Listening to my great-grandmother talk about life in Ireland was so interesting, but considering she hadn’t been there in such a long time I wanted to get a more recent perspective of life in Ireland compared to America. So, I interviewed my uncle who just moved here about 10 years ago.
Well, considering Ireland is where I grew up, most of my family and childhood friends still live over there. I do miss being able to see them all every day, but I have started my own family here in Philadelphia so I can’t complain. I was actually just there last year for my sister’s wedding. Ireland is a very beautiful place, but when you live there you definitely start to take it for granted, as you take anything for granted when you get used to it. So, going over there now I really do appreciate the beauty of my homeland. It is also nice to bring my kids there to show them where I grew up and allow them to see some of their family members that they don’t normally get to see.
Ireland is a very religious place. So, I grew up in a strict, Catholic household. I went to Catholic schooling and attended Church every Sunday with my family. This was and still is the only acceptable way of life for a Catholic family in Ireland. In Philly, there aren’t nearly as high of standards for Catholic families. My kids attend a charter school, which have become increasingly more popular in the past few years, but they do go to CCD classes so that they can make all of their sacraments. We also don’t attend Church nearly as much as we should. I think another big difference is how strict we have to be with our kids, but I’m not sure if that’s a difference in culture or just the type of world we live in now compared to what it was when I was younger. When I was a kid, we would come home from school, get out homework done and then head right out with our friends. We didn’t have cell phones so our parents wouldn’t hear from us until we were coming home for dinner, whereas today, we constantly need to know where our kids are and stay in touch with them just to make sure that they’re okay.
Considering I live in a predominantly Irish neighborhood in South Philly, I see a lot of similarities. One of the biggest things I find comforting to be so similar to home is how close the neighborhood is. Everyone is really looking out for one another and we’re sort of like a big family.
I think the biggest thing I try to incorporate from my culture at home into my everyday life and my family’s everyday life is the traditional Irish foods. I’m a good cook so I always try to make dinners that my mother made growing up for me. I want my kids to be exposed to more than just American foods so I always have them trying different stews or anything that I liked eating growing up.
It makes sense that their stories of what life was like in Ireland and then what it was like transitioning to America were different because of the time difference, but one thing I realized to be true for both is the importance of family within the culture and how they both made this aspect a priority to pass on to their kids.
Well, considering Ireland is where I grew up, most of my family and childhood friends still live over there. I do miss being able to see them all every day, but I have started my own family here in Philadelphia so I can’t complain. I was actually just there last year for my sister’s wedding. Ireland is a very beautiful place, but when you live there you definitely start to take it for granted, as you take anything for granted when you get used to it. So, going over there now I really do appreciate the beauty of my homeland. It is also nice to bring my kids there to show them where I grew up and allow them to see some of their family members that they don’t normally get to see.
Ireland is a very religious place. So, I grew up in a strict, Catholic household. I went to Catholic schooling and attended Church every Sunday with my family. This was and still is the only acceptable way of life for a Catholic family in Ireland. In Philly, there aren’t nearly as high of standards for Catholic families. My kids attend a charter school, which have become increasingly more popular in the past few years, but they do go to CCD classes so that they can make all of their sacraments. We also don’t attend Church nearly as much as we should. I think another big difference is how strict we have to be with our kids, but I’m not sure if that’s a difference in culture or just the type of world we live in now compared to what it was when I was younger. When I was a kid, we would come home from school, get out homework done and then head right out with our friends. We didn’t have cell phones so our parents wouldn’t hear from us until we were coming home for dinner, whereas today, we constantly need to know where our kids are and stay in touch with them just to make sure that they’re okay.
Considering I live in a predominantly Irish neighborhood in South Philly, I see a lot of similarities. One of the biggest things I find comforting to be so similar to home is how close the neighborhood is. Everyone is really looking out for one another and we’re sort of like a big family.
I think the biggest thing I try to incorporate from my culture at home into my everyday life and my family’s everyday life is the traditional Irish foods. I’m a good cook so I always try to make dinners that my mother made growing up for me. I want my kids to be exposed to more than just American foods so I always have them trying different stews or anything that I liked eating growing up.
It makes sense that their stories of what life was like in Ireland and then what it was like transitioning to America were different because of the time difference, but one thing I realized to be true for both is the importance of family within the culture and how they both made this aspect a priority to pass on to their kids.