Southern Celts
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2015 Southern Celts AN INVESTIGATION OF HOW PEOPLE WITH A CELTIC/GAELIC BACKGROUND LIVE OUT THEIR TRADITIONS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND CELINE PATRICIA KEARNEY Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Education Victoria University Melbourne, Australia 21 November 2015 Abstract Southern Celts, a practise-led narrative inquiry (Arnold, 2007; Gray, 1997; Stewart, 2001), explores how people with Scottish and Irish backgrounds live out their cultural connections to the northern hemisphere homelands, while living in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using narrative as method and text (Clandinin, 2007; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; De Fina & Georgakopoulou, 2012; Reissman, 2008), the inquiry combines journalistic (Jeppesen & Hansen, 2011), autoethnographic (Bochner & Riggs, 2014; Chang, 2008; Ellis & Bochner, 2000; Holman-Jones, Adams & Ellis, 2013), and arts- based methods (Butler-Kisber, 2010; Chilton & Leavy, 2014; Leavy, 2009), with ethnographic and phenomenological insights (Maddison, 2008; Tedlock, 2000; Van Manen, 1990) to represent 25 of 40 interviews in an artefact, a book of interview narratives, intended to engage and inform a wide audience of general readers. These “lived and told stories” (Pinnegar & Danes, 2007) are situated in a visual metaphor from traditional Celtic art, that of spirals which envisage life moving across time and place. This movement is paralleled in the exegesis by the use of Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) three frames of narrative inquiry: time (past, present and future), place, and the intersection of the personal and the social, to view the narratives which record the lives of individuals, multi-generational families, communities geographic and cultural, past and present, and illustrate the discursive construction of culture/s and identity/ies (Fong & Chang, 2004; Norton, 1995, 2000, 2010; Weedon 1997, 2004). Much already published work which explores the lives of the Scottish and Irish in New Zealand does so through the major lens of ethnicity, and uses a range of sources that offer insider and outsider perspectives, (Akenson 1990, 2000; Brooking & Coleman, 2003; Brooking & McAloon, 2013; Bueltmann, 2011; Fraser, 2000; McCarthy, 2007, 2011; Paterson,). In contrast, Southern Celts’ narratives offer “insider” perspectives which allow readers opportunity to read with rather than about the narrative (Bochner & Riggs, 2014) and to bring their own experience to the engagement (Benson, 2013; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Reissman, 2008). That process is intended to enable readers to put themselves in the place of the narrators and so to gain insights into the social and political factors which have shaped and continue to shape individuals and communities in Aotearoa New Zealand (Liu, Creanor, MacIntosh, & Teaiwa, 2005): ii insights which may offer possibilities for living into a more equitable future in Aotearoa. Informed by postmodern and poststructural theoretical understandings, I, the researcher, writer, and a Southern Celt of Irish background, am situated in the same three dimensional inquiry space as other narrators (Clandinin & Connelly 2000). Thus my own story is visible in the artefact and in the exegesis where it becomes “situated academic narrative” (Arnold, 2011). Using Writing as Method (Richardson & St Pierre, 2005; Richardson, 2000) the inquiry process becomes a site of identity formation. The exegesis explores issues that are integral to narrative, including memory (Mishler, 2006, Ricoeur, 1981), truth (Bochner, 2012; Muncey, 2010) and voice (Chase, 2005, 2011), while discussion of cultural memory (Frawley 2011, 2012) places this inquiry as part of wider diaspora writings. The exegesis attempts as well to assess what the artefact might offer readers using four criteria: substantive contribution, aesthetic merit, reflexivity and impact (Richardson & Pierre 2005; Richardson 2000). It acknowledges that readers, both general and academic, will be final arbiters of this. This document is ordered so that the artefact appears first, then the exegesis. It is suggested they are read in this order. iii Doctor of Philosophy Declaration iv Acknowledgements I acknowledge Swinburne and Victoria Universities for the scholarship that has allowed me to engage in this inquiry. Warmest thanks and appreciation to my supervisors, Dr Martin Andrew and Professor Josie Arnold, whose skill, patience and generosity created and held the space for me to achieve more than I could ever have dreamed. My life is immeasurably enriched through your skills and experience. My deep appreciation to my partner Andy, who found books for me, listened and discussed ideas for these five years, and attended to domestic issues when I had no mind for them. Also for driving through the Southern Alps with me to the South Island’s West Coast, to do interviews. My thanks to Dr Pamela Gerrish Nunn, who directed me back to my own ideas. My thanks to my interviewees who generously shared their experience and understanding which are the heart of this inquiry. Thanks to Anna Rogers for an earlier edit of the artefact. My gratitude to Dr Rachel Le Rossignol for her meticulous attention to detail and sensitive handling of both these texts. She professionally copy edited this thesis according to the Australian Standards for Editing Practice. Finally, my appreciation to my extended family who assisted me in any way they could, including the quiet presences and strength of those beyond the veil of this physical world, who have been my companions throughout this endeavour. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ii Doctor of Philosophy Declaration ............................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ vi Southern Celts: The Artefact .......................................................................................... 11 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 11 The Celts and the Gaels .............................................................................................. 23 The Scots and Irish in New Zealand ........................................................................... 24 Interviewees and interviews ........................................................................................ 27 Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 29 Doing Business ........................................................................................................... 29 Ann Corry, kiltmaker, Helean Kilts........................................................................ 29 Fraser Milne, owner/director of Whisky Galore .................................................... 36 Speaking Gaelic .......................................................................................................... 46 Evelyn Entwhistle, Scots Gaelic teacher ................................................................ 46 Michael Godfrey, Scots Gaelic teacher .................................................................. 50 Performing Arts: Music and Singing ......................................................................... 60 Marianne Hepple, Uilleann pipe player .................................................................. 60 Evey McAuliffe, singer .......................................................................................... 66 Bain McGregor, Highland piper ............................................................................. 72 Writing the Stories ...................................................................................................... 79 Keri Hulme, writer .................................................................................................. 79 Michael O’Leary, publisher, novelist ..................................................................... 86 Bernadette Hall, poet .............................................................................................. 93 Laura Mills, journalist .......................................................................................... 106 vi Showing the Pictures ................................................................................................ 112 Kathleen Gallagher, writer and film maker .......................................................... 112 Malcolm Adams, master carver ............................................................................ 120 Denis O’Connor, sculptor, visual artist ................................................................ 125 Spirituality and Religion ........................................................................................... 138 John Hunt, Presbyterian minister ......................................................................... 138 Ann Dooley, religious studies teacher .................................................................. 145 Playing sport ............................................................................................................. 150 Charlie Dunn, boxer ............................................................................................