It was in the Autumn of 2020 when Mike and Emily Sugrue looked out the window of their home in California to see the sky was completely orange.
Wildfires were raging through the State they called home, and though it was not the first time the couple experienced the consequences of climate change, it was the first time they realised that living there might no longer be feasible.
“There were so many wildfires in the state that the sky actually stayed orange all day. The street lights didn’t go off because there was that much of an impact,” Emily says.
“And when you have a little girl who should be outside and enjoying nature, but you have to worry about air quality and lung health because it looks like it’s snowing outside. Even though there’s relatively only a few of those days, it still makes a big impact, I think, psychologically.”
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The family had emergency ‘go-bags’ in the car at all times, in case a wildfire broke out near their home, resulting in them needing to evacuate at a moment’s notice. The couple says even if the fires weren’t right near them, they still had to contend with the smoke, smell and ash.
“One big fire was probably 30 miles (48km) away from where we were living at the time, and we woke up overnight smelling the smoke. So it’s, you know, it’s very visceral. It’s very in your face.”
As a result of this, and the ever-increasing summer temperatures, Mike and Emily relocated to Ireland last summer with their five-year-old daughter Harper and Emily’s mother Pamela Freeman.
They chose Ireland because Mike has family connections in Kerry, making the move easier in terms of visas.
“And so because she [my daughter] had Irish citizenship, and I had it, we figured we could move here and it’d be pretty easy,” Mike said.
“I mean, our friends from America asked, ‘what’s it like?’ And from the American perspective, it’s kind of like moving to Canada. It’s a completely different country, nobody’s getting shot at schools and they speak English.”
Going from the extreme heat of California has been an adjustment, though one that Mike appreciates.
“It’s a temperate climate here, which is definitely more palatable for us. It’s just cool, you know, which is not maybe the best. I think Emily here likes a little warmer, but I think from my perspective, it’s like, be careful what you wish for on that warmer end of it,” Mike says.
“Because we had it in California, the temperate climate for sure, but then it started to skew hotter with no apparent upper cap so that it became very, very uncomfortable.”
While, largely, Ireland feels similar to the US, there are some distinct differences the family has noticed. There were better gluten-free and vegan options available in California, they say, though they can see that is beginning to change.
The chocolate here is way better. There’s no competition
The biggest change in terms of food, they say, is the lack of preservatives in food bought from the supermarket.
“We kind of take for granted that a lot of our food has preservatives in it. So we’re getting used to the fact that you know, a carton of milk is gonna go off a little faster here. Bread is gonna spoil a little bit faster,” Emily says.
“You can’t, I suppose, buy the amount of food that we were used to buying in the states and expect it to stay as fresh as long because, I mean, the food is all great quality. It’s just that it was not sprayed with pesticides that we sort of come to accept as normal.”
They have a laugh over whether Guinness tastes better in Ireland. Mike firmly believes that “Irish Guinness” is superior, while Emily says there is no difference between the two.
There is one thing that the pair definitely agree on when it comes to Irish cuisine: Cadbury’s chocolate.
“The chocolate here is way better. There’s no competition,” Mike says. Laughing, Emily agrees: “I’ve been told by some of our Irish friends that Hershey’s is offensive.”
Outside of the food and weather, Mike says the way of life in Ireland is quite different, too. He says there is less of a bustle here, when compared to living in some of the big American cities.
“Because of the political instability there, there’s just like a level of tension and it’s a huge continent and you feel like you can’t get away from it. Pretty much anywhere you go, there is that feeling and rancour and intensity. And that’s not what we want,” Mike says.
“It’s about how do I bring a child up there? There’s just like a slower pace here, that we found much more easy-going, people are talking to us in the market, like completely unprompted, which is really, really nice.”
We moved here because it’s progressive and there’s a focus on diversity, and lots of things that we think are proactive and really necessary for the world going forward
That would not be common practice in the US, Mike says, joking that: “In America, you only get that when you think they’re just setting you up for slashing tyres or something.”
Emily has found the move challenging professionally. She was a lawyer in the US, and that “hasn’t translated as well as I was hoping it would”, though things have improved the longer she’s been here.
Like many people in Ireland, the family have encountered difficulties with housing. They are renting a property in South Dublin but will have to vacate it later this year. The rental market “moves very quickly”, they say, making it difficult to find alternative accommodation.
They are hoping to either buy or rent another property in the same area and put down permanent roots in their new home.
The plan, they say, is to settle down in Ireland long term.
“We love the attitude and the people of Ireland,” Mike says. “We moved here because it’s progressive and there’s a focus on diversity, and lots of things that we think are proactive and really necessary for the world going forward, particularly for our little girl.”
We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com or tweet @newtotheparish
