Linda Ervine: Escaping anxiety to find the Irish language

Linda Ervine works for the east Belfast Irish-language organisation Turas

Linda Ervine is best known as an Irish-language activist working in the mainly-Protestant area of east Belfast, but she also has a remarkable life story.

In a special edition of Radio Ulster's Talkback programme she tells presenter William Crawley about her troubled childhood that led to crippling mental illness in her 20s and her eventual salvation through faith, education and psychotherapy.

Linda was born in east Belfast in 1961 into a highly-politicised family - her grandparents and her father were members of the Communist Party.

Her parents separated when she was very young, and she became a mother when she was just 16.

'Bottles, prams and babies'

Linda remembers being invited out by a young friend one Christmas, but she had to refuse: "My life now was bottles and prams and babies and that was that."

She was expelled from school three times; as a "school refuser" she didn't get much of an education.

Linda explained that she became "severely agoraphobic, severely phobic".

"I remember praying for death because I was too afraid to [try to] kill myself in case I survived and ended up in hospital and they would take me out of the house."

She became seriously underweight, getting down to six stones (38 kg).

Linda Ervine in the the Talkback studio with presenter William Crawley

Linda's life was turned around by psychiatric treatment.

"I had psychotherapy for eight years and it was quite life-changing for me," she told Talkback.

Linda began attending classes that eventually led to her achieving a degree in English Literature and qualifying as a teacher.

Despite having been brought up in an atheist family, she began attending a local Presbyterian church and developed a strong Christian faith.

She met her husband, Brian Ervine, through teaching.

Taster course

Linda's introduction to the Irish language came through a six-week "taster" course at a cross-community women's group.

"I fell in love with it when I came on it and I decided I was going to learn a few words in it," she said.

A history trip with a group from the mainly-Catholic Falls Road introduced her to the United Irishmen - 18th century radicals, many of them Presbyterians, who contributed to the preservation of the language.

"It gave me an ownership of the language," said Linda.

'Something wonderful'

"I wanted to share it with other people because I felt so strongly that this was something wonderful," she added.

Turas, the east Belfast-based language project Linda works for, has 270 learners in its Irish classes.

In September, she opened a new chapter in her Irish-speaking life when she enrolled for a degree in Irish.

You can hear Linda Ervine talk about her life story on Talkback on BBC Radio Ulster at 12 noon on New Year's Day.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised by this article, you can find information and support via the BBC Action Line.