This week Miriam meets writer Hugo Hamilton and his wife Mary Rose Doorly.
Born in Dublin, Hugo Hamilton was reared by his German born mother and his Irish father.
Born in Chester in England, Mary Rose Doorly was reared by Irish parents who sent her to boarding school in Ireland and the family later emigrated to Canada.
Mary Rose believes that both of them have a sense of being displaced and this gives them a connection, something in common.
They met at Mary Rose’s twentieth birthday party. They married a couple of years later and have three children together.
Mary Rose explained the feeling of homesickness that pervaded her young life. From a very happy family, she had to say goodbye to them everytime she left for boarding school. And the sense of homesickness of the girls was compounded by the homesickness of the young nuns.
Hugo recalls his childhood and the stories that his mother told him about her life in Germany, her parents and their unusual courtship. Her sense of humour and cakes are recalled with affection.
He also recalls his father’s passion for the Irish language and how his desire that their household would be German speaking and Irish speaking lead to him banning English from the house. Hugo describes how his father would punish the children for speaking English and the extraordinary lengths he would go to find Irish speaking playmates for them. Hugo explains that his father’s behaviour cannot be explained just by a passion for the Irish language, but by an authoritarian patriarchal need for control.
Hugo explains the impact that this childhood experience had on him and how he and his siblings were the silent people. That said, he has forgiven his father and through writing his memoir The Speckled People, he has tried to come to terms with his past.
Mary Rose and Hugo describe attending her youngest son’s wedding in German to a German girl and how this has closed the circle of the family.
Hugo's latest novel is called Hand in the Fire.