Anne was born in Preston in 1957. Her parents were from Westport, Co. Mayo where they courted and married. They moved to England towards the end of World War II and settled in Lancashire.

Anne is the youngest of four and describes her life being raised in a traditional Irish, Catholic environment in Lancashire. Anne discusses her family and their holidays back to Ireland, attending Catholic schools, and her social and love lives as a young woman, including an important relationship in her first year of university.

Anne reflects on the importance of her family during and she shares the religious and family difficulties that she overcame to marry her husband.

Anne talks about how she got her first job which unexpectedly landed her in a career in IT and finance…

“I got interviewed by the head of Jaguar cars who asked you very difficult questions. Asked you mental arithmetic questions. So he'd say something like, you know, ‘What's 492 multiplied by 347?’ And I would always take the first two numbers and come up with some approximation. And he tried that a few times, and he said, ‘you're always going to do that, aren't you?’ And I said, ‘yeah, you give me a calculator, I can work it out, but otherwise, no.’ And he said, ‘okay.’ And then he asked me what I'd do if I had fifty thousand pounds. And I said, ‘I would buy an old barn and convert it.’ And I can always remember him saying, ‘I didn't think with your mathematical skills you'd be able to do that.’ [Laughs]. And I said, ‘No, but I'd find an excellent subcontractor.’ And then he— And it's a horrible interview, isn't it? And so you obviously think, you're not going to get a job, and just as you'd finish this interview— Oh, yes, yeah, one of the other questions was, how many things can you do with a paperclip. And I was coming up with earrings and necklaces and all sorts of stuff. And then just when you finish the interview, and you have your hand on the door ready to go out, thinking, thank God that's over, he said, ‘Oh please could just describe yourself in three words?’ So I said, I was ‘tall, dark and Irish,’ which my father always loved. And when I went back to meet the other people who'd been there for the [indecipherable], they were saying, ‘oh, professional, hardworking, serious.’ And then, God, I've blown it again with my tall, dark and Irish. But I got offered a job at Jaguar Cars, and that's how I ended up working in IT and project management for the next forty years almost. Amazing how it all starts.”

For more information on accessing Anne’s full interview or transcript please email faisneis@unaganaguna.org