Today, I’ll be chatting with Robin Bury. I recently read Robin’s memoir: On the Margin, in which he writes about his life, particularly about growing up as the son of a Protestant clergyman in county Cork. We discuss some of that during this episode as well as Robin’s move to Toronto nearly a decade ago, in his mid-seventies. Born in India, raised in Ireland, periods spent in the UK, Kenya and now residing in Canada, Robin has a great story to tell. Stay tuned for an especially interesting story...
Jul 17, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Cormac came to Canada from Clonsilla, Dublin in 2010 (one of the few times it wasn’t fun to be in Dublin) and has settled into a Canadian banking career over the last 15 years. Cormac is currently an Executive Vice President and Partner at Stonebridge Financial, a Toronto based asset manager. Since coming to Canada, he has been a player and treasurer with St. Pats GAA and recently chaired the Ireland Funds St. Patrick’s Day luncheon coming out of COVID. He’s also been known to pull a pint for a ...
Jul 03, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Today, I’ll be chatting with Declan O’Sullivan. You might know him better as ‘Paddyman’. Declan is a professional entertainer and songwriter who has performed live for over 1 million people all around the world. Originally from Kildare, Declan originally moved to Canada twenty-five years ago where he met his wife before moving to Dubai for sixteen years. Declan and his family are now back in Canada, residing in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We recorded this conversation a couple hours before he was du...
Jun 19, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Today, I’ll be chatting with Bronwyn Brennan. Bronwyn is a twenty-four-year-old writer based in Toronto. ‘The Boy From Dublin’ is her debut novel, inspired by her grandfather’s life and stories. She currently runs a small hockey school based in the city and works extensively with the girls division, concentrating her efforts on growing women’s hockey and guiding young athletes toward the collegiate level and beyond. In this episode, we discuss Bronwyn's Irish roots, her passion for storytelling ...
Jun 05, 2025•42 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Today, I’ll be chatting with Jack Fogarty. I came to know Jack when he began hurling with my club here in Toronto, Na Piarsaigh. Jack is a laid back character who has become a feature of the Irish community here in Toronto. Jack regularly performs in Irish bars around the city. For St. Patrick’s Day in 2025, Jack managed to organise his band, The Fogues, who are still based in Ireland, to come to Toronto where they played a few gigs to huge success. Jack’s relaxed outlook on life is one I hope t...
Apr 02, 2025•41 min•Ep. 65
Dave is founder and CFO of HAB Strategy as well as Irish Chartered Accountant Chapter Head here in the city of Toronto. Originally from the sunny south east, Dave & his wife Mags moved here in early 2018 in pursuit of adventure. Having also travelled to South America, India, South East Asia and Eastern Africa, moving to Toronto actually marked their very first time in North America! Getting initially settled in and particularly through the challenging time of the pandemic with the arrival of...
Feb 27, 2025•57 min•Ep. 64
Today, I’ll be chatting with Gearóid Ó Treasaigh. Gearóid is the Irish Language Instructor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He is in the middle of his second year of his ICUF scholarship. ICUF, being the Ireland Canada University Foundation. In this episode, Gearóid speaks about the ICUF scholarship program which brought him to Fredericton. You will hear about how he settled in one of Canada’s smaller cities and how being Irish shaped his experience. Gearóid and myself had...
Feb 06, 2025•25 min•Ep. 63
Today, I’ll be chatting with Gearóid Ó Treasaigh. Gearóid is the Irish Language Instructor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He is in the middle of his second year of his 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 agam go mbainfidh sibh sult as an gcomhrá a bhí agam le Gearóid. Is sár-duine é...
Feb 06, 2025•23 min•Ep. 62
Today, I’ll be chatting with Shane O’Neill. I came to know Shane last year when I finally answered one of his many phone calls and he told me that I would be raising the Irish flag at Toronto City Hall on St. Patrick’s Day. Shane is the Chairperson of the Irish Person of the Year Committee and has done tremendous work for the Irish community over the years. Coming to Toronto in 1998 after having spent ten years in London Shane’s relationship with Ireland has evolved throughout the years and he r...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 61
Today, I’ll be chatting with Conor Mangan. Conor is a current professional American Football player based out of Toronto, as well as an accomplished Real Estate Agent. A proud Cork man, he moved to Canada in 2013, playing professional rugby before transitioning to football. Conor earned several Special Teams and point scoring records in the last two years in the Indoor Football League (IFL), and has multiple president club awards for real estate in Ontario.
Nov 28, 2024•51 min•Ep. 60
Today, I’ll be chatting with Cathal O’Neill. Cathal is the Irish Language Instructor at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He is in the middle of his second stint as the ICUF scholar in St. John’s. 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 agam go mbainfidh sibh sult as an gcomhrá a bhí agam le Cathal. Is sár-fhear é...
Nov 14, 2024•18 min•Ep. 59
Today, I’ll be chatting with Cathal O’Neill. Cathal is the Irish Language Instructor at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He is in the middle of his second stint as the ICUF scholar in St. John’s. ICUF, being the Ireland Canada University Foundation. This is the English-language portion of our episode. The Irish-language version is located on the same feed. In this episode, Cathal speaks about what it was like to move to Newfoundland last year and how he has settled in. He speaks ...
Nov 14, 2024•35 min•Ep. 58
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 time. Tá súil agam go mbainfidh sibh sult as an gcomhrá a bhí agam le Gemma. Is sár-bhean í agus táim...
Oct 31, 2024•13 min•Ep. 57
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 language in Québec -staying in Canada as a permanent resident I would still encourage people to download t...
Oct 31, 2024•33 min•Ep. 56
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 for learning Irish. Her course of study at the University of Toronto requires her to be able to sing i...
Oct 17, 2024•52 min•Ep. 55
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 agam go mbainfidh sibh sult as an gcomhrá a bhí agam le Clíodhna. Is sár-bhean í agus táim chomh buíoch...
Oct 03, 2024•17 min•Ep. 53
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 wanting to go to Toronto but making it work in Ottawa and ultimately having a fantastic experience in...
Oct 03, 2024•37 min•Ep. 54
Today, I’ll be chatting with Vanita Jassal and Kevin McAnena. 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 will hear from Dr. Vanita Jassal who has been in Toronto for around thirty years. S...
Sep 19, 2024•58 min•Ep. 51
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 his coming to Toronto in 1985, leaving behind a Dublin where there wasn’t much work to go around. He ...
Aug 22, 2024•45 min•Ep. 50
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 she has made with the group. In this chat, we discuss Ciara’s experiences living in Japan and New Zeal...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 49
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 events that are happening in the community. It airs every Saturday morning from 10AM – 12.30PM on ww...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 48
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 opportunities they have to see a psychotherapist. We of course also discuss the typical contention of mos...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 47
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 future holds for them, the possibility of representing Ireland at the Winter Olympics. I would still ...
Jun 27, 2024•44 min•Ep. 46
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 Toronto. Shaun’s history with the parade dates back much earlier than when he started chairing the orga...
Jun 13, 2024•47 min•Ep. 45
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 Friends of Sinn Féin (Canada). I would still encourage people to download the episodes and to share them wi...
May 30, 2024•50 min•Ep. 44
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 Canada as well as the difficulties getting settled in. They are raising their three year old son, Hudson,...
May 16, 2024•59 min•Ep. 43
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, Axelle, from France, did her best to introduce us but it was not to be as Poppy had other ideas about han...
Apr 18, 2024•53 min•Ep. 42
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 Toronto, touring North America to scope out the most suitable PhD in 1995, ending up at the Universit...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 41
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 in contrast to most of my other guests so far, she has a definite end date on her time here in Toronto...
Mar 21, 2024•57 min•Ep. 40
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 youths from the Falls Road, Shankill and Tallaght to settle in Canada. To hear more about Bill’s pursuits...
Feb 29, 2024•52 min•Ep. 39
