Irish in Toronto

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Gemma Ní Luain. Gemma is the Irish Language Instructor at the Concordia University in Montréal, Québec. She is in the middle of her second stint as the ICUF scholar in Montréal. ICUF, being the Ireland Canada University Foundation.  - what it was like to move to Montréal in 2019 -extreme weather Montréal receives  - issue of language with French being the official lan...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Gemma Ní Luain. Gemma is the Irish Language Instructor at Concordia University in Montréal, Québec. She is in the middle of her second stint as the ICUF scholar in Montréal. ICUF, being the Ireland Canada University Foundation.  This is the Irish language portion of our episode. You will find the English language episode on the same feed as it was released at the same...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Katie Kirkpatrick. Katie is from Saskatchewan but began taking beginner’s Irish with me two years ago here at the University of St. Michael’s College. Since then, she has gone on to win an ICUF Canadian Irish Language Award which enabled her to complete a four-week immersion course in Conamara in the summer of 2023.  In this episode, Katie speaks about her motivation...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Clíodhna Ní Chorráin. Clíodhna is the Irish Language Instructor at the University of Ottawa. She is in the middle of her second year of her ICUF scholarship. ICUF, being the Ireland Canada University Foundation.  This is the Irish language portion of our episode. You will find the English language episode on the same feed as it was released at the same time.  Tá súil...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Clíodhna Ní Chorráin. Clíodhna is the Irish Language Instructor at the University of Ottawa. She is in the middle of her second year of her ICUF scholarship. ICUF, being the Ireland Canada University Foundation.  In this episode, Clíodhna talks about her experiences teaching Irish abroad, both in the US and in Canada. She is very honest when she speaks about initially...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Vanita Jassal. This was the first ever live episode of Irish in Toronto and I would like to thank Daniel Patton for making it happen. Daniel is the Development and Engagement Manager for North America for Queen’s University Belfast. This event was about allowing members of the Queen’s alumni to share their stories of what brought them to Toronto.  In this episode, you...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Com de Fréine. I know Colm through our love of the Irish language. He is a member of the committee of the branch of Conradh na Gaeilge which we established here in Toronto. Such is our love of the language that this chat will be in Irish. If you are inexperienced with listening to Irish, I would still encourage you to keep listening. Colm and I had a great chat about...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Ciara Ní Lúing. Ciara left her beautiful hometown of Dingle, Co. Kerry for the big city of Toronto eight years ago. I got to know Ciara through our work with Conradh na Gaeilge here in Toronto where we organise events for Irish speakers to meet up and use the language. This has been an invaluable experience for me in Toronto and I am grateful to Ciara for the effort s...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Ken Tracey. Ken arrived in Toronto in 1989 on the first ever direct flight from Shannon. I got to know Ken through his work presenting ‘Ceol agus Craic’, a Saturday morning Irish radio show here in Canada, which he presents with his good friend, Mark O’Brien. ‘Ceol agus Craic’ is a great vehicle for the Irish to have their voice heard and spread the word on particular...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Sharon Nolan. Sharon left Ireland 18 years ago and has been in Toronto for the past 12 years. Originally a PE teacher, she is now studying to be a psychotherapist. We discuss topics such as distractions, dissociating and being comfortable in one’s own company. I feel this conversation will help a lot of people and hopefully encourage them to take advantage of any oppo...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Shane Firus and Carolane Soucisse. Shane and Carolane, hailing from British Columbia and Québec respectively, have represented Canada in ice dance. However, due to Shane’s Irish roots, the pair now ice dance for Ireland. In this episode, they talk their trials and tribulations as ice dancers, the decision to ultimately represent Ireland instead of Canada and what the...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Shaun Ruddy, one of the greatest characters in the Irish community in Toronto. Shaun’s father emigrated from Donegal to Canada and Shaun was very aware of his Irish routes from a young age.  Among many things, Shaun is well known as the Chair of the St. Patrick’s Parade Society, where he organises the most diverse St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the world, right here in T...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Alan McConnell. Born in Larne, County Antrim, Alan moved to Vancouver as a young boy in 1973, admittedly with little interest in Irish affairs at the time. Following his teenage years in British Columbia and his studies in both Québec and Ontario, Alan became more politically aware which led him to where he is today, a lawyer in Toronto and the President of the Friend...

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Michael Barton who is a Regional Director at Invest Northern Ireland where he promotes Northern Ireland Trade and Investment opportunities here in Canada. Born in Antrim but reared in Greystones, County Wicklow, Michael and his then partner-now wife moved to Toronto in 2012 and haven’t looked back since. Michael speaks about their willingness to seek adventure in Cana...

We have a more unusual episode for you today. I’ll be chatting with Poppy Keogh from Wicklow who has been living in Canada for the past five years, spending her first two years in St. John’s, Newfoundland and the past three years in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Poppy and myself arrived in St. John’s in the same month, August 2019. However she remained a fictional character to me. Our mutual friend, Axell...

Today, I’ll be chatting with William Jenkins, Associate Professor in the Department of History at York University here in Toronto. I got to know William through his immense work with the Canadian Association of Irish Studies who have enabled me to present my own research at previous conferences and will do so again this June in Galway.  In this chat, we discuss how William came from Clondalkin to...

Today, I’ll be chatting with Emer Maguire. Emer is my colleague here in the Celtic Studies Program at the University of St. Michael’s College, having received an award from the Ireland Canada University Foundation to teach Irish in Toronto. Emer has been here since September 2023 and will be going back to Ireland before the beginning of the summer.  I wanted to get Emer on the podcast to chat as i...

Today, I’ll be speaking with Bill Jermyn. Bill came to Toronto forty years ago having grown up in West Cork and studying at Trinity College Dublin. We speak about a number of topics in our chat including the decision to move him and his family to Toronto, being a Protestant in the Republic of Ireland and the Wider Horizon programme with which Bill worked over the years, helping disadvantaged youth...

Clár i nGaeilge ina labhraím leis na teagascóirí ICUF (Ireland Canada University Foundation) don bhliain 2023/24:  Clíodhna Ní Chorráin - University of Ottawa  Gearóid Ó Treasaigh - St. Thomas' University, Fredericton, New Brunswick  Helena Ní Rocháin - University of Alberta  Cathal Ó Néill - Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador  Emer Maguire - Unive...

Today, I’ll be speaking with Tracey Lyng, Secretary of Toronto GAA. It is not only the GAA with which Tracey volunteers, she also sits on the board of ICAN, the Irish Canadian Immigration Center as well as volunteering for a committee which helps resettle refugees here in Toronto. Tracey immigrated to Toronto thirteen years ago and has had many various roles within the Irish community in the city....

Today, I’ll be speaking with Eddie Moley, Chairperson of Toronto GAA. Being two big GAA men, you would assume we would talk about nothing but hurling and football. This conversation goes a lot deeper than that, however. Eddie speaks candidly about why he came to Toronto in 2012, leaving behind a cycle of addiction to alcohol and drugs only for that cycle to follow him to this side of the Atlantic...

In this episode, Lauren tells us about how she first began coming to Canada as a child in the summertime to visit family who had moved here before permanently relocating here after finishing her university degree. Unlike many previous guests on this podcast, Lauren emigrated to Canada with her parents and her sister, as well as her then boyfriend, now husband, Brian.  I had the privilege of attend...

How I came across Elizabeth is a little bit more unusual than most of the guests on this podcast. I run most mornings and I like to run on the Lakeshore here in Toronto. Elizabeth works as a crossing guard some mornings on Bathurst and Queen’s Quay. I got stuck waiting on a red light there a few times and began chatting with Elizabeth, she recognised my Irish accent and we immediately hit it off....

Today, I’ll be chatting with Jack Armstrong. Jack has an interesting relationship with Ireland. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, both of his parents were immigrants from the west of Ireland. Jack speaks about how this shaped his identity growing up in New York. He also speaks of his Irish identity in Toronto. Jack is currently an NBA analyst for TSN and the on-air in-game broadcaster for the...

I would still encourage people to download the episodes and to share them with friends and family. Downloads are the easiest indicator for me to gauge how many people I am reaching with these conversations so I would really appreciate it.  Robert arrived in Toronto in 1979 not knowing how life would pan out for him. With a degree in Archaeology and Greek and Roman Civilization from UCD, he could s...