Hello and welcome. My name is Kim McGuire. I am an American living in Ireland. No longer a “blow-in”, I’ve lived here for twenty-two years.
In that time I’ve gotten married, lived with my single brothers-in-law (there’s a lot of interesting single-man stories in that one), written two books, built a house in what was once regarded as “the country” but has since become the suburbs, started an event management company, discovered I have Irish ancestors buried in a cemetery not too far away (who doesn’t?), co-created a website and had a family. Wshew!
So how did I come to Ireland? Simple, really. I met a good Irish man who was living in America and fell in love. He asked me to move here for a trial period of one year. Before the twelve months were up, he proposed and the rest is history. Here is what we looked like long ago.
I am a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin where I studied Organizational Communication. After moving to Ireland I wrote The Irish Wedding Book and The Little Book of Irish Love and Wedding Customs. Writing about weddings and etiquette led to starting an event management company (some interesting stories in that part of my life too) which, in turn, led to co-developing a website called weddingsonline.ie. In 2000 our first daughter was born. Three years later our second daughter came along. I’ve been a full-time mom ever since.
Recently I’ve started looking to the future and wondering what to do with myself when the kids no longer need me as much. I’d like the girls to see me working at something purposeful. Honestly, I think it’s important they see their mother working given that my husband and I fully expect them to work some day. So, I’m going back to what I know how to do best – writing. This blog is the first step . It’s my test.
So here goes…my thoughts are my own…like them or not. Hopefully this blog will entertain you, make you smile, inspire you, encourage you, make you want to come to Ireland if you don’t have the pleasure of living here already. I’ll do my best to make it interesting.
In an Irish Home 
Hi Kim, congratulations on a really great blog. I really like your About page and I love the photos. Your wedding picture is particularly lovely! Look forward to reading your musings and drooling over some of those recipe ideas you have posted.
Hi Emeralds82! Thanks so much for your lovely praise. I just visited your blog and am bowled over by your content and overall look. Well done! I’ll be following you from now on and am looking forward to learning more about Ireland along the way. Please stop by In An Irish Home again sometime. Kim
Lovely story!
Hi Imen. Thanks so much for the compliment!! You have no idea how tickled I am that you visited In An Irish Home. I adore your website and fully intend to write about Farmette very soon. Please stop by again. Kim
You’re in the perfect position to offer unique commentary on life from two cultural angles. At this point, do you still consider America “home”?
I’ve always considered America home but over the years Ireland has become home too. For the children, Ireland has always been “home”. For me, Ireland really didn’t become a place I identified with until I’d written a few books and then, of course, started rearing children. I remember years ago someone said to me…you’ll find your place here when your children start school. No truer words were ever said! Sure enough, when my eldest daughter started school I met the most wonderful group of women while standing at the school gate. Those girls are still my best friends and that was almost ten years ago.
It was a pleasure meeting you a few days ago. Wonderful blog! 🙂
Hi Marilyn. Thanks so much for stopping by In an Irish Home…it’s a real labour of love. It was lovely to meet you too!
Great story on “Life Mottos.” Hope that you are doing well..
Looking for the mars bar rice crispie recipe and came across your blog, glad I did, thanks…… clicked on follow looking forward to reading more.
Thanks so much for stopping by In an Irish Home and for becoming a Follower. Hope you found the Mars Bars recipe helpful. We love it in our home! Look forward to hearing from you again.
Kim! I thought I would look for you on Facebook and when I didn’t find you there I began a search. When I saw this blog I knew it had to be you. What a beautiful blog. We really will catch up someday! Lisa Lake
Dear Lisa. From the bottom of my heart, I apologise for taking sooooo long to reply to your lovely note back in August. {Gasp!} August…that’s really bad of me!! Please forgive me. Let me start this new year right by saying it’s so nice to hear from you, thank you for following my little blog, thank you for leaving me a note, and Happy New Year! I think of you often and hope that you and everyone in the family is well. I’ll contact you privately for an overdue natter (chat)! God bless and much love. Kim
Love the rhubarb margaritas! Going to try your chicken casserole next. Any other healthy main dishes we should try?
Hey Kim, we saw your post in WP.com’s forum and since the thread is already closed, we thought we could reach you through your blog, right here!
The thing is, Zemanta unfortunately doesn’t work in the WordPress’s default Dashboard anymore, but can be easily re-installed via our browser extension.
It comes with all the features you’re already used to (images, in-text links, related posts & tags) and is really easy to set it up. Just follow the link to our downloads page and install the appropriate extension for your browser.
Here’s the link: http://zem.si/PqCSDD
And please do let me know how it goes or if you have any more questions what-so-ever, since I’ll be more than glad to help you out!
Here’s my email address: support[at]zemanta[dot]com
Take care & I’m looking forward to your reply!
Best,
Silvo
Hi Silvo.
Thank you so very much for your help reinstalling Zemanta. Your advice worked…and that’s saying a lot given I’m not very that technically inclined!
Cheers!
Kim
Hi Kim,
I am going to Ireland in June and would love to know of not to be missed places to see and what and where to eat. I will be in Dublin, County Kerry, County Clare and Cliffs of Moher. I will be staying in B&B’s as I think they are a wonderful way to meet the real people of a country. Your blog has inspired me to go and enjoy Ireland, thank you.
Tenie Theobald
Well hello! Of course I am happy to give suggestions. Could you be more specific about where exactly you’ll be staying in each county. You’d be surprised to know that even in the smallest of counties there is so much to see depending upon where you are! Also, what are your interests…golf, beaches, hiking, antiquing, shopping, eating, cooking, art galleries, etc? I agree with you that B&B’s are a great way to meet Irish people…we’ve always found the owners to be warm and welcoming. You may also want to look into Ireland’s Blue Book…they too are some of favourite place to stay. You don’t know how happy it makes me to know that my blog has inspired you to visit!! There’s so much to see and do in Ireland – you are going to love it!
Hi Kim! I love reading your blog, and your recipes that you include!
I am planning a trip to Ireland for next summer (friends’ 20th Anniversary trip) and I’m wondering if you have any specific instructions!? I have put together an itinerary, but I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
If you have time, my email address is 4mygypsysoul@gmail.com (If you don’t, I totally understand!!)
Thank you very much,
Rachel
Hi Rachel…thanks for visiting, reading and commenting In an Irish Home! I’ve enjoyed your blog many, many times too!! Of course, I’m happy to help you. Funny enough…another person wrote to me recently asking the very same thing. 🙂 I’ll email you straight away. All the best…Kim
Hello Kim…I came across your blog doing a little research on Irish slang for the book I am writing. I found your post and can’t stop reading. It has been very helpful but I am wondering if I could get some direct advice from you.
I am writing about the voyage my husband and I took, sailing around the world. In Italy we met two young women traveling and we shared a taxi to the train station. We only had 15 minutes to get to the station and the Italian driver was driving through red lights to get us there in time. Thankfully the streets in Bari were mostly deserted at 10PM. One of the girls pulled out her rosary and stated “Mary, Joseph and Jesus” or something to that nature. I am kicking myself for not writing down our conversation or the phrases they used. Would you mind helping me out so I can keep it authentic?
Cheers,
Kelly
Hi Kelly. Of course, I’d love to help! What can I do? You mention the Irish girl pulled out her rosary and said, “Mary, Joseph and Jesus”…was it a prayer or do you think she said, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph”? If it’s the later, that’s a very common “slang” phrase. Write back and let’s see what help I can be to you. Many thanks. Kim
Hello Kim and greetings from Florida! You have a beautiful site. I noticed the wonderful Irish blessings post you have. Can you tell me if these are all considered to be in the Public Domain or if you need copyright permission to quote them? I would love to use one on my blog sometime. If you could email me the information I would appreciate it! I’ve been trying to find an answer to this questions about blessings. Thanks so much in advance.
Hello Cindy. Thank you for visiting In an Irish Home and for writing. With regard to the Irish blessings…I’m no expert but I believe they are considered to be in the Public Domain because they are quite old and are readily available. I try very hard not to “pinch” other people’s work, so I do try to be correct about how I use material I find. It seems you think the same way too. If you want “legal” advice, it would be better if you confirmed this with someone who is more knowledgable. Good luck with your website. Please let me know when you are up and running. And, if by chance, you decide to include material in your website you find on In an Irish Home, I would be very thankful to you if you link back/credit my work. Kind regards, Kim
Looking up a McGuire friend from university days and funnily came across your blog. It is wonderful to see you doing well and your family so lovely. Living in Amsterdam now and would love to hear from you.
All the best,
Maureen
Hello Maureen. How nice of you to reach out and say “hello”. Yes, as you can see, all is well with my little clan. So you’re in Amsterdam? Isn’t that wonderful?! We’ll have to catch up sometime. Wishing you all the best. Kim
Hi Kim! I love your blog!! Of course I went straight to the food section and your recipes all sound delicious! It was so great talking with you over the last couple of days and I look forward to talking with you more soon 🙂
Tina is looking for ideas:) Thanks for being such a cool friend and inspiration!
You’re so welcome my friend!! Thank you for calling in!
Hello again,
What a sweet story! I met my, now, husband online, and moved to Canada from Sweden 2004.
Lovely pictures!
Online! Wow!! That must be a fantastic story. I wish you many happy, healthy years with your husband and new home country. Thank you for visiting In an Irish Home!
Hey, I nominated your blog for the Liebster award: https://josmith1845.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/response-to-another-liebster-award/ . If it’s not your thing, it’s fine. I hope you accept though!
Thank you so much! I’m honoured and delighted you picked In an Irish Home as one of your nominees!! I totally accept and will get on this straight away. All the best! Kim
Hi Jo…just wanted to thank you again. I’m so delighted to have been nominated for this award…I just can’t tell you! I managed, with the help of the WP folks, to get a badge up on my sidebar. You should put one up on yours too! Be well. Kim
[…] In an Irish Home– I love reading glimpse of your life in an Irish home. Your life is pretty interesting. […]
Beautiful story Kim. I’m happy I found your blog (when I was looking for hot cross buns recipe). I’m Polish but I live in Ireland from 11 years. Greetings from Sligo. Dagmara
Hi Dagmara. Apologies for the long delay in responding to your kind email. Thank you for visiting In An Irish Home…I’m always so grateful when someone takes the time to read, repost, or respond to something they’ve found here. I went over and visited your blog and only wish I could read what you’re writing! Your photos are gorgeous…well done!! Best wishes to you over there in Sligo. From the sunny east coast…at least today…”Cheers”. Kim
Kim, I found your blog while looking for Irish/American conversions for Kerrygold butter in a recipe (Yes, it’s available here in California). I’m glad you chose to go back to writing.
Hello Violet! Thank you so much for visiting In an Irish Home and for your encouragement. It’s always lovely to hear from readers. As for Kerrygold butter…isn’t it fabulous?! Did you also know you can easily buy Barry’s Tea in America now too? Oh! And Dubliner Cheese and McVities Digestive Biscuits (perfect with Barry’s Tea). Hmmm…maybe I should get a gig celebrating Irish foods in America? Any-hoo, thanks for taking time to drop me a note. Hope to hear from you again. All the best!
HI KIm – so love your blog – just found it again via facebook somehow. Hoping to try your gorgeous recipes out soon. I have a friend who’s daughter has just gone to college in the UK – she has given her lots of very simple recipes. in the dorm/place she shares with fellow students they take it in turn to cook, and they really look forward to each other’s cooking – I think/hope ! that kids these days are making more of an effort to cook and its never too late to encourage them ! xxx
Hi Catriona!! I’m glad you found me. 💋 You know, it’s becoming more common than I ever realised for our children to go abroad for school and work…or love!! So many of our friends’ children are either in America, England, Canada or farther away. The 🌎 is so small for them. So glad I have wonderful friends like you to share these experiences with. XoK