Since its inception in 1948, Irish women and men were actively recruited to train and work as nurses in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). By the 1960s approximately 30,000 Irish-born nurses were working in NHS hospitals.While many Irish families produced at least one nurse and many of those emigrated, so far there has been little recognition of the enormous contribution of Irish nurses to health care in Britain. A new book by Louise Ryan, Gráinne McPolin and Neha Doshi explores their life experiences as nurses and also as Irish migrants in British society. The following is an extract from the book, Irish Nurses in the NHS – An Oral History.

 

From 1948 on, the NHS carried out a targeted recruitment process throughout Ireland. Advertisements were placed not only in the big national dailies, like the Irish Independent, but also in local papers in every province of the country.

These advertisements usually announced that the recruitment team would be in local hotels on particular dates and anyone interested in an interview should write to make an appointment. The advertisements were worded in a very enticing way. In addition, to being paid while training and having accommodation in the Nurses’ Home, many advertisements also promised nursing students the extra incentive of paid travel back to Ireland for annual holidays.

Many of our participants recalled seeing these advertisements but, unsurprisingly given the passage of time, over 50 years or more, were vague about the precise details.
As Pauline recalled, “I must have seen an advert or something in the newspaper and I applied to England”.
Nonetheless, a few did remember exactly where they saw the advertisement for nurse training in Britain. Kathleen went to train in Liverpool in 1968: “I remember the name of it, the Northern Constitution was the name of the paper and that’s where the advert was”.

Similarly, Aileen recalled “in the Sunday Press at home and I saw the ad and I applied”.
Advertisements were also placed in Catholic newspapers. For example, Ruth vaguely recalled seeing the ad for nursing recruits in “one of the Catholic newspapers’, while Veronica remembered clearly that she saw the ad in The Universe, the main Catholic newspaper: “The Universe yes, and there were two hospitals advertised – one was in Eastbourne and another was in Stoke-on-Trent”.

However, others stated that while they could not remember exactly where they saw the ad, there was common knowledge at the time that hospitals in Britain were actively recruiting for student nurses with very favourable terms and conditions: “It was like general knowledge really.” (Gretta).

As Maeve explained:
“I mean it was everywhere… very wide advertising in Ireland at the time… and I think it may be on the radio originally that we heard it because we didn’t really go and buy the paper so the radio was on all the time, so it must have been by the radio we originally heard it.”
Information about recruitment to nurse training in Britain seemed to be circulating around Ireland through various means: “It seemed to be like word of mouth as well, you know, other friends, but there was also a campaign, an advertising campaign at that time in Ireland for nurses in England”. (Kathleen).

The role of word of mouth is demonstrated by Sinéad who was originally from Kerry. Having completed her Leaving Certificate , she was doing a commercial course when one of the girls in her class got an interview for nursing training in Britain: “She said, ‘Oh I’ve got an interview for nursing next week in Cork’ I said, ‘Have you? How did you get that?’ so she told me”.
Sinéad also applied and was invited for an interview. She remembered getting the train from Kerry to the hotel in Cork. Like several other participants, Sinéad appreciated especially the ease of going to interviews in nearby towns and cities around Ireland:
“Being honest, I had no thoughts about going to London, it was just the fact the interview was in Cork… it was convenient. I didn’t have to travel anywhere, I just had to get the train from Kerry to Cork, I got the train, went on my own.” (Sinead)

Orla, originally from Cork, while noting the difficulty of getting into nurse training in Ireland due to long waiting lists and high costs, emphasised the apparent ease of gaining access to nurse training in Britain:
“There were adverts and I wrote off to some of the places advertising nursing places and there was one group coming to interview at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cork and I thought, “Oh that’s great, I don’t even have to find them, they’re coming to me” and that’s after I’d been for, I think some of the local hospitals and was told there was this waiting list.” (Orla)

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own