A message from the Director - Joanne Barry

‘As the wife of a Canadian emigrant I have first hand experience of this longing, to be fair my husband emigrated for love, but this does not lessen his worry about losing connections with home. He often speaks of missing the seasons in Canada. On a daily basis I feel the need to go to the beach and walk, but he is drawn to the forest as it reminds him of home. He is also adamant that his daughter will have a deep connection with her roots in Canada.’

 “The truth of the emigrant experience is the struggle of being split”. This quote from an Irish emigrant blogger is at the heart of our vision for Imigéin. To feel torn between two places is a difficult thing. It is an emotional struggle, it challenges ones identity, ones sense of place, ones sense of belonging. An emigrant is on the search for a new home, but already has a home. The story is simple. A young woman leaves her family to go to an 'other' place. A place that will not feel like home in the beginning but she will connect to this place; she will begin to settle here. This woman will find her way in this new place; she will stay there and live her life there. There will be a longing for home, for family, for home ground but she will make the decision to stay in her new home and embrace it.