A blow-in put back in his place
Earlier in the week I was invited onto a radio show alongside John Mulligan of The Roscommon Herald. The topic for discussion was the phrase ‘blow-in’ and the connotations of its use in Ireland. What spurned the discussion was a previous interviewee who had a negative experience of her blow-in from Dublin to Cavan. She found the neighbourliness lacking, and overall felt she wasn’t welcomed, experiencing Cavan people as reserved and unwilling to engage with a perceived outsider.
It got me thinking of my own blow-in status; and given the show was ‘live’ I’m not sure I articulated my experience very well. Thus, I thought I’d write it here with the benefit of reflection.
I’d describe myself more a ‘blow-back’ rather than a ‘blow-in'. In fact, I’m a triple ‘blower'. I first blew in with my Cavan-born parents in the late 70s. After school in Cavan and college in Dublin, I blew away to London in 1989 – then blew back to Cavan in 2019.
I returned the same, but different. I felt the same inside, yet outwardly looked very different from the lad who blew away in the late 80s. I’d say the reverse was true of Cavan Town – outwardly it looked fresher, younger; and with a multi-cultural populace similar to the city I’d left rather than the town I’d returned to. Yet , s I settled back in, I felt the Cavan heart and soul remained the same. Friends and family welcomed me warmly; and I rediscovered landscapes from my youth that re-rooted me back to the place of my past.
But I quickly noticed something. Beyond friends and family, I was looked at with a strange-eye by those who didn’t know me. ‘Who was this man who’s suddenly appeared, walking the roads wearing a constant cap and carrying a backpack?’ I saw them think with their wary eyes.
Not long after, an old friend who is forever mindful of “what will people think?”, called me to express her embarrassed concern for me. I knew immediately she’d heard musings about the road walking blow-in when she suggested, “Would you ever leave the backpack at home now and again?”
I replied with an emphatic, “No, why should I?” She dealt her card, “Gerard, people are talking about you as odd – they’ve even put a name on you.” I smiled, “What’re they calling me?”
She paused, before splurging, “Bobby Backpack, they’re calling you BOBBY BACKPACK!”
I laughed heartily, loving my new moniker. I resolved to embrace the character bestowed upon me; and even thought it had the makings of a whimsical novel, titled: Bobby Backpack blows in.
There’s no doubt those who didn’t know me perceived me as an odd blow-in during the early months of my return. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. As humans, we’re all naturally curious and questioning of the unfamiliar; and on the whole, this is especially true of Irish people. I knew that to reassimilate into the wider Cavan community, I had to engage with the curious town-folk. So, I began with a polite smile and nod as I passed people. That eventually became a, “Hello.” The, “Hello,” becomes a, “Good morning,” and soon afterwards there’s the ‘stop’ and ‘inevitable’ chat about the weather and more, which took away my stranger-status and placed me in their world.
The host of the radio show asked if the term ‘blow-in’ is an Irish put-down? I suppose it is a sarcasm to put people in their place, albeit with a smidgen of affection (over the years, some people have tried to put me down using far more colourful words than blow-in, trust me).
I recall my first week back home, I blew into a local café and experienced that moment wherein you feel the suspicious customers looking for signs of familiarity in the new face. I got chatting to the proprietor, and through our friendly conversation I saw her beginning to recognise me; she began asking questions. My every answer drew her closer to the light, until she finally had the light bulb moment, “I have ya, you’re the Smith from Jubilee Terrace, up beside Majo who had the cure of the stye!” she exclaimed, triumphantly.
And in that moment I was no longer a blow-in, I was put firmly back in my place: a Cavan man, returned.
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