Trevis Gleason had been living with multiple sclerosis most of his adult life when he and his wife Caryn moved to Ireland in 2012.
Gleason had already spent a winter in Dingle in 2005 after undergoing a chemotherapy course to help alleviate the symptoms of his MS. He did not want his illness to hold him back from visiting the home of his ancestors and quickly fell in love with the bustling town in west Kerry. He got a wheaten terrier he named Sadie and comfortably settled into his new role as "the Yank walking around Dingle with a puppy and stick".
Gleason flew home to Seattle three months later determined to return to Ireland and make it his home.
“The day before I left I took Sadie for a walk and we sat with our backs to a stone wall looking out to the sea and promised her I would bring her back, because Americans talk to their dogs.”
A few years after his trip to Ireland, Gleason met Caryn and in December 2009 the couple travelled to Dingle for their honeymoon. Caryn had never been to Ireland but was intrigued by the small Irish town her husband loved so dearly.
"I'd been to Europe several times so when I met and married Trevis one of his things was to live in Ireland," says Caryn. "I like the European lifestyle so we came here on our honeymoon and Dingle was charming."
Unfortunately, the couple’s visit coincided with the coldest winter Ireland had experienced in 50 years. “We had to keep going to the pubs and restaurants because our power was out a good bit of the time and the walls of the cottage were dripping the rain was so strong.”
Regardless of the freezing temperatures, the couple enjoyed the visit and in 2012 decided to move their lives across the Atlantic to Ireland.
“It was now or never, live the dream while you can,” says Gleason. “My father has a great saying: ‘If you don’t, you won’t’. That really sticks with me.”
Caryn admits that many friends and family members thought they were crazy. “But others really thought, ‘Wow, I wish I could do that’,” she adds.
The couple were in Dingle eight months and waiting for their visas to arrive when Gleason received a call from the immigration office in Dublin. Having arrived on tourist visas, Gleason applied for a retirement visa so they could stay in the country.
“The woman said to me on the phone, ‘You seem very young to be retired’, so I told her I had multiple sclerosis. She said this wasn’t going to work, that I was a potential burden to society.”
By this point Caryn, who is a trained Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) and specialises in working with children on the autism spectrum, had already been offered a job by the HSE in Kerry.
While researching work opportunities in Ireland before the move, Caryn discovered there were only 49 full time BCBAs employed in the Republic. “So that would have made me number 50. There is a real need here for autism services, especially early intervention.”
Caryn accepted the job which gave her a work permit and allowed the couple to stay. Since coming to Ireland four years ago, Caryn has watched scores of certified young BCBAs move abroad due to a lack of jobs despite the need for autism specialists here.
“Maybe if the government looked into putting money into early intervention you’d see so much more progress down the line. They need to be proactive about it.”
Once the couple’s visas had been confirmed, Gleason threw himself into the local community and drew on his background in food science and training as a chef by getting involved with the Dingle Food Festival.
“I’ve been allowed to become part of the food community. I jumped in and did whatever I could and have become an ambassador for Blas na hÉireann.” Gleason also blogs for MS Ireland, the MS society of the UK and the national MS society in the US, and has written a book about his first visit to Ireland in 2005.
It took Caryn longer to adjust to her new life in Ireland. A couple of days after arriving in 2012, Gleason turned to his wife and said with enthusiasm: “Don’t you just love this town”.
“Caryn said, ‘I like it very much’, which sort of brought me up short. I realised, this was my dream, it wasn’t Caryn’s dream.” However, it didn’t take Caryn long to fall for the friendly and open nature of the local people.
“If you’re a new resident in Dingle and are willing to be a part of it and help make the community better and stronger, you’re welcomed dearly,” says Gleason. “The work Caryn does here as a BCBA is extremely important.”
The couple miss family in the US but say Ireland feels like home. Trevis recently turned to his father for some life advice when chatting on the phone.
“I said, “Dad, what do you do when you attain your life’s dream? What do you do when you reach that point?’ He told me, ‘You live your dream’. Caryn’s work here has made that possible for us.”
In September 2015, HSE funding cuts forced the company Caryn was working for to limit her hours below her permit’s requirements. She now works with the Cork Association for Autism – a parent-developed charity for adults with autism and intellectual disabilities – and commutes to the city every fortnight. The change in employment meant she had to reapply for her work permit and the couple are currently waiting for news on their visas.
“The first visa process was harrowing but we’ve learned to adapt and live the Irish mantra of ‘Ah sure, it’ll be grand’,” says Gleason. “And it will be. We’re not going to waste a single moment of living our lives in Ireland by worrying about if and when they’ll kick us out.
“It was my passion for Ireland – its people, culture and my ancestral connection – which brought us to the country. It turned out to be my wife’s passion which has allowed us to stay.”
