Humour, the Angelus and Mammy. What Irish emigrants miss

GENERATION EMIGRATION: This week on the Irish Times Generation Emigration blog, we asked Irish people living abroad what they missed about home. Here are some of their replies

Donough I miss the people. Only Irish people can laugh at themselves. I miss the darkly dramatic and comic way that we look at life. Making a clown of yourself is regarded as a brave. I miss that.

Della O’Donoghue Running into people on Exchequer Street and retiring to Fallon & Byrne or Simon’s Place for a state-of-the-world conversation.

James I miss real rashers and pudding. I miss long nights in summer. I miss real chips made from spuds. I miss kebabs on the way home and breakie rolls the morning after on your second attempt. I miss a lot of my mates. But more than anything I miss my family and a sense of place. I have lived in New Zealand for eight years. I miss being able to entertain the thought that one day it will all be fine and I won’t have to miss these things any more.

Michael Mostly I miss not having to phone before you drop round to see someone: just turning up is fine. Miss the fact that anyone will strike up conversation with you at the bus stop – people tend to move away if you do that here in Euro-Brussels.

Stephen The Dame tavern, O’Donoghue’s, Sundays in Croke Park, Irish sausages and brown bread but mostly my family. I live in New Zealand, and it’s such a long way home. I know I am better of where I am, but I would love to be able to pop home for a few days.

Sarah I’ve been in Euro-Brussels for 17 years. What do I miss? I really, really miss the Ryanair connection to Shannon. That has reduced the number of times I can get home drastically.

Kuhn Absolutely nothing.

Frank I miss proper fry-up material: rashers, pudding, sausages, brown bread, Irish butter. I miss stew when it’s cold. I miss talking about Irish politics to other Irish people. I miss how perfect Ireland is when the weather is good and the gentle complaining about the other 355 days. I miss hurling, training in January, playing games in August, shemozzles around the square, wild pulls and all the skills. The national anthem in Semple Stadium. I miss Guinness and the chats surrounding the pints. I miss the unique humour of Irish people. I miss making Father Ted jokes with strangers and them getting them. I miss Gaeilge. Beidh mé ar ais go luath. Nollaig shona díobh.

Cara I miss the Irish sense of humour. It’s amazing how funny Irish people are. You only really notice it when you’re away.

Brenda I miss Superquinn sausages, rashers, sour cream, coleslaw, Brennans bread, McCambridge bread, Tayto crisps, fish and chips, Cadbury chocolate, Kilmeaden cheese, Super Milk . . . the list goes on and on. Above all I miss my family and friends. I miss the Irish sense of humour, the Irish tendency to be self-deprecating. I miss striking up a conversation with a stranger and having a pint in an Irish pub full of character and atmosphere. I’ve never found an equivalent experience in a pub abroad.

Máire Saying thank you to the bus driver even after a 45-minute wait in a freezing wind for a bus to come. (Don’t miss the public transport.)

Mayo I have been living in New Zealand – Aotearoa – for a good few years, and they have a saying here: “ Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, ma-ku e ki- atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata! ” Translation from Maori: “Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!” So that’s what I miss most: Irish people in nearly all their forms (not the politicians and bankers, of course).

Alan I miss the sense of humour. It is pretty unique that the more you love someone the more you send them up. I miss my mates, but I am close enough that I can go home for weekends every now and then. I miss the honesty of some people – and some people are so genuine. I miss a pint on Sundays, knowing that work is the next day and that the longer we stay out the more trouble we are going to be in come morning. I miss the innocence of when I was growing up. I do not miss the narrow-mindedness. I do not miss the negativity. I do not miss the begrudgery. I do not miss the weather. I do not miss the self-importance of some Irish people after the Celtic Tiger began. I do not miss the Catholic church and its hypocrisy. I do not miss the political parties and their hypocrisy. 5-7 to the away team. I am staying where I am.

Eoin Been in Argentina for almost two years, and a pint of stout is something that’s sorely lacking here. Even the local microbrewery imitations don’t come close. It’s just not the same drinking Guinness from a bottle from the supermarket.

Caroline Maybe I speak too specifically of my growing up in small-town Ireland. From my time in Cork, I miss the Brog on a Saturday night and meeting loads of your friends. But also there are silly things that when I think of them make me homesick: the Angelus on telly, the RTÉ news theme music, death announcements on the radio, bilingual road signs . . .

Phelo Being an only son, not seeing my mother in person at least every couple of weeks is a sore point.

Larry One thing I always remember is walking home from school, in the darkening twilight of a winter afternoon, amid the cold rain, watching, and smelling, the coal and wood fires, with smoke billowing out of chimneys all over town. I do miss that smell.

Chris I get more post now, and I love it. It doesn’t matter if you can buy Tayto over the internet: the squashed bag that your friend slipped in with your birthday card is so much better.

Tracy I have been living in Spain for 11 years. At the beginning I didn’t miss anything. Now what I miss most are the essentials: my mammy’s apple tart, my mammy’s soda bread, real sausages, Taytos, cooking chocolate for making good old Rice Krispie or cornflake cakes – and, of course, my mammy.

Reggie Ah, will ye stop? You’re putting a lump in me throat. Been gone just over five years – Sweden – so I’m lucky enough to be able to get back quite regularly.Thanks to The Irish Times for the Generation Emigration series and jag önskar er alla en riktigt god jul – I wish you all a merry Christmas.

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