In our podcast serie “Kaikkien opisto” episode 9: Colum (in English)

Podcast Interview with Colum Mac Oireachtaigh

I had the pleasure of interviewing Colum Mac Oireachtaigh one fine day in April.  Colum means “dove “and Mac Oireachtaigh means “son of the member of the assembly”. Colum teaches English conversation at Sipoon opisto and is also a musician. Little did I know how I would be swept away all over Europe listening to the life of Colum.

Colum, an Irishman, was born in Scotland and lived there for his first seven years, then in Ireland. After that he moved to London and had various jobs there. Colum says he had “itchy feet”. He wanted to see the world, so he learned to play the guitar and harmonium and did some rambling around Europe as a troubadour. Via Italy, France, Holland, Denmark and Sweden to Finland, where he met his wife the first day here.

He troubadoured in the streets of Helsinki in the late 70ties and was taken to the police station for it, as it wasn’t allowed during that time in Finland to play and sing in the streets.

Since then, things have changed a lot in Finland, says Colum. He has seen how Finland has opened up to the world.

How did he start teaching English? Well, we have Martin Gripenberg to thank for it. He was the principal of Sibbo medborgarinstitut and one day he called Colum to ask if he would be interested in giving conversation lessons. After that it snowballed; Colum was asked to teach in Porvoo, Loviisa, in Espoo and Vantaa to name a few. Colum still enjoys teaching and has been doing so since 1974.

Colum is also a musician and tells an interesting story about how he was going to play at a party in Kalkstrand and came to the pier he saw a renowned musician and conductor at the pier when he came in with the boat. He had to play for him and the others, maybe a bit nervous or more so.  How did it all go and who was this famous person? You must listen and find out.

Colum says he is thankful to Finland and that he has had many happy years here. He is thankful for his family and his work here. He describes the feeling of coming home to the archipelago in Sipoo after having played at a concert with a lot of noise and people: “To hear the wind in the trees, to see the stars, to see the moon reflecting in the water. After a long winter it feels like God has remembered us, God has remembered Finland.”

– Theresa –