I first came to Ireland in 1971 to study medicine. I was young, and to me there was no life here. No Chinese food, no Chinese supermarkets, no McDonald’s, no Burger King. Not only that, there were no Chinese people, and very few foreigners. So I left for England and finished medical school over there.
Then in 1979 I married an Irishman who I’d met during my initial visit, but only after I finished medical school in England and worked for some time in Hong Kong. Since then I returned to Ireland and I’ve been living here ever since – 30 years now.
I was born in China in the Shanghai region, but when I was a baby my whole family moved to Hong Kong. So of course when I came to Dublin it was quite a culture shock for me. But some things were better.
My father back in Hong Kong was very conservative – you know, 9pm curfews and that kind of thing. Here on my own in Ireland I felt very liberated. I came to the west against my father’s wishes; he wouldn’t even dream of letting me travel so far. But I just packed my bags and went. When you’re young you do that kind of thing.
I also married my Irish husband against my father’s wishes. There was a big row in the family and my father didn’t even come to the wedding…
Many people know me as an activist in the Chinese community. But my main job in Ireland is medicine. Until 1983 I was working in hospitals, but after I had my first child I decided to become a GP. I still have my practice three days per week beside my home in Blackrock.
As a GP I found that the Irish could benefit from some traditional Chinese medicine. I went to Shanghai to learn acupuncture and herbal medicine, and now I combine the two traditions. I think I’m the first one – and the only one – who does it in Ireland.
Up to the 1980s there were just a few hundred Chinese here. The first that I know of came in the 1950s; they spoke Cantonese and opened Chinese takeaways and restaurants here. By the 1990s there were a few thousand Chinese, mostly from Hong Kong. But at the end of the decade the numbers suddenly jumped to 50,000 – with 70 per cent of them from mainland China.
Most of them were students, away from home for the first time, and they needed someone to look after them. So that’s why I decided to form the Irish-Chinese Information Centre.
It’s a charity and is free for all Chinese in Ireland. We have a telephone hotline and we also run classes in English, computers and kung fu – all free. Our oldest student is 87 years old; he’s been living here for 30 years but never before knew how to write in English.
We opened the centre in 2001, starting with just a single phone. But now it’s much bigger, with premises on Synge Street in Dublin 8.
Besides the centre, I’m also involved with the Shanghai Association, which was set up to promote export and trade between Ireland and China. In November we’re going down to Cork to promote the twinning of the city with Shanghai. The campaign starts in Dublin; we’re going to have a huge flag on O’Connell Street and will get 10,000 Irish and Chinese to leave their signatures on this banner. It will be spectacular!
Dr Katherine Chan Mullen is a general practitioner based in Blackrock, Co Dublin
