Who Do You Think You Are? - Dev Griffin

DJ and presenter Dev Griffin's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? aired last Thursday.

Dev has clearly struggled a lot with his identity over the years, knowing little about his mother's Irish family, and even less about his father's Jamaican roots.

The Irish, (Griffin and Weafer,) sides of his family were, prior to the generations that Dev knew here in the UK, proud Irish nationalists.

As part of the Irish Republican Army (the IRA,) they were involved in the fight for home rule, and the Easter Rising.

(It's worth noting that this particular incarnation of the IRA came prior to the Provisional IRA - the IRA which most of us will be familiar with from news stories.)

Dev was interested to learn about the history of Irish independence from the Irish side of things - 

- history may not change in terms of dates and facts, but the significance and meaning of those facts can change vastly depending on the perspective from which it's viewed.

I always try to walk the line of perspective in my research in a way that promotes compassion and understanding, without flinching from the truth of the facts themselves, and for the most part I hope I achieve this.

The paternal side of his family saw Dev travel to Jamaica to learn more about his family there.

The pastor in Jamaica made for an excellent guide to the life of both the local church and Dev's specific family members who were, at one point, excluded from the church for 'fornication.'

...This was probably evident, as Dev's ancestor happened to be about eight months pregnant at the time of the exclusion. 

The couple ended up both getting married, and being let back into the church - so all's well that ends well!

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