The Irish Outlander

By Scott De Buitléir

The Irish are renowned for travelling the world, but where is home while they're abroad? In mixing his own story with those of other emigrants, Scott De Buitléir finds out what 'home' means to a people, for whom emigration is part of the national psyche. From crisp sandwiches to the smell of the Atlantic Ocean, The Irish Outlander is a love song to Ireland from afar, and a reminder to those abroad that they've not been forgotten.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott De Buitléir
• Release date: Jun 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463816776

Scott De Buitléir

Scott De Buitléir is an author and poet from Dublin, Ireland. Born in London to Irish parents, Scott quickly developed a passion for both writing and languages, becoming fluent in Irish Gaelic from a young age, and graduated from University College Dublin having studied Celtic languages.Writing poetry in both English and Irish since his teens, Scott's solo literary début was in 2017 with the release of the bilingual collection, Fás | Growth. The following year, he published The Irish Outlander, a partly autobiographical account of how the Irish diaspora continue to connect and relate with their homeland while abroad. In 2018, Scott released Yesterdates, a revised collection of his dating and relationship stories from his column in the British LGBTQ magazine, Polari. In 2020, two new works are due for release; a novella titled Forgiving Jake, and Scott's second bilingual poetry collection, Elysium / Párthas.Today, Scott lives in Cork city with his partner, Stephen. He regularly travels between Dublin and Cork, as well as regular visits to San Francisco.

Book preview

Introduction

Home is such an emotive word, and yet it’s used so often that people can sometimes forget what it truly means.

In the Irish language, the word for home isn’t as easy to understand for a learner. Baile is the closest equivalent, and yet it’s not the same, because baile also means town. Sa bhaile (or sa mbaile, depending on your dialect) means at home, but it can equally mean in the town. Abhaile means homeward, which is why you’d only see it in phrases like fáilte abhaile (welcome home) or ag dul abhaile (going home).

In other words, while the English concept of home is arguably singular, the Gaelic perception is permanently connected with the community. Indeed, it may well explain why the Irish concept of home is not necessarily where you are, but who you’re with.

The Irish Outlander is a personal account of a journey, covering a 12-month period, that took me - and eventually, my partner - back to Ireland after living in England. It is a meditation on the meaning of home, our connection with Ireland while abroad, and also on how the Irish diaspora usually gravitate towards one another. During my time writing this book, I also invited Irish people living abroad, and those who had returned, to take part in an online survey to explore what home meant to them. Their responses resulted in most of this book’s chapter titles, the various quotes underneath, and the closing chapter, which collects responses that were too valuable not to include. They show that while those who leave Ireland may have different feelings and experiences regarding emigration, how they look at what they left behind is often the same.

On that note, it’s worth mentioning that this book is not meant to be read with rose-tinted glasses. There are many social, political, and economic problems which have faced (and continue to challenge) Ireland, some of which have been the reasons behind many decisions to emigrate. Nevertheless, one can still acknowledge that there are many Irish people abroad who think fondly of their homeland and countryfolk, regardless of why they left, or where they may plan to settle down.

I’d like to sincerely thank those who responded to my survey ‒ from Canada to Bermuda, and Britain to Australia ‒ for sharing their experiences and thoughts on home with me. Their responses were inspirational, heartwarming, and sometimes deeply profound, and I’m grateful for those minutes spent online. I’m also thankful to my wonderful other half, my family, and my friends for letting me write down various real-life moments from their lives, trusting me not to reveal anything too embarrassing or incriminating.

That’s for the next book… (just kidding).

Wherever you may be, whether at home or abroad, I hope you enjoy my journey home.

This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever felt homesick

Non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici.

We are not born for ourselves alone; we are shared with our country and our friends.

~ Cicero; De Officiis, 1:22

Home is the Past

I was glad for the reinvention that came with leaving home. While I often meet people who are connected to home in some way, it was nice to just be myself for a while and do my own thing.

~ Trudi; from Co. Cavan, living in Leeds, UK

‒

A surge of giddiness ran through my body as I sat in the car on a dark December night, as we made our way to East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire. Fairytale of New York played on the radio, and as the song’s traditional Irish riff played through the speakers, we felt like we were already in Ireland, before we even stepped onto the plane to Dublin.

By that Christmastime, I had been living for just over a year in Nottingham with my boyfriend, whom I shall affectionately (or unimaginatively) call ‘Boyf’ for the duration of this book. Moving to a different country usually involves a reason of some sort; the desire for adventure, a job offer not to be refused, or sometimes for love. For me, it was all three. After 19 months of maintaining a long-distance relationship, flying between Dublin and Nottingham every few weeks, I had seen enough of the city and the wider English midlands to consider it an acceptable location for my new home,