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Imelda Murphy
Imelda
Murphy was born and reared in Dublin, Ireland. She has also lived
in London and Paris but now resides in New Hampshire with her husband
and co-writer Fran. The couple were married in Washington DC in
1997 after a long transatlantic relationship.
In
early 1998 she travelled back to Dublin and got caught up in a change
of American Immigration law. As a result she could not re-enter
America to be with her husband and was barred for three years. Fran,
a lawyer, sought the help of Brian T O'Neill, nephew of Thomas 'Tip'
O'Neill and a specialist in this area of law. After seven months
Imelda was able to return to her husband.
As
a result of this experience Imelda found it difficult settling into
American life, but when the INS gave her a Green Card, she decided
to go out and meet real American people, to prove to herself that
they weren't all that bad. She was offered a job at Shreve Crump
& Low, in Boston, which is the oldest continuously operated
shop in America. Her faith in Americans was restored by the great
people, both customers and co-workers that she met there. It was
at this time that she became aware of, and curious about the Big
Dig.
Having
been invited to join a tour of the site for the Women in Construction
organisation, Imelda reckoned that were plenty of Irish working
in the tunnels and she spent months trying to seek them out. She
has spent the past year and a half getting to know the Irish on
the Big Dig, taking photographs of them, and making recordings of
their experiences working on this the largest construction project
in American History. Her aim is to make a definitive record of the
Irish input into the project for future generations.
© Copyright
Francis and Imelda Murphy
All rights reserved
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