150: Irene Williams Part 2

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

In the second part of my interview with Irene Williams, Irene talks about how the family moved to Cardiff, and how to begin with they had neither a house nor any money. Her father helped them with a deposit and Irene decided to go out to work, managing to secure the first job for which she applied. We also find out about what was the hardest nine years of Irene’s life.
We learn whether their son Martyn was able to get a scholarship to study at Atlantic College. Irene recounts in detail what she heard about the interview experience and about the unexpected occasion when he brought his friends over to stay the night after missing the bus.
We hear about how Irene and Cyril ended up in Lampeter. The journey started in Canada when Cyril was asked to start up a department of Religious Studies at Aberystwyth. Irene talks about the importance of studying more than Christianity and how Cyril managed to get a colleague down from Bangor to Aberystwyth. They ate at home and with the money saved Cyril was able to buy books.
In due course Cyril was asked if he could come to Lampeter where he lived in the decades that followed. Irene did up the garden of their home so well students would call it The Embassy, and we learn that she would make the students Welsh Cawl.
Then, towards the end of the interview we hear about Irene’s work with Amnesty International and how Cyril encouraged her to travel. Irene talks about their invitation to Japan, her time in Cuba and the work of the Missions of Charity.
It was such a privilege to spend time with Irene in July 2022 to record both instalments of this interview.