A Citizen's Journey: Living in Ireland

Since I grew up in America, people frequently ask me about Thanksgiving.  "Its bigger than Christmas, right?" Well, no, not in my family, but I can see how you could get that impression. The curiosity I've frequently come across has manifested itself in more than a few locals voicing that they'd  like to celebrate Thanksgiving, too.  Some restaurants even put on an American Thanksgiving spread.

So for anyone who is interested, this is how Thanksgiving was always celebrated in my family...

My grandma would spend the night as she'd need to put the turkey in the oven by 5am (to be ready to eat by 3pm).  My mom is one of eight siblings, and four of her sisters lived around us so our house was always packed for Thanksgiving.  My mom and dad would go into cleaning overdrive to get the house ready.

On Thanksgiving Day you'd wake up to the smell of turkey roasting in the oven.  People would start to arrive at 1pm and we'd eat about 3pm.  You'd eat a light br…

There are many moments in parenting that make your day.  That make your week.  But a few of them are so special you know you will remember them forever and that they will become part of your family oral history.

When my daughter was about four, she came home from school and told me "Cian says boys can only marry girls and girls can only marry boys!" This seemed strange to her as I have consistently repeated the mantra that girls can marry girls and girls can marry boys; boys can marry boys and boys can marry girls.  So I looked at her curious, honest face and said, "Well, some people think boys should only marry girls and girls should only marry boys.  But I think people should marry who they want." At that moment, my daughter looked up at me and said, "I want to marry you, mommy." And gave me a great, big hug. And my heart exploded with love.



Last Friday my daughter and I were on our way to school (she's now a few years older) when I was reminiscin…

The Republic of Ireland came into being on 18 April, 1949.  In our 65 year history, not only have large-scale protests rarely occurred with any frequency (compared to other EU countries such as Greece, France, Spain) but we have been renown for not taking to the streets. 

But that has changed.  The people, or at least, great numbers of the people are now taking to the streets.  Upwards of 70,000  people marched in Dublin on 11 October of this year to protest water charges (as usual there is some disparity between the diverse groups counting attendees).  

Three weeks later, on 1 November, over 100,000 marched all over Ireland to protest same.  

The Irish government was watching and listening and in an attempt to address public anger changed its water charges policy.  But Pandora's box had opened, vast swathes of the citizenry are still very angry and the momentum built with high public attendance of protest marches continues to grow. 

3 November: David O'Donoghue writes in the Inde…