There is a seed that has been planted inside every Irish person, that you are not even aware of, until the moment you leave Ireland’s shores and it begins to grow.
A hybrid flower, as unique as each soul where it takes root, but always made up of the same ingredients: love, courage and a fierce pride.
Without warning, it suddenly becomes very important to you that this flower stands strong, independent and visible for all abroad to see.
I moved to London three years ago and so a lot changed around me, but something changed within me too. I dived into this multicultural melting pot head first, and embraced the millions of diverse personalities, ethnicities, races and religions I was surrounded by. I enjoyed the anonymity, but it wasn’t long before it overwhelmed me and I found myself clinging on to my identity.
I had always taken my Irishness for granted but suddenly it became one of the most important aspects of who I am in this city.
Being Irish abroad is excellent.
The clichés that surround our culture make it easy. We are great craic, we chat to anyone, we play hard, we party harder, we love potatoes, we’re harmless and sure all that stuff that happened years ago… sure it is all water under the bridge now isn’t it?
It's only a matter of time before you reach "The Irish Question" in a conversation on a night out with your mates. It's never comfortable, but they just don't "get" why you feel a shiver up your spine as your bus passes that statue of Oliver Cromwell, and they never will.
I work in a West End show, and when not onstage, my nose has been stuck in a book of Mrs Kathleen Clarke’s memoirs in the wings for the past year. I have been creating a one-woman show based on her experience of Easter Week, and I’m taking a week off work to stage my own production of it. I want to. It’s important. She shouldn’t be forgotten.
In conversation, castmates have asked what I am working on. It’s an extremely difficult question to answer. I’ve tried.
I’ve tried to tell them who she is, what she achieved, who she was married to, why it is important, and how it is the 100 year anniversary in 2016.
The blank looks I received have said it all. The more I talk, the more I realise - they know nothing.
It isn’t their fault. No one has told them, anything.
Until now.
The 2016 celebration is shouting out clearly and loudly - This Matters!
This is important and it's ok to be proud of it. We always knew it, but for the first time people around the world do too. It's giving us a platform, it's giving me and Kathleen Clarke a voice again. It is recognising, it is celebrating and it is feeding that flower inside my soul which grows stronger and holds its head higher, every day.
What 1916 means to you: To share your account of no more than 500 words email it to my1916@irishtimes.com, by midnight on Sunday January 31st.
The theme: Reflect on what the events of 1916 mean to you as an Irish person living today. Do you applaud or deplore the rebels' actions? Does today's Ireland conform to the vision of 100 years ago? Do centenary celebrations stir emotions - of nostalgia, or anger - in you?
The prize: Some of the accounts will be published, and the best one will win a prize from The Irish Times and Ireland 2016: €1,000 and an opportunity to tour the GPO Witness History Exhibition.
The details: Please send your account in the body of the email, not as a Word attachment. Include a phone number and address in case we need to contact you in relation to your story. And state what country you are living in.
