How does it feel to be an Irish American searching for your heritage and ancestry in Ireland?
The Irish have penned many songs and stories about their immigration history but what about those who returned to Ireland for good or those who found themselves returning to their heritage after hundreds of years? This poem, “ An American in Galway” by Steven G. Farrell, explores this concept in vivid detail and the kinds of disconnect an Irish American may feel from Irish people when they visit as a stranger in a country that they hold very dear.
Farrell speaks beautifully of how his surname singles him out, in particular, as a person of Irish descent and yet it seems those that left Ireland have been forgotten as he travels through the streets of Galway.
What was your experience as an Irish American in Ireland? Were you welcomed or did you feel that you were just thought of as an American? Let us know about it in the comments section, below.
Read more
An American in Galway, Ireland by Steven G. Farrell
It’s been 200 years
you’ve clearly forgotten me,
but you appear to remember
my name.
I have returned to see you,
reliving the olden times:
I’m a Yankee exile,
staring into shop windows.
Please welcome me home after
my long journey back to the
land that was once mine
as much it is still yours
Three damp days,
wandering in cobblestone streets
buskers sang “Red is the Rose,”
forcing me to cry
Weeping in October
with her on my side,
seeking tea in Galway city
she didn’t notice my sighs.
I’ve been gone for 200 years
you’ve clearly forgotten me,
but you appear to remember
my name.
Rocky roads
old town stone walls,
smelling the turf
O’Farrell lettered above a door.
2
The donkey knows the way:
to a battered Norman Tower
where a monkish manuscript
provides a lost clue.
Passport identifies
while the green earth
signifies something
more than birth.
Not asking for much
not even a Gaelic greeting
perhaps a nod acknowledging
the wandering Celt’s return.
I’ve been gone for 200 years
You’ve clearly forgotten me,
but you appear to remember
my name.
*First published in The Esthetic Apostle.
Steven G. Farrell's nonfiction has appeared in Boxing News, Scary Monsters, Crime, The Sports Digest, and Lost Treasure. His fiction has appeared in Frontier Tales, Candlelight Stories, The Path, The Irish American Post, and Audience. Professor Farrell teaches in the Speech and Theater Department at Greenville Technical College in South Carolina.
How were you welcomed as an American in Ireland? Let us know in the comments section, below.
Looking for Irish book recommendations or to meet with others who share your love for Irish literature? Join IrishCentral’s Book Club on Facebook and enjoy our book-loving community.
Comments