Welcome to the October edition of The Irish Times Abroad newsletter. Richard Curran moved to Prague in the 1990s and this month he tells the story of how he built a life in the Czech Republic. In 1992, he and a friend heard that there was work in Prague and Milan. “As the flight to Prague was £5 cheaper than anywhere else, we decided to go there.” He returned to Dublin to complete his education before going back to Prague. After finding his way through a few different jobs, Richard now owns a bar in Prague called The Irish Times.
Ryan O’Sullivan moved to Palm Beach, Florida in 2017, to build a career in the US as a chef. After going on a J1 to San Francisco while in college, O’Sullivan was determined to go back to the US “to make something of myself”. He started his career in the US working in country clubs and in 2020 he received a message from a recruiter asking if he wanted to appear on Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen. O’Sullivan believes the dishes he served on the show, which were local to his home in Cork, were part of the reason he won season 22. “I feel like a lot of people got lost in the actual concept of what it’s about. You and your roots, who you are and what you represent.”
Phoebe Moore and Moneer Seify write about their 16-day train journey around Europe, and sometimes they have different verdicts on the experience. The trip stopped in seven cities across the Continent and days spent travelling led to early starts but beautiful views as they made their way to one of their stops in Genoa. Moore woke up to “sneak peeks of cragging cliffs, bobbing yachts and blue seas” through snoozes on the train. Genoa took Seify by surprise, with “streets that are so narrow you could shake hands with your neighbour”.
Eoghan MacDonagh talks about how a few events lined up together to lead him to a life in Paris. Firstly, a language exchange and secondly a year spent on Erasmus in France while studying law at Trinity College Dublin. Although his experience on the exchange was in a “very rigid French boarding school”, a weekend spent on a houseboat in the centre of Paris showed him “the best of Paris for a few days”, setting him on his journey to take more of an interest in the language. Now working as a senior associate at law firm Clifford Chance, he spends half his time in the London office and the other half in the Paris office.
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Laura Kennedy gives her tips and tricks on surviving long-haul flights, such as the flight from Ireland to Australia. Making sure that you’re prepared with compression socks and snacks to last the trip is important, she says. However, she warns, a flight is only as comfortable as whoever you are sitting next to, be they a snorer, a chatterbox or someone who laughs out loud at films. She advises people to consider the seat they pick when flying. “The window seat will allow you to sleep undisturbed, but the aisle seat will give you unimpeded bathroom access and freedom to move about.”
Aoife O’Dwyer writes about living in Vancouver and how it has become a “stronghold of Irish immigrants in recent years”. The summers there are filled with activities such as camping, sunrise swims and mountain hikes, while the surrounding views of the Rocky Mountains mean breathtaking scenery wherever you look on the horizon. However, she says rents can rival those seen in Dublin and “generally it’s a case of who you know to get a decent option”.
Christopher Burke talks about living in Colombia where he was “mesmerised by the lushness and variety of the landscape’s rich greens”. Like many other places in the world, Colombians have an interest in all things Irish. “I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me: ‘You’re Irish! I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland.” Despite the interest “Guinness is as rare as a shamrock in Colombia”. There are still the small home comforts of a local Irish pub though, known as El Irish Pub.
Joyce Cathleen Hall Andersen decided to move to Dublin because she felt she needed a change of pace. After the death of her mother in June 2023, everything in Joyce’s native city brought her mother to mind. “That’s what grief does to you, it forces you to stand still because it is impossible to do anything else but whatever you’re feeling.” While she does not have many complaints about Ireland, she can’t make sense of the traffic light system and she also feels sorry for every person “risking their life on a bicycle here”.
You’ll find plenty more stories by and about the Irish diaspora on irishtimes.com/abroad.
Thanks for reading.
