In this month’s Irish Times Abroad newsletter, Annie Driver talks about reclaiming her Irish roots through the diaspora in the town of Birmingham. Holidays consisted of a “boat from Holyhead over to Rosslare” to spend time in Ireland. Annie describes her childhood which was dotted with Irish dancing lessons that “did not last long”, she was then introduced to the local GAA team. “I quickly fell in love with Gaelic football, spending my weekends playing games at Páirc na hÉireann.”
Louise Toal tells us about how she started a new life abroad after the loss of her job during the pandemic and the end of a long-term relationship. “In 2022, I made the plunge to sign up for an online course with the TEFL Institute of Ireland. This certificate was my golden ticket to a new life abroad. I was about to start my own Eat, Pray, Love story.”
Laura Kennedy tells a story that will be familiar to many about the stress of leaving home and moving life to another country “barely knowing what planet I was on”. Leaving her little cottage with the promise not to see it again, she describes the journey of flying half way around the world to Canberra. It’s a city where the streets are wide with sprawling pavements, “so far from the close old streets of most of London or Dublin”. Despite being so far from home, the presence of the Irish diaspora quickly became apparent – “that’s the thing about Irish people. We have a magnetic appeal to one another outside Ireland”.
Laura provides an update on her life in Australia later in the month saying, “I was surprised to discover it is easier to be Irish in Australia than it is in Britain”. She gives context to her decision to move and describes the attitude of locals in Australia who “would pick up on the accent and make mangled attempts to fire it back at me in a fluctuating cadence they consider funny.”
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In another account of life in Australia, Lynsey Patterson talks about her decision to move there 25 years ago. She heard from a girl living in her home in Co Antrim about stories of Australia. “It was a welcome picture compared to the blustery winds of Ireland”. This, among other things, encourages Lynsey to hand in her notice and move half way around the world. She recalls, “At my going-away party in our cramped terrace house, I remember my mother saying: ‘She will never be back’”.
Patrick Moynihan writes about getting the opportunity to relocate to Amsterdam on a two-year work assignment. Having never seen the city in the flesh, Patrick moved to Amsterdam not knowing what to expect. Today, he lives in the Museum Quarter where “The Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh and Moco museums are all close by” allowing Patrick to explore what the city has to offer. Bikes have truly conquered Amsterdam, writes Patrick, even if running over tourists is a local past-time.
Rosaleen Perry writes how she left Ireland in the 1980s for the US with the intention of staying for six months. Now, 37 years later, Rosaleen is still in the US and has been working in the dental industry for 25 years. The early days were tough, she says, “we didn’t have the phone at my home in Kildare, never mind the internet, so we had to write letters”. Letters from her family contained news from home and “the inevitable death roster in the town”.
In a comparison between Ireland and Sweden, Grace O’Malley talks about her experience of childbirth in Holles Street in 2016 to childbirth in Sweden years later. “I went into childbirth thinking I would give birth naturally,” she writes of her first pregnancy; “this is not what happened.” Instead, an emergency section was called for, shattering Grace’s idea of sitting “in my floaty gown…feeling content, peaceful, serene.” Fast forward to her births in Sweden, it provided “that community for parents and babies. I am better for it and my family is better for it.”
Veronica Cunningham, who lives in Singapore, writes about her multiple moves around the globe after leaving “Ireland on a windy autumn’s day from Westport, Co Mayo”. She describes her time in Oslo where conversations at her children’s school gate “sparked my career in international education”; while annual trips home to Ireland to see family became important.
Frank Dillon tells the story of how a holiday to South Africa was a life-changing experience for Sarah Arnot Mulhern who went on to develop a career in corporate business coaching and consulting. “The lifestyle here is tremendous,” she says, “infrastructure is good and there’s an international airport 20 minutes away”. She goes on to tell the story of the start of her career and how she settled in South Africa.
Gerry Paul who lives in Kerikeri, New Zealand, talks about his life there and his memories of Ireland. Paul moved from Ireland when he was six years old during the 1980s recession, only moving back years later when he turned 18. “Both are small countries, have small degrees of separation and good business ingenuity and innovation,” says Gerry.
If you live overseas and would like to share your experience of living away from home, email abroad@irishtimes.com with a little information about you and what you do.
