Irish in the US

[sowens 0]

Colleen, I am soooooo happy for ya girl! I know you must be over the moon. What a nice idea about the food. You can check and see if there is a Whole foods market in your area, someone from here gave me the website and now I cant find it, maybe ask in OT. My mum in law sent us some foods from an irish food website during christmas, it was nice, ofcourse it was my first go at black and white pudding, but the sausages and rashers were good quality and they have a host of other foods. Kerry Gold butter, brennan's bread, bisquits (I recommend McVities, but I like the hobknobs..Ha ha) and all sorts of other foods. Good luck on the shopping and congrats again on the homecoming!

http://www.foodireland.com/

Sherry

[irishgirl73 0]

Colleen, I am soooooo happy for ya girl! I know you must be over the moon. What a nice idea about the food. You can check and see if there is a Whole foods market in your area, someone from here gave me the website and now I cant find it, maybe ask in OT. My mum in law sent us some foods from an irish food website during christmas, it was nice, ofcourse it was my first go at black and white pudding, but the sausages and rashers were good quality and they have a host of other foods. Kerry Gold butter, brennan's bread, bisquits (I recommend McVities, but I like the hobknobs..Ha ha) and all sorts of other foods. Good luck on the shopping and congrats again on the homecoming!

http://www.foodireland.com/

Sherry

I LOVE Hobnobs I also love batch bread(brennans). Some of my cousins are here from Ireland..........they have lived here for about 8 years & they order food from the site you gave the link to(thanks for that). I know Gavin would love to have some good Irish sausage when he is here so I will definetly order some in for him. He'll have to load up on the stuff because God knows I don't cook

Thanks for the well wishes!

take care

Colleen

[J&D 0]

I'm doing the oppossite and avoiding Irish food, so I don't miss it. But I like American food a lot, so that's an a big deal....not to mention Indian food, Chinese food, Mexican food and anything that slow down enough to catch.

My mothers visiting in Oct, and I know she will bring plenty of Irish food with her, even if I tell her not to, so after that I'll probably will miss it and will be ordering from that site too....!

If Mand or someone else is still maintaining that Irish list, may as well add us to it:

Name..............County ............ Name........State..........................VJ

Josh................Cork................ Denise.......MA.............................J&D (We're living in Charlotte, NC)

[ddurkin 0]

Hi Josh- good to see another Corkman here! Where in Cork are you from exactly? my hubby is from Bishopstown but was born in Bantry by way of Durrus, so he considers himself a country boy! He'll be happy when I tell him there's a corkman on this forum.

good luck with everything over here!

[J&D 0]

I am from Blackrock in Cork City which is on the opposite side to Bishopstown. Bantry and West Cork as a whole are great!! My brother lived down there (Schull) for a while so I visited as much as possible.

All is going well in the US. I really like it here. My wife is from Boston, but rather than go there we decided to just throw a dart at a map of the US. It landed in Charlotte, NC so we moved here. Neither of us had been here before, so it was a big risk, but as it turns out, we both love it.

[j&js 0]

I am from Blackrock in Cork City which is on the opposite side to Bishopstown. Bantry and West Cork as a whole are great!! My brother lived down there (Schull) for a while so I visited as much as possible.

All is going well in the US. I really like it here. My wife is from Boston, but rather than go there we decided to just throw a dart at a map of the US. It landed in Charlotte, NC so we moved here. Neither of us had been here before, so it was a big risk, but as it turns out, we both love it.

Is there a castle at Blackrock that would have been closed down for renovations or something a few years ago?

I studied for 6 months at UCC (thats where I met the hubby, another Cork man) and a friend and I walked all the way down to some castle, past the harbor area and then it turned out to be closed, I feel like Blackrock might have been the name...

Letting the dart pick your home is a gutsy move, I'm glad it worked out for you! I know I could never leave Boston or my beloved Red Sox

Back to irishgirl a few posts ago and the Irish food... another option might be to seek out a place near you that sells real Irish food. Living in the Boston area there are a good number of people from Ireland or who like to claim a distant Irish heritage and they make quite a market for it. I honestly have never tried for the meat products before, but I know a few stores that carry a lot of other Irish goods, even my local supermarket has a four foot section of goodies. Congrats on the visa!!

[dani_christine 0]

hey, wow...i'd forgotten about this thread!

we're preparing for a trip to Ireland August 22nd-September 9th...and i can't wait!

[J&D 0]

Yep, there is a Castle on the banks of the Lee at Blackrock. I actually worked there as a barman when I was 17 but you are right, it was closed a few years ago for renovations and the last time I passed by it was still closed (about 10 years on!).

But my last visit was quite a while back as I lived in Kildare and Dublin for the past few years rarely went to Blackrock except to visit my sis but very very rarely passed the castle (crappy windy potholed mucky road!).

On to Irish food...there is a place close to me called World Market and they tend to sell everything and it's mother from plenty of places, Ireland included. I didn't get anything though. Call me a cheapskate, but I'd prefer to get a 5 million bag box of Liptons teabags at BJ's for $2 than a 40 bag box of Barry's tea from Cork for $10 (or whatever it costs....).

To be honest, so far in the morning at breakfast I can't find anything wrong with American tea, American bacon, American frieds eggs, American waffles, American sausages....doesn't have to be Irish at all....

Josh waits for the backlash from the Irish community...

[Mand 1]

Name..............County ............ Name........State..........................VJ Amanda...........Limerick.............Rob............Ohio.......................

.......Mand (Now living in Cork)

Wes................Londonderry........Rebecca.....WV............................

...rebeccajo

James.............Cork...................Julia...........MA.....................

...........j&js

David...............Cork...................Erin............NY (current: FL).............David&Erin Owens

Aidan...............Tyrone................Melissa.......Florida.................

.........aidan80

Gavin...............Dublin.................Colleen.......Philadelphia...........

........irishgirl73

Mel..................Kildare................Chris..........MA...................

............melmaid101

Ruth................Dublin.................Jason.........Chicago................

.........Dub-Chi

Denis...............Cork...................Doria..........IN....................

.............ddurkin

Trish................Galway...............Patrick.......NY......................

..........galwayshore

Zoe..................Dublin................George.......NJ......................

...........Zinka

Martin...............Dublin...............Anne..........Seattle.................

..........grrltraveler

Donal................Galway.............Kristina.......NH.......................

.........galwayman

Anthony.............Armagh............Danielle.......MO.........................

......dani_christine

Niall..................Cork.................Sherry.........NC...................

............sowens

Josh.................Cork................ Denise.......MA.............................J&D (We're living in Charlotte, NC)

Hi lads,

I just added you in there. I love American breakfasts too!!...actually right now, I love all food But I am loving the real Irish tea again...even if it's decaf at the minute. One of the things my husband misses from back in the U.S. is the wide selection of beer available...the range is very limited here. Although we did go to the Kinsale Brewing Co. and he said we'll definately make a trip back there...but he's also glad our local does a great pint of Guinness

We made Steamed Shrimp with Old Bay Seasoning (brought over with us from US) Saturday night and I'd also made some soft pretzels as you can't get them here in Ireland...delish!!

Lots of Cork people around! We're living in Carrigaline now, which is great cos it's near everything really...city, West Cork, Kinsale, Cobh etc...but house prices are crazy!! And since neither of us are from Cork, we're still not 100% sure where anything is...but we're learning.

Anyways, glad all's well with ye over there. Things are going good here and we're happy we came back, but do miss the convenience aspect of America...and I miss Wal Mart and Target!!

Chat to ye all again soon gang

[sowens 0]

Hi Josh, welcome, my hubby is a Cork man as well (ballinlough, blackrock areas). We live not far from you now, we are a little north on the map, just above Lake Norman. We used to drive down to Charlotte on sundays so he could play on a football league. He misses his Irish food but adjusted ok to American food, it helps that Mum sends over stuff and brings plenty when she comes for visits! (Colleen, OMG the first time I had a HobKnob I was hooked) So again Welcome, glad to see that we got plenty of Irish on the board and Cork couples at that!

We are currently waiting on an interview, our case was just sent to the embassy today so hopefully hubby will be home soon!

Have a safe and wonderful trip dani_christine!!!!

Sherry

[J&D 0]

Mand, why did you go back to Ireland? Will staying there long term affect your PR status in the US? Carragaline is a nice spot and close to some great spots as you said. My sis is actually telling everyone in Ireland that I moved to North Carrigalina in America (she's not great at geography!).

Sherry/Niall, lets meet up at some stage. We live on Route 51 between Pineville and Matthews in South Charlotte so we're reasonably close to I-77 and that would take us to Lake Norman area in a half hour or so. Not too sure how email/PMs work on this thing but feel free to PM at any stage and we'll make some plans. Denise and I have been to Lake Norman once and it's a really nice area.

[irishgirl73 0]

Gav wasn't a big fan of American food................could have something to do with the fact that I don't cook much

He does LOVE a good barbeque and he also like American breakfast, but I am sure he would be delighted to have some of the sausage that he loves from home. Mand-Old Bay..............isn't it great? we have a place here called Chickie's & Petes..........they have crab fries, they are chips with old bay & cheese on the side, they are SO delicious. Soft Pretzels-I miss them when I am in Dublin.

Now I am starving!!!!!!!!!

There are a few shops here in Philly that sell SOME Irish food but it isn't very fresh & they charge a lot for it. I am sure he will bring what he can with him. He can bring whatever he wants-as long as he realizes that HE will be doing all the cooking

Hi Josh, welcome, my hubby is a Cork man as well (ballinlough, blackrock areas). We live not far from you now, we are a little north on the map, just above Lake Norman. We used to drive down to Charlotte on sundays so he could play on a football league. He misses his Irish food but adjusted ok to American food, it helps that Mum sends over stuff and brings plenty when she comes for visits! (Colleen, OMG the first time I had a HobKnob I was hooked) So again Welcome, glad to see that we got plenty of Irish on the board and Cork couples at that!

We are currently waiting on an interview, our case was just sent to the embassy today so hopefully hubby will be home soon!

Have a safe and wonderful trip dani_christine!!!!

Sherry

Speaking of "football" I just ordered the Fox sports Channel for Gav so he can watch his beloved Chelsea matches.

[sowens 0]

Josh/Denise, we should meet up, hopefully Niall will be home in about a month or so. I was telling him that another couple from Vj was living in the Charlotte area, and that you were from his area of Cork just topped it off. There are lots of nice places to go to and meet up at, and we are about 5 minutes off I-77 in the Statesville area so getting to Charlotte is only about a 35 minute drive.

Collen, that was one of the things that we did when Niall initially came over, we ordered Fox soccer, but we got the package, it came with Setanta as well. Tho we dont watch Chelsea matches . We have our own feud going.....hes a Tottenham fan and I am an Arsenal fan.......needless to say we can have our moments.

Sherry

[J&D 0]

Sounds good Sherry! Let us know when Niall is back and we'll all meet up for sure.

[Mand 1]

Mand, why did you go back to Ireland? Will staying there long term affect your PR status in the US?

Rob lived in Ireland for almost 3 years before we moved to the U.S. and I think the move was always seen as a "do we prefer the U.S. or Ireland". In the end, Ireland won. Rob missed the the way of life in Ireland and we both missed friends and family. We also decided that we'd prefer to raise a family in Ireland...with Cork accents Ha! Ha!

I'll be handing back my GC, but haven't called the Embassy yet to find out the finer details. I'll use the VWP or go the Embassy for a holiday visa when we're visiting Rob's family.

Mand-Old Bay..............isn't it great? we have a place here called Chickie's & Petes..........they have crab fries, they are chips with old bay & cheese on the side, they are SO delicious. Soft Pretzels-I miss them when I am in Dublin.

Colleen, Rob's family are originally from Baltimore but live in PA now, so whenever we'd visit them we'd stock up on the UTZ chips with Old Bay...yummy!! ...fresh from the factory which was just a few miles from them