A different country

I grew up in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s — Southern Ireland that is. Now that probably brings to mind a lot of assumptions not only about me but also my upbringing. The thing is I was brought up in a Protestant family (actually adopted — but that’s a story for another time), so that meant I was in a minority subculture. Not only that but parts of the history of that subculture had, not that long ago, been part of an oppressive, and abusive empire. All that meant that there were some messages given to me, both verbal and implied, about who I was and was supposed to be. Some of it was relevant, but much of who I…