MFComedy

I went 2x and fulfilled not only my lifelong dream, but that of my Grandfather as well (34 years after his death). His parents had fled the famine all those years ago. And I was always haunted by Ireland, feeling so split as an American/Irish. Also, I was afraid that Ireland could never live up to all that I dreamed it would be.

Making the trip completely changed my life. I saw how amazingly similar my family is to the people in Ireland. Seeing the Irish-Irish helped me understand myself and my AmerIrish family much better.

It deepened my Faith. Now I knew what the native Irish had had to go through just to say Mass. I saw a “Mass rock”... An illegal priest would use this ordinary-looking sacred rock as the altar to say an illegal Mass in a field for his illegal congregation. Pretty humbling. (I hope this makes me more understanding of the bigotry other people face today here & throughout the world.)

A side benefit is that I appreciate how great it is to live in Philly USA b/c of all the different nationalites and races. I would not be happy living in a country with just one people no matter how cool they are, it just isn’t enough.

I loved how all ages mixed together in the Pubs. At home, I had always hung out socially with my mom and my brother and cousins. Now I see where we got that from. Life in Ireland is less lonely than in the States.

And, traveling in Ireland is so safe for a woman. My first time, I went in the dead of winter, by myself. I rented a car and just took off from Shannon to the West and my first Irish Adventure. I was the first of my family to stand on the East Coast of the Atlantic Ocean in 150 years! Powerful magic…