“Muck, bow, kuneen, shunnuk. OK?” says Number One, jabbing at his placemat. “Now can I have some cake?” he asks. I’ve introduced Irish (Gaelic) by buying new placemats. At school I wasn’t much fussed about Irish but my secondary school teacher was. She was very encouoraging and I ended up doing surprisingly well in my… Continue reading Learning Irish At The Table
Two years ago this whole school starting business was new to me. I hadn’t had anything to do with it since I began in Junior Infants in a 4-teacher school in rural Ireland in the early 80’s. As far as I remember, starting school involved being brought into the classroom by my mother, the teacher… Continue reading Starting School, The German Way
When people in Germany ask me what Ireland is like for a holiday, I am always keen to make it clear that if they are looking for a beach holiday they can forget Ireland. “If you don’t mind the weather, you can have a great holiday in Ireland” I tell them. After this year’s holiday… Continue reading Beach Weather
Yesterday I flew back to my adopted home, Germany, from my real home, Ireland. Leaving was hard after spending almost one month with my family and old friends and having met some new friends too. But that’s the thing with being an emigrant. You fly “home” on holidays and then you leave there to fly… Continue reading Shortlisted!
We all have these fleeting moments when we find ourselves, however briefly, purely happy. Just as it dawns, you have a few seconds to think to yourself “I am happy. Nothing else” and then it is gone again. Nothing in particular brings it on, I find. Why we suddenly feel elated or simply perfectly content… Continue reading The Moment You Find Yourself Happy
I don’t win competitions and I’m no good a gambling. A Saturday’s child, I work hard for a living. Things don’t fall into my lap. But, I am lucky. I’m lucky to have a loving husband and three of the very best children the world has ever seen. I’m lucky to have a close family despite… Continue reading The Luck Of The Irish
This week I have been on The Irish Times website again, this time with an article on emigrant voting. You may or may not know that Ireland, unlike most European countries, does not allow emigrants to vote by postal vote. Emigrants are kept on the electoral register for, I believe, 18 months after leaving Ireland and… Continue reading Having My Political Say
One of my all time biggest dreams came true today when an article I wrote about life in Germany was published in The Irish Times, one of Ireland’s main national papers and the paper I have always read. OK, so it was only in the online edition, but I am still pretty proud of myself.… Continue reading My First Byline!
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