I WAS born and reared in Ennis, Co Clare, where I was educated by the Mercy nuns - first at the Convent of Mercy School and later at Colaiste Mhuire. I had mixed feelings about school. I always had a rebellious nature and was quite disruptive in class. I know I gave the teachers a fairly hard time.
My family connections made life even more difficult for them. Three of my mother's sisters were nuns - one taught in the school and two others, a Presentation sister and a Dominican, were school principals. There was huge pressure on me from both my family and the school to do well academically.
At second level we were taught through Irish which I found particularly dIfficult. I was very creative - I loved doing things with my hands. My favourite class was sewing. Unfortunately art was not taught in Colaiste Mhuire which was an extremely academic school. At that time art was regarded as being only for people who weren't academic.
All the girls at Colaiste Mhuire were expected to go into teaching or nursing or take domestic science in Sion Hill. I wasn't interested in any of these things and had no interest in the main subjects which were taught at school.
However, I did enjoy English which was taught by Sister Stanislaus whom we called `Santy'. She had a great love of her subject - it's thanks to her that I love poetry.
The Mercy nuns also ran an industrial school for orphans and some of the girls were in class with me. Although some of the nuns were very kind to them, others treated them badly. I found this quite upsetting. My father was a male nurse in a mental hospital and at home we were always taught to treat people equally.
As a result of my experiences I became interested in issues of social equality and self-esteem. I would like to see an education system that gives a sense of self-worth to all children, not just those who are academically able.
My mother was horrified when she discovered, too late, that I hadn't applied for teaching or nursing. However, I had filled out an application form for the civil service and was offered a job in the Department of Social Welfare in Dublin. I started immediately, but soon realised I hadn't a vocation for this type of work. There was still great pressure from home for me to find a good, safe, pensionable job. I decided to go into radiography which was still relatively new. I went to England - to Clatterbridge Hospital in Cheshire - to train. I qualified and worked as a radiographer in both England and Ireland for 10 years before I turned to dress designing, which was something I had always wanted to do.
