wash your language

  • All Posts
  • Publications
  • Services
  • Contact
  • Fairies at the Stone Circle
You are here: Home / Dublin / Dreams of an Irish Dog

Dreams of an Irish Dog

March 6, 2018 by EmmaP 1 Comment

That’s the original title I gave this piece which was just published in today’s Irish Times online. I’m delighted to be getting lots of positive responses to it – I think my thoughts on moving home to Ireland after 23 years abroad hits a nerve with anyone living away from home (and there are a lot of us).

And I’ll be writing a story every few weeks for the Irish Times about how we’re adjusting to life here. A bit like this Turf story I already posted after Christmas.

Here’s a link to today’s Irish Times story.

And here’s how it starts:

“Will there be a school play I can be in? Do they have scouts in Ireland? Can I have my own room? Does this mean we can finally get a dog?”

Our kids were very excited when we told them last spring that we would be leaving Italy and moving to Dublin in the summer. They had visited Irelandmany times, for Christmas, birthdays, funerals; they knew the parks and libraries, and they felt like they could really live there. And when we knew my husband’s contract in Florence was due to end, it seemed like the right time for us to decide to give Ireland a go. Finally.

I left Ireland 23 years ago and I have lived abroad for longer than I lived there. I grew up in Dublin, but I’ve been a “grown up” in other places. Having met my Canadian husband after college in London we moved around with his career (US, Canada, Norway, Italy). So, out of the four of us, I was the only one qualified to know about what life in Ireland would be like. Or thought I was.

Filed Under: Dublin, Irish, Kids, Moving to Ireland, Travel

Recent posts

  • Mothers on Buses July 8, 2022
  • The Wall of Pink Covid Hearts October 11, 2021
  • Tunes in an Empty Pub July 2, 2021

Comments

  1. Adrian Hiel says

    March 7, 2018 at 4:11 pm

    Really enjoyed the article Emma! And very much looking forward to the coming ones too as our story seems similar, if a few years behind your own. I’m Canadian, my wife and two very small kids are Irish and we’ve lived in Belgium for years.
    Since the arrival of the two young ‘uns we’ve keenly felt the lack of family around us – both the logistical support that they can offer, but also the emotional support. Lately we’ve been discussing what it would be like to move to Wexford. My wife is from there, as is much of my extended family making it a logical spot to put down roots. But then my wife remembers that she left Ireland for a reason, and what would we do for work? and we wonder if we aren’t dreaming in technicolour of the grass you mention. All of this is to say I’m looking forward to your coming articles and I am sure they’ll provoke much debate in our home.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

A Blog and More

I write about language and the quirks of our family life in Dublin and previously in Italy and Norway. Read More…

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
Instagram

Instagram

Facebook

This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.
Click to show error
Error: Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. Type: OAuthException

Wash my language?

Språkvask is the Norwegian word for proofing text. Literally it means “language wash”; a more poetic way of saying it!

Blog comments

  • Donna on The Wall of Pink Covid Hearts
  • EmmaP on Tunes in an Empty Pub
  • Cathy Hogan on Tunes in an Empty Pub

© 2023 · Handcrafted with d by 2 Pups Design Co.