A journey through Northern Ireland  

Ireland has always held a special place in my heart. Stories of our ancestors have been told in my family for decades, and our roots have shown across many generations; the flamboyant red head and freckles being an unmistakable trait of our lineage. Amongst my fifteen aunts and uncles, and so many cousins I’ve stopped keeping count, it’s usually worn as a badge of honour.

The Dark Hedges,  Bregagh Road

2019 might seems pale in comparison of the hardships we've all been through in 2020, but it was actually one of the most challenging years I’ve experienced. From losing my 19-year-old dog to being in and out of hospitals and having to go through surgery, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I also experienced my very first (and very real) burnout around that time. I truly felt like I had lost all my bearings and, somewhere along the way, my sense of self. I suppose it’s in these difficult times that one starts looking inwards at what shapes who we are and how we define ourselves. 

Ballintoy Church of Ireland

Looking for a way out of my own mind, I hardly gave it a second thought when my cousin sent me a last-minute invitation to join her on her trip and visit the land of our great-grandmother, Elizabeth Kelly. Bella and her brother had to leave Ireland, as so many others, chased from their home by the Great Famine of 1845-52. They arrived in Canada as orphans and were separated, but never forgot each other nor the land they came from. It is said that this longing for the old country has been passed on ever since: just like the rain and saltwater mixed in our blood that made it through the generations. 

Glenarm Castle & Walled Garden  

Glenarm Marina

Little did I know that this trip would not only be the first step in my recovery, it would also fill a deeper longing I had felt for years now. It's a strange feeling to return to the land of your ancestors, the sense of returning home to a place you never had seen but always knew. A certain wholeness retrieved. The salt returned to the sea. 

Ballintoy Harbour