This article seeks to provide a contextual backdrop to this edition's focus on analysing the changes from the perspective of policy and practice since 2010, through presenting the findings of an in-depth analysis of the life histories of six adult educators, working in the field of adult education in the Republic of Ireland in the decades leading to 2010. Through the reflections of these six adult educators, this article offers the opportunity to trace the roots and legacies of the field and imagine the future, as they had envisioned it, at that given juncture in time.