Children laughed at school when our mum collected us
Sons of Goldenbridge child abuse campaigner Christine Buckley recall the widespread racism of Ireland in 1980s
GROWING up in Ireland in the 1980s as a mixed heritage child, Darragh Buckley remembers children sniggering at the school gates when his mother arrived to collect him.
Twenty-five years ago, his mother’s visceral account of the abject cruelty she endured growing up in the Goldenbridge orphanage in Dublin was seared into the nation’s consciousness in the landmark documentary, Dear Daughter.
Christine Buckley’s harrowing description of beatings, forced labour and babies being strapped to potties for hours opened the floodgates to the exposure of decades of abuse in children’s homes.
A generation on, the sons of the late campaigner, Darragh and Conor Buckley, are talking about the bigotry they experienced as mixed heritage children in the RTÉ Player project, The Talk.
The project, which features eight young black Irish contributors discussing their experience of racism and the representation of black people in Ireland, will coincide with the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death in the US.
Darragh and Conor talk to each
‘You just don’t want to feel that exposed’
other with humanity, and occasional humour, about their shared experience of being mixed heritage children. The racism began in primary school.
Darragh recalls: ‘I remember in primary school it becoming relatively regular that people would call us stupid names around the n-word or golliwog or poo-face or that type of stuff. It would have happened a couple of times a month. Enough for you to know you’re different and you’re not like other people.’
It was clear to both brothers the abuse was triggered when they were with their mother, the daughter of a married Irish woman and a Nigerian medical student.
‘When mum would pick us up from school, I remember them sniggering and stuff like that at her,’ said Darragh. ‘If dad picked you up, he looked white and looked like everybody else, you wouldn’t have to be paranoid about it.
‘If mum picked you up, you would be paranoid about it. The kids are sniggering, and they might think of a new name tomorrow,’ he said. ‘You just don’t want to feel that exposed. You want to fit in.’
Conor recalls a painful memory of playing football as a child.
‘I was about under-11s, under-12s and this guy I was playing in midfield with, he kept saying the n-word and he spat at me.’
In recent times, while watching a rugby match in a pub with friends he had a similar experience.
‘I was talking to this guy about the game and leaving the pub he went, “alright I’ll see you later, n-word” and he kind of tapped me on the shoulder.’
Conor was shocked as he ‘seemed like a nice fella’ and they had been having a cordial conversation. ‘I was stunned, because you do get into that stunned – especially when you hear that particular word.’
Darragh pinpoints the arrival of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air on the television during one summer school break as a turning point.
‘It was hugely popular. Off the back of that, In Living Color and a few of these shows landed, maybe stuff that Eddie Murphy was doing, there was a lot of influence from the States coming over and it was putting black people in a much better light.’
Conor recalls: ‘Before, you probably saw black people on a Trócaire box.’
Darragh remembers returning to school the September after Will Smith’s hit series was shown here.
‘I starting the next season of school and automatically my confidence was sky-high over watching this stuff,’ he recalls.
‘I had 10 new friends in the first few weeks that I didn’t have the year before because this was also filtering into their homes and it was popularising black comedians and black actors. It completely changed my life in that I was proud now to have curly hair, Afro hair.
‘I went from six months previously wanting to do an almost Michael Jackson job and dye my skin, and ashamed of where I come from and my heritage, to going, I am going to embrace it now.’ n The Talk airs on the RTÉ Player on May 25
‘Automatically, my confidence was sky-high’