne Gibbons (who now also lives in Park Ridge), road the train home with me to show me how to do it. The next day I was all on my own. I was so nervous Tuesday because I thought I hadn’t a clue on what I was doing. I ended up making it to and from work just fine though.
     There were also a lot of differences in a America compared to Ireland besides transportation. I remember the first time I went out to eat. Anne had taken Michael and I to the Alps on Irving Park Rd. I decided to order a BLT and when they came around to give it to me I could not get over the size of the sandwich. It was huge compared to everything in Ireland. I was in shock.
     Another hard adjustment was trying to change the way I spoke. Not many people could understand me. I spoke way too low and it didn’t help that I had a thick accent. They’d always be at me “what did ya say? I can’t hear you.” Americans speak very loud compared to irish. I tried very hard to raise my volume while speaking. 
     I also compared everything I saw here to how it was back at home. That probably wasn’t a good idea. I was extremely homesick in the beginning. I missed my parents, friends and the rest of my siblings. I missed being so used to everything.

What is one of the hardest parts about not living near all of your family?
Its hard not being able to physically be there with my brothers and sisters during big events in each others lives. Before I had kids it was much easier, I could fly back and forth whenever. Not all of my siblings were able to make it to my wedding. It was also very rough when traumatic events in the family occurred, such as death and injuries. When my brother Michael got into his accident and became a quadriplegic it wasn’t possible for his whole family to come and be here with him as he recovered. It was very hard on everyone back in Ireland. Same goes as to the recent passing of my nephew. I wish we all could’ve gone back and been at his wake if it were possible. Its saddens us all that we all can’t always be with each other.

Were you here long before you started to settle down?
Oh, no, not at all. I was engaged almost within the first year I was here. I met your father October 19, 1990, only eight months after I moved here. He was the first and last person I dated here. We were engaged by April 6, 1991. I moved in with him on 2929 N Moody. It was our first home together. We saved up for a wedding for a year and a half. We paid for our wedding all by ourselves. August 8, 1992 was the day we got married.

What about your kids?
We had our first daughter Sarah in 1994, we still lived on Moody. A year after she was born we decided to move to Lincoln Square. We bought a two-flat on Claremont Ave. The rest of you guys were born there. Maeve in 95’, you in 97’, Owen in 99’, Ronan in 2000, and Noel in 02’. After having Noel the house became way too crowded. Your father and I decided to build a house in Park Ridge. Your father practically built the house himself along with your uncles. They broke ground in June 2002 and we officially moved into the house on Rose Ave. September 19, 2003.

Are you happy with the decision of raising your kids in the U.S.?
Yes and no. They didn’t get to grow up with all of their cousins, but at least they get to grow up with my brother Tom’s eight children and their father’s side of the family. I’m sad that they don’t have all of the irish traditions that you have from growing up in Ireland. But I think America presents a lot more opportunities for them.