Irish Lass at Heart

In an effort to improve my mind and body, and being limited in the ability to improve my body thanks to the extremely restrictive profile I am currently on, I have decided to learn.  I've still got a some dead time as a hold to kill, so academic pursuits are the boredom crushers of choice.

Now, most of America is aware that high demand languages include Spanish and Chinese.  So, naturally, I want to learn Gaelic.  Because, reasons.

As an Irish girl by birth with a full blood Irish mother to keep me on the straight and narrow, I have always been fascinated by the Emerald Isle.  Childhood nights spent watching Riverdance and Lord of the Dance specials on PBS started the fire of Irish pride at a young age.  Add to that a best friend who was a tri-state champion in Irish Step Dance and a music major of a mother who loved Celtic music and you have a love of Eire born.  As I grew older, my fascination with Greek Mythology transformed into a love of all mythology, especially the mythology of the Celts.  I can blame some of that fascination on a romance novel series that referenced the Tuatha de Danann, which ignited a love of all things ancient, celtic and magical.

During the college years, much time was spent on Netflix and YouTube.  Watching The Boondock Saints led me to Billy Connolly's comedy skits (which are an absolute gut buster).  Then came the night I heard him talk about Ireland.  He said going to Ireland was like going home.  Something about the island just made you feel like you'd been traveling the world, waiting for this moment, where you are well and truly home.  I understand that completely, having seen photos of the Cliffs of Moher or wee Irish cottages and feeling that pang of homesickness despite never having visited.

Now, the big push behind my desire to understand all things Irish: my father.  Some people have dads who fish for a hobby, or work on cars, or ride motorcycles, or play soccer with the guys.  My father, being the history buff and computer geek he is, studies genealogy as a hobby.  My family tree is extensive, comprehensive, and impresses the shiz out of just about everyone I've shown.  I know in what counties, what cities, my ancestors lived in, how they lived, I even have old photos of some of them.  Recently, Pops was even contacted by a distant relative who lives in Dublin.

And so I've got a hankering to learn the language of my people.  And why not?  It's a fun parlor trick, and I'm friends with one of the few people in this country who is fluent in Gaelic and speaks it regularly with his father.  Learning languages is always easier with a tutor.

The past few posts have spoken of my desire for a grand adventure.  What better adventure than to travel back to the Old Country and study my family history and the mythology of the Celts?

Now if only I had a sudden windfall of cash with which to fund this adventure...

Off to find hidden, rich, recently dead relatives.

-Sam