Anne was born in Preston in 1957. Her parents were from Westport, County Mayo, where they courted and were married. They moved to England towards the end of WW2 and settled in Lancashire.

Anne is the youngest of four siblings who were all born in Lancashire. She describes being raised in a traditional Irish, Catholic environment of family and friends including regular holidays in Ireland. She went to Catholic primary and secondary schools and tells one story of how the girls were taken to the local private Catholic boys school for supervised dances.

Anne was the first of her family to go to university, whilst an elder brother entered training to become a priest, both to the pride of her family. She describes herself as a naïve young woman when she first left home and how she matured whilst at university, including a year in the USA. Anne relates her entry into an unexpected career in IT and Finance and how she secured that first step.

She reflects on the importance of her father and her brothers in her life, especially after the death of two close family members and the introduction of her step-mother. Anne talks about her social and love lives as a young woman, including an important relationship in her first year at university. She also shares the religious and family difficulties that she overcame to marry her husband.