An Ancestral Healing Journey To Ireland

Earlier this year I was granted Irish citizenship, and what began as the practical process of gathering information for application forms, has become one of the most profound experiences of my life.

Because I knew so little about the Irish side of my family, I started to search. Names emerged first, then places. Small fragments of lives once lived. What had once felt distant and abstract became real. Human. Close.

I had previously rejected this side of my family, which I knew so little about. There was lots of alcoholism and tragedy associated with them, and it was easier for me to ignore than accept. But in doing so, I began to understand, I wasn’t just rejecting the past. I was rejecting a part of myself.

During my own Breathwork journeys over the years, I started to see that many of the things holding me back were not entirely my own. They were older than me. Wounds, beliefs, ways of surviving that had been passed down, quietly and invisibly, through generations in my family. With that came compassion …..for the choices they made. For the ways they coped, endured, and survived. What I had once seen as brokenness, I began to recognise as resilience. What I had judged, I started to understand. They carried what they had to carry, which meant that I could be here.

I decided to visit Ireland and I have spent the past 2 days in County Leitrim.. the place where my grandfather was born and lived…as did all the forefathers before him.

This trip feels like a mini pilgrimage back through time, through story, through blood and land.

Spending this time in the simple farmlands of Glenfarne was extraordinary. It felt light, gentle and safe. I met SO many of the Keany clan and learned lots about my particular clan- the  “Mickey Denny” clan of Keany’s. 

It felt incredibly special to see the land where my ancestors lived and worked. There was a cemetery full of ancestors dating back hundreds of years. I also had the opportunity to facilitate a Breathwork session there on the land. 

I received the warmest welcome and such kindness and generosity from the people in the community. Especially one man of the clan, who had already done extensive research on the Keany’s and showed me all the places where the Keany’s had lived and worked. I even have a new connection with a direct living relative living in North Carolina…. my grandfather and 2 of his siblings had emigrated to New York in 1920’s/30’s… as so many Irish did back then. 

I went from having barely any family at all, to being amongst an entire clan overnight. I’m still processing the depth of this trip. It’s been beyond extraordinary. And regardless of ancestors… I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to visit Ireland. It’s such an incredible place and has left its mark on my heart.