Join us as we pick up the conversation with Doug Devaney who interviewed us last fall on The Plastic Podcasts.A talented podcaster, Doug’s also an actor, writer, journalist, and self-proclaimed "songster, funster, punster, hamster." In this episode we delve into the core concept of The Plastic Podcasts, which centers around the notion that “we all come from somewhere else.”Doug explores Irish diaspora narratives in England by engaging in lively discussions with actors, activists, artists, writers, academics, builders, and singers, while offering a platform to often overlooked people, including those with both African and Irish roots, as well as members of the Traveler community.We explore why Doug believes that discussing Irishness necessitates addressing Britishness, how Irish Americans differ from the Irish in England, and why they use terms like London Irish or Birmingham Irish instead of Irish English or Irish British.We delve into Doug's deep connection to his Irish identity despite growing up in England with an English mother, his County Clare roots, the instinctual bond among Irish people in England, the downplaying of Irish heritage in England during the 70s and 80s, his shift away from pursuing a career as a TV-inspired “verbose crime-busting lawyer” his ventures into playwriting, his commitment to preserving the stories of the Irish diaspora, and the backstories of his highly personal one-man plays.Doug's talent for captivating storytelling, inventive writing, free-spirited performance, engaging conversational style, and mastery of the comic aside, make him a savory new ingredient for our Irish Stew.But we never did find out about the hamster thing.LinksThe Plastic Podcasts WebsiteTwitterFacebookEpisodes:Irish Stew on The Plastic PodcastsAnthony Ekundayo LennonDoug’s Social MediaTwitterInstagramFacebook

For Dublin’s own David Clinch, media is serious business. He’s been working on the front lines of innovative journalism and the complete overhaul of the news business for the past 30 years.He jokes that he’s been called “the Zelig of the media,” an “accidental journalist” popping up in key roles at the companies driving the changing media landscape, including ITN News in London, CNN where he helped manage the CNN International Desk in Atlanta and pioneered the use of social media for international newsgathering, a direction he pursued to help our previous Irish Stew guest Mark Little build Storyful, the social media news agency at the intersection of media and technology.Currently, David concentrates on the core elements that enable journalism to thrive, particularly the financial underpinnings that sustain modern news media. He serves as the VP of Partnerships at Mather Economics, assisting companies in formulating sustainable business strategies and curating the influential “Mather Report. As the founder and consultant for Media Growth Partners he’s helping keep small news organizations viable, while developing a framework for capturing the value of local news reporting.”Born in England to Irish parents, David stayed there just long enough to develop an English accent that was “beaten out of me” he jokes when the family moved to Dublin. He studied at Belvedere College and Trinity College Dublin, saying “it was your fate if you were a Clinch in Dublin at that time.”David shares how Bono opened up his world view, his start in media with a pirate radio station, why he was told he’d never work for RTE, how he found his way into television, his move to Atlanta to work for the emerging global news powerhouse CNN, the growth of digital forensic journalism, why he’s so concerned with establishing the value of local media, and his open invitation to anyone in media to show them the framework he’s building to build local media through what he calls “organized laziness.”Join us for “a short history of the future of news,” with media innovator, David Clinch.LinksWebsites Mather Economics Media Growth Partners Social MediaLinkedIn: David ClinchTwitter: David ClinchTwitter: Mather Economics Twitter: Media Growth Partners

For Richard Donavan running the grueling 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon was only a way to stretch his legs before getting up the next morning to run across America…for the second time. Running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days sounds impossible, so he did it in under five.Richard is also the first person to run marathons at both the North and South Poles and now lures other likeminded athletes to join him in some of Earth’s most extreme endurance races, including the North Pole Marathon, Antarctic Ice Marathon, Volcano Marathon, and World Marathon Challenge (7 Marathons 7 Continents in a leisurely 7 Days).Where to next? Space. His Space Athletics Federation is hoping to stage a race in space by early 2026.Quite a journey for an economist from Mervue, County Galway.On Irish Stew he tells of the trauma that led to his embrace of ultra long-distance running, improvising his way to becoming the first person to run a marathon at the North Pole, the friend who motivated his two cross U.S. runs, dodging coyotes while running across the American West, overcoming the mental and physical challenges of running in some of the world's harshest environments, and his push into the final frontier of extreme sports in space.Join us in a conversation that spans the continents and looks to the stars with our guide to the exquisite loneliness of the long-distance runner, Richard Donovan.LinksWebsiteso  World Marathon Challengeo   Ice Marathono   Space Athletics Federation Social Media o  Twitter - Richard Donovano   Twitter: Space Athletics Federationo   LinkedIno  Facebook - Antarctic Ice MarathonSeamus Plugo   Triumph Foundation

For over 25 years Manachán Magan has been at the forefront of Irish cultural affairs. He first rose to public attention with the 1996 launch of Irish language television now known as TG4. Together with his brother Ruán, Manachán produced a ground breaking series of television programs exploring indigenous cultures across the globeSince those early days, Manachán continues to drive the cultural conversation through multiple mediums. He has proved to be an accomplished journalist, theatrical performer, podcaster and author. The recent publication of 32 Words For Field and Listen To The Land Speak is redefining how Irish people interact with their ancient language and cultureJoin us as we explore Manachán’s deep rooted Irishness and how he has carved out a space in public consciousness that differs from his extraordinary family. How he chooses to live a life unbounded by modern day conventions through the exploration of his unique perspective Manachán LinksWebsiteInstagramTwitterFacebookAlamanac Of Ireland

From “The Island of Malta and the Ireland of Malta,” Malta’s Ambassador to Ireland tells Irish Stew of the unexpected connections between the island nations of Ireland and Malta, especially for his hometown of Floriana.Ambassador Giovanni Buttigieg traces the Irish connection back to an 1895 visit to Floriana by an Irish Cardinal who went to Rome to advocate for the sainthood of one of their own, and a 1905 football match when the Royal Dublin Fusiliers gave the Floriana side their green and white striped jerseys, colors the Floriana Irish, as they are still known, wear to this day.The ambassador relates how football helped renew the Irish connections when Malta “turned green” as thousands of Irish fans set up base camp for flights to Sicily for the 1990 World Cup matches there. The Irish have been coming back ever since as tourists who fill Malta-bound planes to capacity.He tells of his time as Consul for Malta in New York and as Deputy Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, how reading an Irish poem a day prepared him for his dream posting to Dublin, presenting his diplomatic credentials to President Michael D. Higgins, Ireland and Malta’s shared legacy of British colonial rule, whether he is related to that other Buttigieg…and why he likes Irish weather.Ambassador Giovanni Buttigieg— “Maltese by birth, Irish by the grace of God.”LinksTwitterEmbassy of Malta in IrelandVisit Malta

A Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, Barbara Walsh started her career in Galway as a newspaper photographer and has gone on to work for newspapers and magazines in Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.  While at the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Barbara reported on the notorious murderer William Horton Jr. and Massachusetts’ flawed prison furlough system, a series that played a crucial role in the U.S. Presidential election where George H. W. Bush defeated Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, changed Massachusetts sentencing laws, and won a Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting in 1988.“The Horton story also taught me that journalists have tremendous power and responsibility to inform, to tell stories that need to be told,” she said.A raft of other journalism awards would follow, as would several children’s books, one illustrated by renowned artist Jamie Wyeth.But she faced the most challenging story of her life when she asked her father about his childhood pain. The process led to heartrending odysseys: one into a deadly Newfoundland hurricane and the lives of schooner fishermen, mostly of Irish descent, who relied on God and the wind to carry them home; the other, into a squall stirred by a man with many secrets, a grandfather who remained a mystery until long after his death, all captured in her book August Gale.We talk about how as a child she preferred writing over talking, how she rebounded from failing her final college journalism paper, her dread of deadlines, the state of journalism today, the Irish experience in Newfoundland, her connection to her Irish heritage, her travels to Ireland, and the two “guardian angels” she met on the ferry to Belfast who diverted her from a perilous path.Links:·Website:  https://barbarawalsh.net·Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbWalshAuthor· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbarawalsh.author· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbaraawalsh·Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Barbara-Walsh/author/B005TL1RRA· August Gale: A Father and Daughter's Journey into the Storm on indiebound.org: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780762761463

He’s the quintessential New York Irish cop who rose up through the ranks from walking a beat to becoming a highly-ranked detective. He’s also a respected leader of New York’s Irish American community and a man at the center of a major controversy playing out now in New York as the American Irish Historical Society’s irreplaceable Beaux-Arts townhouse home on Fifth Avenue in New York City was put up for sale.Brian always seems to be in the middle of it all, from his roots amidst a big Irish family, as a cop keeping the peace as a detective during some grim times in New York, in the middle of important peace-building efforts in Northern Ireland, and now in the middle of efforts to save the AIHS.Brian came into the AIHS as Chairman of the Executive Council, hoping to air out the old building, welcome Irish arts and culture, and return the 125-year-old organization to relevance. And the work was well underway when his situation there became untenable.The situation soon became vastly more dire as the AIHS announced its plans to sell its landmark building and move its collection to who knows where.Join us as Brian talks of his Irish American childhood, his adventures scurrying across rooftops in pursuit of “perps,” how he got to know the people in the neighborhoods he served, and the effort to save the AIHS, and the breakthrough when New York attorney general Leticia James blocked the building’s sale.All that and a bit of “paddywackery” too.Links for Brian McCabeLinkedInFacebookBylines on the Irish EchoAmerican Irish Historical Society ArticlesPlans afoot to block the sale of the American Irish Historical Society in New York - Debbie McGoldrickThe Battle For the Future of the American Irish Historical Society - Niall O'DowdOn a Storied Stretch of Fifth Avenue, a Symbol of Irish America Reels - Dan BarryAttorney General James Announces Plan to Preserve and Revitalize the American Irish Historical Society

Growing up with one foot in Dublin and the other in Cork, Michael “Mick” Mellamphy now has a foot in Ireland and one in New York, where he’s in starring in Ronán Noone’s The Smuggler at the Irish Repertory Theatre, part of the Origin Theatre’s 1st Irish Festival he curated, on stages around NYC for Jan. & Feb. 2023.And he still made time to sit down with us a couple of hours before The Smuggler’s final dress rehearsal before opening night a few hours later.But as well known as Mick is in the New York theater scene, but for avid gamers he’s famed as the performance capture artist of the cheeky Irish gunslinger Sean MacGuire from Rockstar’s hugely popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2.It all started when his grandmother took him to the Cork Opera House to see a Christmas “panto” – the traditional holiday season performance of songs, gags, comedy and dancing – and told him “you could be up there, doing that for a living.”Mick shares tales from the Irish stage, his early days in New York, his time bartending at and later owning the popular New York pub Ryan’s Daughter, his first forays into New York theater, why he likens his video game work to performing on the stage, while sliping into an impressive array of accents along the way.Join us for an engaging conversation with a Global Irish Citizen of stage, screen, and video games, Michael Mellamphy!LinksTwitterInstagramLinkedInOrigin Theatre/1st Irish Festival:Origin Theatre TwitterThe Smuggler at the Irish Repertory Theatre

Veteran diplomat and C Suite executive, Ted Smyth, joins Martin Nutty, on The Stew for the third time. With the conclusion of the final election of the US Midterm election season, it seemed like a good time to take the political temperature of not just the United States, but also of Northern Ireland and the Western European democracies.Ted is a member of the Irish Americans for Biden committee and has a thoughtful take and matters political which spans both sides of the Atlantic. Join Ted and Martin as they chew the fat on what just happened and what to expect in 2023

Speechwriter, novelist, essayist, and now memoirist Peter Quinn returns to Irish Stew to share tales from his home borough of New York City and beyond, captured in his new book, Cross Bronx: A Writing Life.Join us as Peter spins stories from his rise up through Irish American middle-class respectability in New York’s northernmost borough, The Bronx, which Quinn describes as “a small-scale Yugoslavia. Ethnic enclaves were interspersed amid areas in which, though physically mingled; groups lived psychically apart. We thought of ourselves in terms of neighborhoods and parishes.”Quinn charts his shift from collaborative but anonymous work as a speechwriter at the highest echelons of political and corporate America, to his solitary, but no longer anonymous work writing Banished Children of Eve, Hour of the Cat, and other novels, and finally to the inward-looking, self-reflecting, warts-and-all odyssey of writing his memoir…a gift to his family and to us.We drive along Peter Quinn’s personal Cross Bronx Expressway, though the twists and turns of his Irish American life, his family dynamics, his pull towards history, his dedication to the written word, his perceptions of the Irish in America, a few salty anecdotes on New York notables, and though it all, his on-again, off-again, ultimately eternally “on” love story with “The Girl from Hot Dog Beach.”Cross Bronx: A Writing Life is available at Fordham University Press and all major booksellers, including Amazon.

In a way we’ve been teasing this episode since our first, as we’ve treated you to a wee taste of Rosa Nutty’s music at the opening of every Irish Stew episode. Now we go beyond the snippet and follow Rosa through the emotional landscape she travels in song.Her first album after a five-year absence from the recording studio, World So Blue is getting rave reviews, like this from The Irish Times:“Now she’s back with a long-in-gestation debut album that weaves a kind of spell that will calm the jittery nerves of this weekend’s ghosts and spirits… this sense of optimism in the face of impending gloom seals whatever abrasions may have resided in Nutty’s creative mindset over the past three years.”Join us as Rosa tells of her bilingual Irish-English childhood, her immersion in the visual arts, the influences on her songwriting, the power of letting go, her “semi-live” recording style, and the exhilaration of live performance.And as she traces her journey from rural North County Dublin to rural Cavan, we’ll also hear all-too-brief segments from several of her songs.Despite what she jokingly calls her “sad girl music,” there’s optimism in her atmospheric songs, best expressed in the title song “World Still Blue,” a hopeful sense that despite the turmoil and hardships of this world, from another perspective, say the perspective of an astronaut looking back on to earth from space, our world can still be “blue, calm and full of potential.”Links·       Linktree: https://linktr.ee/rosanutty·       Website: http://www.rosanutty.com/·       Twitter: https://twitter.com/RosaNutty·       Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosanutty/·       Bandcamp: https://rosanutty.bandcamp.com/album/world-still-blue·       Merchandise: https://rosanutty.bandcamp.com/merch

Gregory Harrington has stayed busy since our initial episode back in February 2022. Since that  conversation, the accomplished violinist  released a recording titled Gregory Harrington: Live From The Irish RepertoryJoin Martin Nutty as he chats with Gregory about the risks of recording beloved traditional  Irish tunes as a classically trained violinist. Learn how Gregory approaches the recording of music outside classical repertoire and how he approaches the challenge of bringing something fresh to each musical crossover recording. Gregory Harrington LinksWebsiteTwitter FacebookGregory Harrington Live From The Irish Repertory BandcampSpotifyApple YouTube: Irish Repertory 

In times past, the Irish language (Gaelic) was thought by some to be a mark of backwardness. In this episode, husband and wife team, Colm Bairéad and Cleona Ní Chrualaoi reveal how Ireland's native tongue provided entrée to the world of movie-making leading ultimately to the creation of An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), Ireland's nominee for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.While there are a number of hurdles to jump before the final five Oscar nominees are announced, there is little doubt that An Cailín Ciúin is meeting with approval from both general audiences and film critics, racking numerous awards at film festivals around the globe beginning with a Grand Prix award at the Berlin Film Festival in FebruaryWe talk with Cleona and Colm about how the Irish language shaped their lives, sometimes in not the most comfortable of ways. We track their paths through Irish Radio and TG4 (Ireland's Irish Language TV Channel) where they met and how they resolved to make a feature-length fiction film using their Inscéal production company.Join us as we go behind the scenes in the making of An Cailín Ciúin and how things seemed to pull together in a special way despite significant challengesColm & Cleona LinksTwitterCleonaColmLinkedInCleonaColmInscéal - Colm and Cleona's Production CompanyColm's WebsiteAn Cailín Ciúin LinksPreviewTwitterFacebookInstagramIMDBWikipedia

Our 50th episode comes to you on the most ancient of Irish holidays - Halloween or Oíche Shamhna (eee-ha how-na) in Irish/Gaelic. It is the night that celebrates the transition from the old to the new Celtic year. That transition point, between the present and the past, was a space where the Celts believed the spirits or pucaí (pook-ee) of the past roamed.Halloween seems a particularly appropriate date for us to introduce Neil Jackman, a man with an insatiable interest in Ireland's mysterious past and whose mission is to make "the past present". We talk with Neil about his work on the foreboding hill which overlooks Dublin where a sinister brooding building stares down on the capital city and where 18th-century aristocratic members of the Hell Fire met for their debauched revelries.While we talk with Neil about the Hell Fire and its far deeper past, we also explore his background from the North West of England and how he came to live in Ireland with a hazy understanding of his ancestral past. We trace his career through an archaeological boom and bust period which in turn led to the foundation, along with his wife Róisín Burke, of the innovative Abarta Heritage. Abarta has worked with multiple stakeholders of Ireland's past including the Office of Public Works, the Heritage Council, and the National Museum of Ireland. Always, Abarta has been focused on deepening the public's understanding of the island's rich historical legacy.Not to be just historical, we will talk with Neil about his Puffin obsession and the otherworldly site where his twin interests collide. You'll just have to listen to the podcast for more.Neil Jackman LinksTwitterLinkedInInstagramAbarta Heritage - Audio Guides and Heritage ServicesAmplify Archaeology - PodcastTuatha - for those looking for a deeper understanding of Ireland's past

Our 49th episode features one of our most global of guests–Deirdre Ryan, a world class athlete who competed for Ireland on the global stage and who is now raising the bar for Irish food.Born in County Dublin, Deirdre studied business and Italian, then worked, studied and trained in Milan. To train and work in Germany, she learned to speak German and she’d go on to work in Belgium, Switzerland, and the UK before returning to Ireland full time. Along the way, she soared to new heights rolling backwards over the high jump bar, ever higher, culminating in a sixth-place finish in the 2011 world championships (later moved up to fifth when a Russian athlete was banned) and set the Irish record when qualifying for the 2012 Olympics in London, competing there despite training setbacks from injuries. As she trained, she developed an interest in food, nutrition and sustainability, making her a natural fit for Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, where she is helping the Irish agriculture and food sector “clear the bar” to a greener future as the Director of Sustainability & Quality Assurance for Bord Bia’s Origin Green initiative.Join us for a story of sustained excellence in business and athletics, and of sustainability in the Irish food sector in our “Global Irish Nation Conversation” with Deirdre Ryan. LinksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deirdreryanirelandBord Bia:Website - https://www.bordbia.ieTwitter - https://twitter.com/Bordbia Origin Green:Website - https://www.origingreen.ieTwitter - https://twitter.com/OriginGreen 

From a dairy farm in County Offaly to the C-Suite in a global branding agency, her university days in Ulster during The Troubles, her internship with Enterprise Ireland that brought her to New York, her work bringing foreign direct investment and thousands of jobs to Ireland, her MBA from Harvard Business School, her rise in the world of marketers where she is regularly named one of the profession’s most influential global voices, her launch of a #GlobalIrish movement built on the hashtag #WearingIrish that helped jumpstart the world of Irish fashion and design while further burnishing the Irish brand…Margaret Molloy may not have done it all–but she’s getting close.We learn of the strategy, serendipity, and simplicity that shaped her career, her role as the global chief marketing officer of the leading branding agency Siegel+Gale, the meaning of “brand,” how the best brands are rooted in simplicity, the power of a personal brand, the importance of a diversity of personal brands, and Tourism Ireland as an exemplar of #BrandIreland.A confirmed New Yorker now, Margaret keeps strong ties to Ireland, has mentored many aspiring Irish professionals in New York, brings a vibrant Irish voice to the American c-suite and to podcasting through her How CMOs Commit, and still is guided by the lessons learned back on the farm.Join us for a most #GlobalIrishNation conversation with one of its most compelling citizens, Margaret Molloy.Margaret LinksTwitterLinkedIn InstagramPodcast: How CMOs CommitSiegel+Gale: Company BioWearing Irish LinksWebsiteTwitter

It wasn’t planned this way, but we recorded our episode with writer Brian McDonald on Sept. 11, a date that looms large in his new book Five Flights Up, which traces the Irish American story of four generations of the Feehan family in the Fire Department of New York, the FDNY, a story which would tragically culminate with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.From the days just after the horse-drawn firetruck, to the devastation of the 1970s when the Bronx was burning, to the unspeakable tragedy of 9/11, to the culture-busting department of today, a Feehan has worn the shoulder patch of the FDNY. The tale shines the spotlight on the career of William M. Feehan, the only person to have held every rank in the FDNY including Fire Commissioner, who died in action at “Ground Zero” in the 9/11 attack. Born in the Bronx and raised in the Irish enclave of Pearl River, NY, Brian shares stories of his Irish roots, his police officer father who was the focus of an earlier book My Father’s Gun, and colorful tales from his years serving drinks to the denizens of Elaine’s, New York’s unlikely literary and celebrity hangout, captured in the pages of his Last Call at Elaine's.A Fordham University and Columbia School of Journalism graduate, McDonald contributes to such publications as The New York Times, teaches writing and journalism, has authored multiple books, and co-wrote with Malachy McCourt Death Need Not Be Fatal.Join us as we see the Irish experience in New York, the social history of the city, and the human stories of 9/11 through the eyes of the Feehans of the FDNY.Brian McDonald Links:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.v.mcdonald Publisher: https://bit.ly/3QMYEWMAmazon page: https://amzn.to/3LmuFnm 

Flor MacCarthy was born in West Cork and shares memories of one of Ireland's most idyllic regions. Her childhood was one rich in the indulgence of curiosity, filled with books, history, and fueled by a Russophile father.A Trinity College degree in French and Art History led unexpectedly to a career in journalism. Flor worked for 16 years at RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster, reporting on both domestic and international news.Following her successful career at RTE, Flor took up the position of Politics Presenter at Oireachtas TV which afforded the opportunity to continue her journalistic career while providing enough space to pursue literary ambitions. The President's Letters, An Unexpected History, released in 2021 has proven to be a highly successful product of her expanded brief.Join Flor and hosts, John Lee and Martin Nutty, as they discuss the surprising, amusing, and,  sometimes infuriating correspondence lurking in the archives of the Irish Presidency.Flor's LinksSeamus Plug: West Cork History FestivalThe President's Letters: An Unexpected History of IrelandLinkedInTwitterOireachtas TV 

Growing up in a Dublin home with no TV, Aedín turned to books, reading them aloud, drawing out the characters, and letting the words wash over her, which is how at age ten she managed to read James Joyce’s intimidating novel Ulysses. She was drawn to the rhythms and music in the words of the great writers, no surprise coming from a home with her avid reader mother and her father, Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains.But she’d feel the lure of the stage and after early acting experiences in Dublin she ventured to London and found success, ironically, considering her upbringing, on television. But New York beckoned, where Aedín has acted in a string of Off Broadway plays often at the famed Irish Repertory Theatre. She has also worked to amplify the voices of women on the stage through the Fallen Angel Theatre Company she founded, focused on Irish and British plays by and about women, which she often performed, directed, or produced.We talked to Aedín as she was concluding her successful Irish Rep run of Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom, which she and Colum McCann adapted from the closing section of Ulysses, directed by John Keating, with music by Paddy Moloney. It’s a one-woman show where Aiden never leaves the stage for 90 minutes, electrifying for the audience, exhausting for Aedín.But not so exhausting that she doesn’t want to stop channeling the spirit of Molly Bloom as she and Colum are working to take the show on tour to Ireland and the UK.And for the second time, Aedín gifts Irish Stew with a passage from Yes!, so be sure to stay to the end when she brings Molly to vibrant life performing the “Mulvey’s Letter” section of Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy.Links:Website: http://www.aedinmoloney.com/Fallen Angel website: https://www.fallenangeltheatre.org/homeofficialsiteTwitter: https://twitter.com/AedinMoloneyFallen Angel Twitter: https://twitter.com/FallenAngelNYYes! Reflections of Molly Bloom: https://irishrep.org/show/2021-2022-season/yes-reflections-of-molly-bloom-3/

Our conversation with the warm and welcoming Elaine Ní Bhraonáin takes us from her childhood in South County, Dublin, to New York’s lively Irish scene, to bucolic Ballymoney on the north Wexford coast where she and her husband raise their three healthy children after three difficult pregnancies.She talks about being raised in a home where the paternal language was Irish and the maternal tongue was English, growing up as an Irish language “geek” who would earn B.A. and M.A. degrees in Irish language.  Her urge to “break out of the bubble” landed her in New York, where she dove headlong into the city’s thriving Irish scene and taught Irish at the Irish Arts Center. She studied the Irish of New York and tracked the “boundary markers” they used to express their identity, leading to her PhD thesis on Irish identity in the U.S. Though she still identifies herself as an “Irish New Yorker,” she knew when it was time to return to Ireland. Settling in Ballymoney, she and her husband Dean set about raising a family, but it was not to be easy. Elaine shares the challenges of three difficult pregnancies, especially the premature birth of their second child Odhrán, the medical battles he faced but against all odds triumphed. Elaine now aids other mothers and families facing similar battles through her advocacy for the Irish Neonatal Health Alliance.While she is raising her three sons, she is teaching Irish in Dublin for Notre Dame University and is working on turning her scholarly PhD on Irish identity in the U.S. into a book more accessible to the public.When she does, we hope she’ll join us again on Irish Stew.LinksLinkedIn: Elaine Ní BhraonáinIrish Neonatal Health Alliance