Where do you come from?

Have you ever felt like you belonged in a certain place, as though your blood and breath ran through the ground beneath your feet? I used to feel that way about Bozeman, my hometown. I loved every blade of grass, every sidewalk crack, every crooked tree, every gentle mountain breeze, every snowflake. I felt like …

Thoughts for International Women’s Day

I love Ireland - you know this. Every day being back brings this country and its people a little closer to my soul. But, as with all things, there are dark sides to the ones we love. And there are parts of Irish history pertaining to women in particular that are extremely troubling - and …

Catching Up

We've had a pretty mild winter this year in Ireland, all things considered. I haven't really minded being back in the world of grey skies and rainy streets because I love the contrasting warm fires and hot stews, not to mention misty mornings and lovely sunsets.  If anything, I would have liked to see a …

Pitch Black

Ireland gets darker than any place I've ever lived. It gets so dark I can't even explain it to you - darker than the desert, darker than the mountains, darker than anything I know. I think I forgot that when we moved away for a while, and came back. Even then, I'd only experienced the …

Full Circle

To make a long story short - we've moved back to Ireland. Quick refresher: I moved to Drogheda in January 2008, to marry Frank Kelly. We spent a few years trying to make a living and build a family here, but the Recession had us beat. We saved up what we could, went through the …

In Search of Home

It's been just over a year since we moved, immigrated, back to the USA from Ireland. Evelyn is going on 5 years old.  She's started forgetting things, like how her Nana's house looked, or what her little cousins' names are, or who our doting neighbours there were.  She remembers a lot of funny little things, but not …

Here. Now.

It's been nearly seven weeks since we made our great move back over to the USA. Every one of those weeks has presented its own unique challenges and blessings.   Some days are filled with hope and others, defeat.  We always knew it wouldn't be easy, yet even I have to admit, I never knew …

30 Days Remain

I'm a bit in denial, even as I sit here surrounded by half-packed boxes.  After 5 1/2 years of Irish adventures, my family and I are moving back to the USA on the 10th of September, just 30 days away. It has been a bit crazy, trying to plan out the whens and hows, and …

Summertime

Well, I've been in Ireland nearly 7 months now, and today was our first barbecue! It's been another wet summer, much to everyone's dismay, and today looked like just another heavy, humid, soggy day. However, after I left work, the sun was breaking through the clouds and I urged Frank to help me quickly buy …

Howth, a village by the sea

One of the things I love most about moving to a new place is discovering cool day trips in the area, things you didn't even realize were there, and all right under your nose!  Yesterday, I was lucky enough to find just one of those places - the town of Howth (pronounced Hothe, like "home"), …