‘I Was More Emotional at the Beginning … Missing Poland a Lot. But Once You Have Kids It’s Different’: Keeping Families Connected

This chapter concerns how migration, a significant life event, shapes intergenerational relationships, particularly in the context of becoming a parent or grandparent. Grandparents often play an important role in the transmission of cultural heritage and language to their grandchildren. The chapter draws on a qualitative interview study of Polish women in Ireland and examines their experiences of family formation when support networks are dispersed between Ireland and Poland. It emphasises the linked lives dimension of Elder’s life course framework and uses Bengtson and Robert’s (1991) six dimensions of intergenerational solidarity to present four composite narratives derived from 18 of the original study interviews of 35 Polish mothers. The narratives of Jolanta, Danuta, Roksana and Wanda reveal how intergenerational solidarity played out after their move to Ireland, how they maintained connection to Poland, in particular their children to grandparents and how they saw the future. The narratives emphasise how functional, associational, affectual and normative solidarity are dependent on structural solidarity for both the parents in Ireland and the grandparents in Poland. The timing of their lives and the choices made also influenced their experiences and the dynamics of intergenerational relationships.