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E-mailWhy one Irish immigrant has returned to the U.S. - for good
In a cozy bar in Yonkers, N.Y. the door opens. In walks a middle-aged gentleman. He perches his rear end up on a bar stool and orders a beer, but not before reaching over the counter to give the burly bartender a hug.
“Welcome home,” said the customer warmly.
“Thanks, thanks, it’s great to be back,” answers the barman.
The customer wasn’t in the bar at 3 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon for a drink. He was there to catch up with an old friend, a friend he hadn’t seen in 15 months.
Tom, whose second name will remain anonymous because he was once undocumented, has been back in New York for a week.
This barman is no stranger to New York or to the bar he was working in on Thursday when IrishCentral caught up with him.
Tom, 38, spent eight years tending to the thirsts of many Irish and Irish immigrants behind those taps before he moved back to Twomileborris, County Tipperary 15 months ago. But on Thursday Tom was on cloud nine as he popped the top off an Amstel and uncorked a bottle of wine.
This bar is where Tom belongs. His warm personality, his lively and witty humor and his genuine kind nature is what makes him one of the most popular and sought after bartenders in New York.
During his years behind the bar, Tom made countless friends. These friendships were solid, genuine and ever lasting, and it was these comraderies that Tom’s heart ached for when he got back to Ireland.
Early February last year Tom packed his life of 12 years into a small container and set sail for Ireland. He loved everything about New York, but he knew he had to go home.
Family was calling. His sister was getting married in March and his mother had taken quite ill. Off he went, sadly, but content at the time with his decision.
“It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone but I knew I had to go,” Tom told IrishCentral while serving a punter a pint.
Tom led the life of an immigrant for 22 years. He left Ireland at the young age of 15 and spent 10 years living it up in London in the late 80s and early 90s.
Feeling adventurous, Tom decided to give New York a try. Another 12 years flew by.
It was time to try Ireland. After all, the Celtic Tiger was clawing its way through Ireland. How bad could home be?
“Not at all bad at first,” the witty barman laughs.
Dipping into his hard earned savings, Tom, a sporting fanatic, went to every rugby, football and hurling match being played the first few weeks at home.
“It was sport that kept me going. In those first few months at home I was at every league game, I was there to see Tipperary win the National Hurling League, I saw Munster win the Heineken Cup. It was great,” he said.
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IrishCentral is the website about everything Irish for everyone Irish -- the 70 million people around the world who trace their roots to the Emerald Isle.You'll find the most-fascinating stories from the United States, Ireland and the global Irish world, including the latest in news, entertainment, celebrity gossip, travel and vacations, sports, food and drink, Irish ancestry and genealogy, immigration, religion, business and opinion. (close)
