'Catholic dog, sitting on a log, eating maggots out of a frog.' An ugly rhyme, cruel words whispered with the kind of venom that only a child could muster. But it's an insult that echoes the broader prejudices of a society divided along sectarian lines. Children inherit bigotry from their parents, and naïve taunting can become ingrained as prejudice.
Marrying Out, a two-part radio series for ABC Radio National's Hindsight program, reflects upon the hereditary nature of prejudice. It recalls an Australian society of the early to mid 20th century, where colonial rivalries between the English and Irish manifested as festering mistrust between Protestants and minority Catholics.
As a born Protestant with no strong denominational allegiance, who grew up after the sectarian divide had healed, I found little in the series to connect with. It serves as an intriguing historical document of intolerance in Australian society, but the emphasis on nostalgia (and to be fair, Hindsight's focus is on social history) means it will resonate most strongly with the generation that lived it.
The series' producer, writer and self-described 'recalcitrant Irish Catholic' Siobhan McHugh, engages her subjects in conversation to revisit a time where mixed marriages between Protestants and Catholics attracted discrimination at best, the threat of physical violence and disinheritance by disapproving parents at worst.
Part one, Not In Front of the Altar (Sunday 11 October, 2pm), recalls the commitment and hardships of couples that married across the sectarian divide. Part 2, Between Two Worlds (Sunday 18 October, 2pm) takes up the perspective of children who grew up in the hybrid and often rocky world of such mixed marriage families.
The stories are moving, the monologues laid alongside each other and sewn together with snippets of religious music. Occasionally they are splotched with re-enacted insults (see above) or quotes from job advertisements that stipulate, 'Roman Catholics need not apply'. These exemplify the worst instances of explicit ill-feeling.
McHugh, who spent three years collecting the stories, brings a sense of quiet outrage to her narration. Her mild Irish accent serves as a hint of where her historical sympathies may lie, although if there is blame to be allocated, it is directed towards neither Protestants nor Catholics, but to the human propensity for distrust and hatred.
Wherever there is difference there is fear, and the stories shared in Marrying Out remind us that fear devours love and can lead to irreparable fractures within families, within societies, and within