Have a loved one in the US? People in Cork invited to share stories of their journeys to America

We in Ireland are a nation of storytellers. Everyone loves a good yarn, and we are the very best at sharing them.

Yet, we often forget to tell our own story and share the story of loved ones in far off lands.

Irish America 250, a group of like-minded Irish and Irish Americans based in the U.S, launched America Éire on July 1.

America Éire is a landmark new website that allows for Irish Americans, the Irish in America, and those families at home with loved ones in America, to share their own stories, journeys, and histories.

In the past, our storytelling was a way of sharing and preserving our connection to home. Today, we use this legacy as the heart of America Éire, which seeks to bring all of our stories together in a digital time capsule.

The project honours the role that the Irish have played in the last 250 years of the United States, but also looks at the present and to the future as we continue to traverse the Atlantic.

It is ingrained deep in the Irish psyche that when we leave Ireland, home never truly leaves us.

As an Irish native living overseas, there is nothing more special than the Irish community. We are our nation’s best ambassadors.

We promote Ireland at every opportunity and do our best to maintain the relationship with home in every way.

This week will mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence by the United States. The reality not often realised is that the story of America is an Irish story.

We built the roads, the bridges, the cities, and the skyscrapers. We became the policemen, the firemen, the teachers, the very fabric of any society.

And as the years have passed, a journey that started with a letter being received once every one or two years has been replaced by the instantaneous FaceTime call.

Whether you have a loved one who has crossed the Atlantic in the recent past, or many years ago, this is a wonderful opportunity to come together and share their story.

As a native of Cork, living in Florida, I feel that it is vital to share and preserve our story, both for those of us in the present and into the future.

Why? For so many who have gone before, and for those who continue to go, the longing for home is always there.

There is a longing for who we are and where we came from. The additional longing for identity and history and courage is a common trait of all the Irish in America.

Many departed Ireland in the hardest of times, the penal laws, the famine, mass unemployment. We often left with broken hearts, with dreams of a better life. We climbed from the depths of despair.

Irish America is strong and hopeful as we look to the future. But it is the links to home that inspire and motivate, and most importantly allow us to dream.

Many Irish Americans today have not set foot on these shores, but it is not always by choice.

In the words of President Kennedy, while it may not have been the land of their birth, it is the land to which they hold the greatest affection. They too have a story to share.

Whether it is a brother in the Bronx or a sister in San Francisco, or a long lost relative in Chicago, America Éire seeks to bring all together.

If you or a loved one have a story to share, please visit us at http://AmericaÉire.org

We’d love to hear from you.