Sean Holmes - Home for the Summer Holidays

Sean Holmes - Home for the Summer Holidays

Caroline McGrotty

Sean Holmes

Sean Holmes

Sean – Before we left school, we always talked about what was going to happen? Where we going to go, thinking about getting upset, because every Summer, we wouldn’t see each other as it was a long holiday, had no friends back at home, preferred your Deaf friends.

Caroline – You felt that you missed them, disappointed to go home every summer? Why?

Sean – No one to talk to! Confused and mixed up because of the hearing world, it was hard to understand as they communicated too fast but in saying that, my hearing isn’t that bad! I got on ok but luckily enough I got a job working every summer for 6 to 8 weeks fishing with nets.

Caroline – You were a boarder right? And you went home every summer where you worked, but did you ever meet other Deaf people there?

Sean – No, never! The first summers were in 73, 74, 75 which was interesting because when I had to leave home to go back to school I would run and hide because I really didn’t want to go back to school and my mother and father were at home which was great. But you know when you’re young, everything’s so big so you were afraid. The big boys, bullies, Christian Brothers, you know yourself what happened about the abuse so I didn’t want to go back to school. But as you got older, you wanted to go back, you missed your friends so starting after 75, in 76, 77, 78, you were depressed to be going home for the summer. Just depressed to be going back home, nothing to do there, just sit down all the time. Lucky my mother told my father to take me out, so went to work with my , on tractors and diggers which was interesting but I just wandered around, I wanted to be with Deaf, to be able to sign with my class, it was more comfortable. I preferred my Deaf friends, it was more comfortable.