Corkonians Abroad: What am I missing most about Cork? Oh, the food

Where are you from originally, Laura, and what was life like there?

I am born and raised on the northside from Dublin Hill.

I went to school at Scoil Oilibhéir on Dublin Hill and St Angela’s College on Patrick’s Hill.

I then enrolled at Woodward and Whealan for Beauty Therapy College and went straight to work at Brown Thomas, where I remained for nine years until I got a new job with BlackBerry. Remember those phones?

What drove you to move to another country?

A job promotion to London with BlackBerry. I was already working for BlackBerry in Ireland when the job in London came up.

I remember exactly where I was the day I got the call in 2012. On holiday in Marbella with the girls from Brown Thomas.

I had 60 days to finish up the job in Ireland and get my life together in a couple of suitcases.

This had come at a great time for me, I was 27 and I had just come out of a relationship and so when they announced an opportunity to move to London, I applied but never thought I’d get it. I had no tech experience (I still don’t), but I think they wanted a friendly face and someone who looked and sounded different on their London team.

Where do you live now, and what is it like there?

I lived in London for eight years. I stayed true to my Northside roots and lived in areas in North London.

But we moved to Northamptonshire in 2019 because of my job at the time.

Where I live now is a lovely working class town with great schools. We even have an Irish Centre, it’s where I go to watch Cork play.

Do you have family where you live now?

I have three children - two boys and a girl - Logan, born in 2018, Lenni, in 2020, and Reggie, in 2023.

My partner, Michael Mulcahy, is from London and works in IT. His grandfather was Irish and so I always joke that he only started pronouncing his surname correctly after meeting me. I’m so happy my children have an Irish surname because mine isn’t Irish at all.

What has been the most memorable moment in your home place?

My most memorable moments have been bringing the babies home from the hospital after they were born. Each new addition has made the house and our lives feel more complete.

What is your job/career where you now live?

I used to be in regional sales and account management. I travelled for more than a decade all over Ireland and England. I hung up my corporate coat after the birth of my daughter in 2020 as I realised that wasn’t the career for me anymore.

I was fortunate enough to be part of a mass company redundancy (during covid) which was during my maternity leave so I was able to walk away and still take my nine months’ leave with no financial worries.

I would say my main job now is being mum to three little people, but now that my youngest is almost two, I am working on a new business which I launched in October and hope to work full time with it. It’s called Mo Chara - Companionship for Irish Seniors in England.

How might you spend your weekend?

Because my eldest two children are SEN (Special Educational Needs), we are not into sports at the moment. So no running around to clubs. My daughter in particular doesn’t enjoy socialising so we tend to avoid crowded places in general.

On Saturdays, I always take the morning to myself to go to pilates and get some groceries in for the weekend. We do all our house chores on a Saturday too so the kids will always be doing arts and crafts of some kind and watching a movie in the afternoons.

Sunday is family day so we spend the whole day either at home or going for a spin in the car or doing something together.

I’m now busy re-learning how to bake soda breads, scones and fifteens (a Northern Irish sweet treat) to bake with my clients as an activity. So I am practising on Sundays with a little help from my eldest!

How is the culture where you live different from Cork/Ireland? How is it the same?

Almost everything is the same as it is at home - houses, lifestyle, education, bills, jobs. But culturally - what I notice straight away is it’s different in the way we speak. We all speak the same English language but we talk a different English to the English.

Another thing I’d say that’s different is the way we don’t want to be celebrated or complimented at all. Like, don’t compliment me at all please, I’ll faint with embarrassment. The British are great at celebrating success almost to the point of gloating whereas I feel the Irish are a lot more laid back about success.

What do you miss most about Cork?

Besides my family and friends, the food! Oh my days - the food in Ireland is unmatched. I haven’t had a decent sandwich in years.

I do regular orders with Ocado for my Clonakilty pud and Kerrygold and then I use YourIrishshop, based in London, to see me through with basics.

I generally don’t enjoy the food in England at all and it’s only because I’ve grown up on the Irish version of everything.

Do you get to go home to Cork often? What do you do when you return?

Life before kids - I went home so regularly. Especially when my brother had his first baby. He was the first so I wanted to get home as often as I could to see him. Sometimes, I popped up at my brother’s house an a Saturday for 9am and would be back on the plane by 6pm.

It’s awful to say, but I haven’t been home in six years. Two of my three have not stepped on Irish soil yet. But life happens. And so sometimes things don’t go to plan.

I am hoping to get all five of us home for a visit in 2026.

Any special mentions to family/friends back home in Cork?

Of course - The Keneficks!

My parents, Mary and Tom, my brothers and sisters-in-law Graham and Breffeni, Darren and Gill. Big special mentions to my nephew Ben and niece Zoe. I miss them so much.

All of my friends; you know who you are, girls! My aunts, uncles and cousins on both the Byrd and Kenefick sides.

Other special mention to my food favourites - Fitzpatricks and Brackens, The Golden Fry and Murphys Chipper. I’ll see you again one day.

If you could spend an ideal day in Cork, what would that entail?

A home-cooked breakfast with all my family. A walk around Fitzgerald’s Park. If the weather permitted, go to Fota with all the kids. Have a cosy dinner and drink with all my family somewhere nice like the River Lee or Montenotte Hotel.

Go see the girls for a couple of hours and catch up with my friends. End the evening watching all the cousins spend some time together. Because being with my family is what makes my heart happy.

What are your plans for the future?

Ideally, continue living life in England and raising our children here. We would love to make the move back to London in the future,

Growing my business, Mo Chara, so that I am able to reach as many Irish seniors as possible in all areas around the UK.