A Mindful Learning conversation with Conor, a former student of mine on the MA Creative Writing and Education
The latest episode of the Mindful Learning podcast features a conversation with Conor Patchell, a recent graduate of the MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths, whose dissertation film explores the shifting meanings of Irish identity abroad.
Conor’s MA dissertation, Éirephilia, takes its name from a term he coined himself to describe a striking cultural shift: the recent surge in fascination, affection and even idealisation of Ireland and Irish identity across Britain and the wider Anglophone world. Drawing on the Greek-rooted structure of “philosemitism”, Conor uses Eiréphilia to describe the wave of admiration for Irish culture, art, music and persona that has become highly visible in recent years. Contemporary actors, musicians and writers have helped create a new cultural moment in which the Irish are celebrated as artistic, charismatic and intellectually compelling.
Yet Conor’s dissertation began with a question that runs deeper than this current wave of enthusiasm. If the present moment is one of Eiréphilia, what came before it? And how have seventy-five years of Irish migration to Britain shaped, challenged or complicated these changing attitudes?
His film-based dissertation, informed by multimodal ethnographic and autoethnographic methods, sets out to answer these questions by tracing Irish migration to Britain from the 1950s to the present day. The project expands upon an earlier audio piece documenting his grandfather’s temporary migration; for the dissertation, he broadens the scale, interviewing migrants from three generational waves and producing a full documentary that interweaves oral testimony, archival footage, creative narration and historical framing.
Through this lens, Eiréphilia becomes not only a contemporary cultural phenomenon but the end point of a long and complex story. Conor’s work shows that the warm reception Irish people often enjoy today cannot be understood without acknowledging decades of hardship, labour, identity negotiation and social struggle faced by earlier migrants. The documentary therefore positions Eiréphilia as both a celebration and a contrast: the culmination of cultural shifts that would not have been possible without the resilience, contribution and dignity of those who came before.
His film is not yet published, but his ideas deserve a much wider audience. The project blends interviews, found footage, personal reflection, and historical research to show how Irishness has changed across seventy years of migration.
This work is exactly what the MA aims to nurture. The programme encourages students to use creative practice as a way of researching identity, culture, and story. Conor’s film is a model of that ethos. It listens carefully, treats memory with respect, and acknowledges the complexity of inherited histories.
Below are five things we should know about Irish identity abroad, illuminated by Conor’s reflections in the podcast.
1. Irish identity abroad is shaped by inherited stories and early expectations
Conor begins the podcast by reflecting on the narratives he grew up with. He recalls that when he first moved from Ireland to London, he carried with him a powerful set of childhood impressions.
As he says in the podcast, “I heard stories for years from my grandfather of how the Irish were treated in England. They were hard cold people, and they looked down on us.”
He explains that he half-expected open hostility when he arrived. Growing up, he imagined that “I would be getting in arguments every night” because the older stories of migration were filled with tension, prejudice, and warnings.
These handed-down memories shaped how he saw himself in relation to Britain. He says that he is “so hyper aware of history and the difficulties that Irish people have gone through” that he sometimes connects this too closely to his own life in the present. This demonstrates how diaspora identity often begins long before migration itself, formed in family storytelling and the emotional charge of the past.
2. Previous generations endured discrimination with humour, strength, and decency
One of the most striking aspects of the film is the dignity and resilience of the older interviewees. Conor’s conversations with migrants who arrived in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s reveal a generation that survived discrimination with a remarkable steadiness.
Conor says in the podcast that the people he interviewed “paved the way for us”. He stresses that his own experience as an Irish person in London has been easy “because of their hard work, and their decency as well, which is the big thing”.
Ann, one of his interviewees, remembered seeing signs that said “No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish”. When Conor asked how she felt, she surprised him. “It was very sad at the time,” she told him, “but you just have to move on with these things and not let it bring you down.”
Patsy, another interviewee, expressed a similar sentiment when he told Conor that “you cannot be holding grievances all your life”.
These stories reveal a distinctive cultural resilience. Humour, restraint, and a refusal to become embittered shaped the early Irish experience in Britain. The podcast makes clear that later generations benefit from the groundwork laid by people whose struggles were often invisible.
3. Irish identity abroad is varied and shaped by class, gender, and personal circumstance
Conor emphasises that the Irish diaspora is far from uniform. Each interviewee in his film embodies a different aspect of migration.
Ann, who migrated in 1967 to train as a nurse, described the challenges of entering a male-dominated profession. As Conor recalls, “She told me that the surgeons mocked her, be it her accent, or they treated her as this little Irish girl”. Yet Ann “was well able to hold her own” and insisted that “there was to be no cursing on her ward” with a quiet authority that shaped her whole career.
Vincent, who came later, offered a more intellectual and philosophical view of belonging. Conor describes him as “very articulate… very intelligent”, someone who thought not only about his own experience but “the overall time and the effects of the period”, especially surrounding the Troubles.
These differences matter. They remind us that Irish identity abroad is neither singular nor static. It varies across class, region, gender, generation, and personality. Conor’s multimodal method allows these nuances to come through with clarity.
4. Irishness has moved from suspicion to celebration within a single lifetime
One of the most compelling ideas in Conor’s dissertation is his concept of Eiréphilia, the recent surge of affection, fascination, and enthusiasm for Irish culture abroad.
In the podcast he explains, “There is such a populace around Irish culture now. It has become almost like a bit of a craze for this enjoyment of Irish people and stuff.” He cites the popularity of actors like Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan and the rise of Irish music and film. He describes this trend as “the love of Ireland”, though one layered with contradictions.
Yet this positive reception sharply contrasts with the reception faced by earlier generations. Conor explains that “the IRA bombings actually made life for Irish people over there at the time quite difficult” and that “public opinion plummeted”. The podcast highlights how, within seventy years, Irish people have moved from being stereotyped in England as dangerous, poor, or disruptive to being embraced as creative, humorous, and culturally desirable.
Conor reflects on this change with humility, noting, “I am an immigrant into this country, but I was never really considered as one. I never had any difficulty.” He contrasts this with the experiences of asylum seekers and migrants from other parts of the world who face far greater hostility.
This awareness gives the project a strong ethical foundation. It is not a nostalgic celebration of Irishness, but a reflection on shifting cultural power.
5. Gratitude, continuity, and learning define the Irish diaspora
For Conor, the most important message of the project is one of gratitude. He speaks with warmth and admiration about the older generation.
As he says in the podcast, “A lot of the enjoyment that I have had over here was due to their hands and their hard work and their decency.”
He insists that younger Irish people should know this history, because “it was not that long ago that they went through a lot of hardships, but they managed to put it behind themselves and enjoy these things”.
Conor views Eiréphilia as a human story, not just a national one. In his words, “In the space of sixty or seventy years, the view of one people has completely changed.” He sees this change as “a good thing overall”, but anchored firmly in the sacrifices of “Vincent and John and Patsy and Ann”, whose labour shaped the conditions he now enjoys.
This mindful attention to the continuity of experience across generations embodies the spirit of his project.
A mindful conclusion
Conor’s film and his reflections on the podcast exemplify what the MA in Creative Writing and Education strives to cultivate: creative work that is attentive, socially grounded, and open to nuance. His process shows how multimodal creative research can deepen our understanding of culture, migration, and memory.
The story of Irish identity abroad is not simple. It is a weave of hardship, humour, misrecognition, reinvention, and pride. As Conor’s work shows, it is also a story about the responsibility to remember well, to listen carefully, and to honour the labour of those who came before.
If you would like your dissertation or creative research discussed on the Mindful Learning blog or podcast, feel free to get in touch.