Today, I will be speaking with Colleen Corbett. Any Irish person who has moved to Toronto is sure to have encountered the famous Colleen at some stage. She brings energy and enthusiasm to any conversation she is in and this is no exception. Colleen’s mother, the equally famous Maureen Mulvey O’Leary, winner of the 2024 Irish Person of the Year Award, was a previous guest on this podcast. Colleen talks about how her mother raised her as Irish in Toronto, attending Irish cultural events in the city and traveling around the North American continent to various Comhaltas events. Colleen discusses how St. Patrick’s Day is like Christmas for her and she also discusses how it feels to be on the other side as Irish people begin to move back home, after having formed close bonds with people in Toronto.

Colleen’s experiences as Irish growing up in Toronto is unique and she is currently chronicling these experiences in a novel she is writing. We discuss the ups and downs of creating writing and how she came to lose her original manuscript.

Today, I will be speaking with Sarah Cartin, who I refer to as ‘Saz’ for the remainder of this podcast. Saz moved to Canada the same month as I did and we became friends through her ex-partner. In this episode, Saz opens up about her initial struggles finding a job here in Toronto to her fractured relationship with alcohol. This episode is being released one day before Saz’s three-year soberversary. She is refreshingly honest about her journey to sobriety and I admire how she approaches it. Her Instagram page, sackedthesauce is a wonderful resource for people curious about quitting alcohol. I really appreciate her honesty throughout this chat. Quick trigger warning for people, there will be mentions of alcohol use disorder and disordered eating.

I would still encourage people to download the episodes and to share them with friends and family. Downloads are the easiest indicator for me to gauge how many people I am reaching with these conversations so I would really appreciate it.

While we have had some amazing guests on this podcast over the past three years, today I am proud to introduce our most distinguished guest of all, Her Excellency, the Consul General of Ireland in Toronto, Ms. Janice McGann. In fact, Janice became the inaugural Consul General of Ireland in Toronto back in 2022.

As her appointment in Toronto comes to its end, Janice took time out of her busy schedule to sit down with me and suffer through what she called a truly authentic Irish in Toronto experience by appearing on the podcast. We discuss the challenges of establishing a brand new Consulate in a place with a large Irish diaspora. We also discuss Janice’s career before coming to Toronto and what the future will look like for her as she begins a new role with the Department of Foreign Affairs at home in Dublin.

The Irish community in Toronto will be forever grateful to Janice and her team for the work they have put in over the past few years to establish the Consulate and we wish her the best.

Today, I’ll be chatting with Michael Doyle. I first came to know Michael when his daughter Madeleine was selected as the winner of the inaugural Irish Heritage Awards for her artwork depicting Thomas D’arcy McGee and the expectations of Irish emigrants to Canada. Michael was born in Toronto to two Irish parents and this provides us with a unique insight into the identity of a second-generation Irish-Canadian. Michael is very honest about his perspective on his Irish identity and how that has changed throughout the years, from his childhood to the early 1990s and his experiences studying Irish at the University of St. Michael’s College, right up to his retirement plans.

Today, I’ll be chatting with Robin Bury. I recently read Robin’s memoir: On the Margin, in which he writes about his life, particularly about growing up as the son of a Protestant clergyman in county Cork. We discuss some of that during this episode as well as Robin’s move to Toronto nearly a decade ago, in his mid-seventies. Born in India, raised in Ireland, periods spent in the UK, Kenya and now residing in Canada, Robin has a great story to tell. Stay tuned for an especially interesting story about access to contraception in Ireland when Robin began dating, and his opinion on it. I have provided a link below for you if you wish to purchase Robin’s memoir to hear more fascinating stories.

https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000350286610/Robin-Bury-On-the-Margin

Cormac came to Canada from Clonsilla, Dublin in 2010 (one of the few times it wasn’t fun to be in Dublin) and has settled into a Canadian banking career over the last 15 years. Cormac is currently an Executive Vice President and Partner at Stonebridge Financial, a Toronto based asset manager. Since coming to Canada, he has been a player and treasurer with St. Pats GAA and recently chaired the Ireland Funds St. Patrick’s Day luncheon coming out of COVID. He’s also been known to pull a pint for a I/CAN and support various Irish ex-pat community initiatives across the city. Cormac is a long-time resident of the east end with his wife and Toronto Irish Players secretary, Sue Murphy. When he’s not pushing pennies, Cormac enjoys some downtime skiing, golfing, hiking (with Pixie the cockapoo) or preparing for the next Hyrox race.

I would still encourage people to download the episodes and to share them with friends and family. Downloads are the easiest indicator for me to gauge how many people I am reaching with these conversations so I would really appreciate it.

Today, I’ll be chatting with Declan O’Sullivan. You might know him better as ‘Paddyman’. Declan is a professional entertainer and songwriter who has performed live for over 1 million people all around the world. Originally from Kildare, Declan originally moved to Canada twenty-five years ago where he met his wife before moving to Dubai for sixteen years. Declan and his family are now back in Canada, residing in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We recorded this conversation a couple hours before he was due to perform at a private gig in the Brazen Head in Liberty Village, Toronto in aid of the Toronto Irish FC.

In this episode, we discuss the reasons Declan moved to Canada, Dubai and back to Canada again, how he got started in the entertainment industry, the prestigious Golden Visa awarded to him by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and what the future holds for him in Canada. In this podcast, we meet Declan O’Sullivan, the person, but he allows us to meet Paddyman as well as he indulges us with three wonderful songs, written by himself. It was a pleasure to sit down and see Paddyman live.

I would still encourage people to download the episodes and to share them with friends and family. Downloads are the easiest indicator for me to gauge how many people I am reaching with these conversations so I would really appreciate it.

Today, I’ll be chatting with Bronwyn Brennan. Bronwyn is a twenty-four-year-old writer based in Toronto. ‘The Boy From Dublin’ is her debut novel, inspired by her grandfather’s life and stories. She currently runs a small hockey school based in the city and works extensively with the girls division, concentrating her efforts on growing women’s hockey and guiding young athletes toward the collegiate level and beyond.

In this episode, we discuss Bronwyn's Irish roots, her passion for storytelling and her journey playing and coaching hockey.

I would still encourage people to download the episodes and to share them with friends and family. Downloads are the easiest indicator for me to gauge how many people I am reaching with these conversations so I would really appreciate it.

How to buy 'The Boy From Dublin':

https://www.bronwynbrennan.ca/

https://rebooks.ca/shop/p/the-boy-from-dublin

https://www.amazon.ca/Boy-Dublin-Bronwyn-Brennan-ebook/dp/B0DZ748RYM