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Category Archives: Irish Life & Society
A Global Village: Why We Are All Immigrants in a Village of 196 Citizens
First of all, let me be clear. This is NOT a post about Donald Trump or the recent American Election. To me, in many ways, that situation is small potatoes, a mere symptom (among many) of a much larger problem. … Continue reading
Posted in Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Expat Living, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life, Politics
Tagged America, Brexit, Dublin, election, global village, Ireland, refugee, Social Media, Syria
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Getting On With It: Lessons in Making A Life
One of the things that simultaneously aggravates and inspires me is the Irish notion of, “It’ll be grand”, of just getting on with it, and making do. It seems so casual and whimsical, but “getting on with it” has made … Continue reading
Thanksgiving in Ireland: The Importance of Sharing Old Traditions and Making New Ones
Each year around Thanksgiving I’m amazed at how many of the Irish I meet are familiar with American Thanksgiving traditions. I know that’s not a typical immigrant experience. Ireland and the U.S. are unnaturally close. But I am heartened to … Continue reading
Posted in Dublin Attractions, Dublin Life, Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Expat Living, Home & A Sense of Place, Irish History, Irish Life & Society, Pubs, Things to See in Ireland
Tagged Dublin, Dublin pubs, emigration, family & friends, fear, feature, holidays, immigration, Living in Dublin, migration, Stag's Head pub, Telling the Tain, Thanksgiving, The Irish, travel, United States
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Immigrant Dreams: Fantasies of Prosperity, Happiness, and a Sense of Place
In light of the recent refugee crisis, many of us have had the migrant’s pursuit of happiness and a better life on our minds. But those of us privileged enough to choose emigration, rather than having it forced on us, … Continue reading
A Better World: The Refugee Crisis and What It Says About Us
I regularly refer to immigrants, emigrants, migrants, and refugees in this blog. And, to some extent that last category has always been a somewhat obligatory attempt to cover all bases. And to my mind, true refugees have, until recently, seemed … Continue reading
Foreign & Domestic: Expat Loyalty & The European Union
Shortly after moving to Dublin, as I started to learn more about the EU, I began to hear locals speak of the U.S. and its Federal Reserve banking system in lofty terms. It seems that out here on the fringes … Continue reading
Posted in Bureaucracy, Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Europe, Irish Economy, Irish Life & Society
Tagged Brexit, Dublin, euro, European commision, European Union, Greece, Grexit, Ireland, Irish economy, nationality, politics, U.K., United States
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People Of Faith: The Real Irish Religion
With stores jammed with chocolate bunnies and half of Ireland packed into the off-license the day before the “End Times” (the nationwide Good Friday moratorium on alcohol), religion has been on my mind a bit this week. With visions of … Continue reading
Posted in Dublin Life, Irish Life & Society, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged Cork, craic, faith, Ireland, It'll Be Grand, Manchester United, religion, The Irish
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Learning the Language: Social Context Clues For Expats
One of the first things my wife and I noticed when we arrived in Dublin was that being American (or presumably from anywhere else) was kind of a mixed bag of good and bad. On the one hand, as long … Continue reading
Posted in Dublin Life, Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Expat Living, Irish Life & Society
Tagged Dublin, Dubliners, emigration, Ireland, Living in Dublin, tea, The Irish
12 Comments
The Expat’s Guide to Housing: Irish Landlords, Renting & Foreign Property Ownership
One of the first things that expats have to adjust to in their new home is the local outlook towards renting and property ownership. In the U.S. if you don’t own, or aspire to own at some point, you are … Continue reading
The Song Of My People: The Expat’s Guide to Foreign Language
For anyone traveling overseas, speaking the local language is not just useful, but may well save his or her life. For expats and immigrants, threading the needle of “becoming a local” (if that’s even possible) involves picking up not just … Continue reading