Page 29 - IFAFA ebook v4

10.

Katharina McHugh

I have always had a love for languages. I wanted to be an interpreter for

English and French so when I got the opportunity to go to Oxford for 15

months, I took it! Coming back to Germany I was already booked to go to

France but my mother was keen for me to stay in Germany for a while so
I relented. After the war,

Bonn became the capital city of Germany for 40 years, so all the

Embassies were there and I decided to look for a job with one of them. I

liked the Irish Embassy the most. This was my destiny. Four months later

my husband Barney was transferred from Sweden to Germany and that’s

how we met. We fell in love and got married in Germany.

Then we moved back to Ireland where my first son Stephan was born. Two
years later we were posted to Brussels where my daughter Nicole was

born. That was a country where I could improve my French and I loved it.

After Brussels we were posted to San Francisco where Barney was Consul

General – what a place! We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and were

sad to leave but on return to Ireland my second son Brian was born and

we settled happily into life there.

Getting used to married life with a diplomat, I will always remember the

day when Barney came home and asked me to help with a little bit of
interpretation for the Department. Little did I know that it would be

working on the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising and interpreting

between Eamon de Valera and Captain Weisbach of the Aud, who was

involved in Roger Casement’s attempts to bring arms in for the rising in

1916. The visit is recorded for posterity in the RTE archives and I am

very proud of my small but important role.

I took to life in Ireland like a fish to water but always embraced going

abroad again. We were so fortunate in our postings – an amazing 6 years
in India with accreditations to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and to

Brunei. Four wonderful years in Portugal also covering Brazil and our last

three years before retirement in Greece with secondary accreditations to

Israel and Romania–Ireland certainly had fewer residential missions in

those days!

We spent 13 years abroad in one stretch and it suited us. The whole
family loved travelling and even as the children grew up and went home

to Ireland to boarding school they still joined us on so many adventures.
We all tried to learn the languages of the countries in which we were

stationed which was part of the fun. Each posting had its own special

charm and I loved every one of them.

We were in India for six years, which was a long spell, but as a result it

remains probably the highlight of my life as a diplomatic spouse. The

vibrancy, energy and colour of the country and the beauty and warmth of
the people will stay with me forever. We met so many interesting people

and made so many friends for life during that time. I remember so vividly
visiting Mother Theresa in Calcutta and on another occasion meeting Pope

John Paul II, German Chancellor Kohl and even Queen Elizabeth II.

I lost my husband after 50 years of marriage but the memories live on

and I always think that it is thanks to him that I had this wonderful life.

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