BETTY WILLIAMS AND GERARDINE WISDOM, GORTMORE, LOUGH DERG

On a beautiful early summer morning, I called to the home of Betty Williams and her daughter Gerardine. The interview began with the story of how the family first came to live on an island in Co Wexford, where they survived by growing grain for the malting mills, and carting it on the M71 barge. Because the land and the castellated house were leased to them, they eventually had to leave and they came to Gortmore, where they had to start afresh. Betty’s father Harry Rice was the main influence in establishing Inland Waterways Ireland. Gerardine told me that she was in boarding school at the early age of 8, but after the family moved to Gortmore, all her schooling took place in the home with her siblings under the supervision of a tutor. Betty spoke about her own family background, which was indeed most interesting. In the final part of the recording Gerardine showed me crafted items created from the rushes of Lough Derg, and she spoke in great detail about the creation of these items.