Greener on the other side - a Donegal graduate’s transition to life in the Big Apple

Getting to grips with the gritty streets as one of the new Irish immigrants

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The 7 Subway train in Queen's New York

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Read more: How I fell in love with Ireland and finally moved there

Temptation is everywhere from the shops to the theatres, bars and restaurants and the smells that permeate the air are often responsible for emptying the wallet, and sometimes the stomach.

At the beginning it felt like I had left reality to take part in a movie. Even the dirtiness of the subways and the piles of rubbish everywhere seemed to be part of the film set and it took me a while to realise that this was my life now. The search for a job brought us down to earth as we could only take part in the movie if we had the money to finance ourselves.

Looking for work was a full time job in itself and after weeks of generic email replies or no replies at all, it felt like the only opportunity I would be given was to pick between a padded cell or a strait jacket. However, the good thing about all the crazy and eccentric people in New York is that it just takes a subway ride to reassure your sanity.

Since coming here, I have been propositioned by a hot dog stand vendor, chased down 40th street by a crazy man (not the hot dog vendor! different guy) and felt irrational urges to shove trumpets where the sun don’t shine. But I’ve also soaked up the beauty of the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, Times Square and Fifth Avenue like any other wide-eyed tourist.

New York is a contradiction of grubbiness and glamour with a mixture of the most eccentric, crazy and normal inhabitants that I will probably ever see. One minute, you can be on the subway, about to throw up while watching a man who looks like he could blend nicely into a Tim Burton movie devour half a can of dog food (the first half having been enjoyed by the dog), the next you’re being blinded by the lights of Times Square, trying to absorb everything at once while trying not to crash into other tourists.

It may be a heady mixture of the weird and the wonderful, but in some ways, being in New York reaffirms our Irishness. In the search for familiarity among the sea of unknown faces and unfamiliar places, we gravitate towards Irish bars like we’ve never been in them before and feel an instant connection with other Irish immigrants. It is ironic that home seems to come closer, in that Ireland becomes part of our identity rather than just somewhere we’re from.

Despite missing friends and family, money restrictions and the promised donation of organs to secure some Barry’s tea and Kerrygold butter, I am one of the many to have fallen under the spell of New York City and know that it is an experience I will never forget.

Read more Irish roots stories on IrishCentral here

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