Side by side with O\u2019Donnell are thousands more Americans who are seeking a new life. Some come solo, some come with pets, some come with family. Here, we speak to five new, and not-so-new, American arrivals to find out how life here is working out.<\/p>\n
![\"Heidi](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5138094_14_articleinlinemobile_Heidi_20Hansen.jpg\" "\\"Heidi")
Heidi Hansen: Having to explain active-shooter drills to a five-year-old and seven-year-old did not feel good<\/p>\n
Heidi and her family arrived in Dublin from Maine in mid-April, a move that was facilitated by her husband\u2019s employer opening an office here. The couple had honeymooned in Ireland, so when the offer came, they jumped at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt couldn\u2019t have come at a better time politically. We have two young kids, and every elementary school has mandatory active-shooter drills,\u201d she says. \u201cHaving to explain that to your five-year-old and seven-year-old… it just doesn\u2019t feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming for work made the move a little easier but the family also had to get their cat and dog to Dublin, an admin-heavy process. While the cat came with them on the plane, the dog had to wait an extra week to be reunited with the family.<\/p>\n
Heidi has an unusual profession. \u201cI\u2019m a psychic medium and psychic development coach, and my sister and I have a podcast together. I believe it\u2019s something that everybody has access to, and some people want to develop the skill,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She claims astrocartography, a branch of astrology that helps people find locations that resonate with them, also pointed her to Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy three main lines intersect right in Dublin,\u201d she says. \u201cIt feels like I\u2019ve been here before, or like I\u2019ve lived here before, even though I haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s been discussing the inevitable culture shocks on her Instragam @multipassionate_mystic<\/a>, and says: \u201cOverall, the move has gone well. It\u2019s been surprisingly easy, especially for my kids, which I like.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting used to the smaller sizes of Irish washers and driers has proved a bit more challenging, and she\u2019s amazed at how fast people walk. \u201cI\u2019ve always been told I have a long stride but I\u2019m getting passed by these 80-year-old men,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n Heidi and her family have committed to staying for at least two years. \u201cWe are already planning to stay afterwards. This is the first time in my life where I can actually see myself staying long-term. It feels like home.\u201d<\/p>\n Waterford is now home for San Diego native Chelsea, who was living in the Californian city with her Irish husband, their daughter, and their two dogs.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband had wanted to come home for a long time,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the political stuff that pushed us over the edge \u2014 we were just ready to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n Once they decided to leave, things moved fast.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back at it now, it was a whirlwind of chaos. We made the decision to move in May last year, and then we were here by September.\u201d<\/p>\n Chelsea\u2019s husband is from Dublin, and the family initially moved there for a few months, before buying a home in the South-East. Irish house buying is radically different from the American experience, where it only takes about a month to six weeks to close a sale.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you have your offer accepted, it\u2019s very different and it felt very nerve-wracking because we were afraid at the last minute they would accept another bid,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n Happily, that didn\u2019t happen and the family is loving life in Waterford, with Chelsea sharing her progress on her Instagram @fromchaostocozy_<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her daughter is settling well, which she\u2019s delighted about. \u201cIt worked out really good, she\u2019s in junior infants and she just loves being able to go out all the time and do all different activities. And she just started camogie a couple of weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Chelsea and her husband are loving the slower pace of life, and the reset the move has given them.<\/p>\n \u201cI can step back and look at it and think, \u2018This is just absolutely insane but without having to be in that constant fight or flight mode.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n While they do intend to go back to the US to visit, for the foreseeable, Ireland is now their home.<\/p>\n Texan Lauren met her Irish husband in Houston in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t looking for anything,\u201d she recalls. \u201cMeeting him, I didn\u2019t even think it\u2019d be anything serious, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n But fate had other ideas, and the couple moved to Claregalway, Co Galway, in 2021, as the country was in the thick of covid lockdowns. Not the most ideal start to a new life but Lauren is sanguine about it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very different but now, I feel like now, five years on, I have a grasp on it, so that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n Life has come at her fast and she now has two children under the age of three. Both were born here and those experiences were positive.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m considered high risk here in Ireland and the treatment I\u2019ve gotten from the doctors, I would say it was pretty much close to going private,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I had a good team looking after me, and I don\u2019t know if I would have experienced the same in the States because of insurance and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Lauren\u2019s mother really wanted her to have her babies back home.<\/p>\n \u201cMom was like, \u2018You should have the kids in the States because if you don\u2019t, they won\u2019t be able to be the president. I was like, \u2018I\u2019m not really worried about them being the president,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n Her husband\u2019s family are nearby to lend a hand, another positive. \u201cThe support here has just been something I don\u2019t see myself having the same experience of in the States,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n With the good unfortunately comes the bad… and Lauren has experienced trolling and abuse on her social media accounts, including her Instagram @thegalwaygal<\/a>, which she uses to document her experiences as an American in Ireland.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people say Ireland for the Irish and things like that, and I found that hard as an American to navigate because I was like, \u2018What is going on?\u2019 Those nasty comments and racist stuff I don\u2019t like, and I don\u2019t want my kids to experience that. But then I\u2019m like, \u2018You know, Ireland can change.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Shaking off the negativity, Lauren plans to use her own platform to help other new arrivals. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to help other Americans who are making the move, and it\u2019s allowed me to meet people in Ireland. It\u2019s nice to just meet other people in my shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n New Yorker Hannah touched down in Dublin in 2016 with her husband, an Irish man. While the couple has since split, they remain friends and the marriage also enabled her to become an Irish citizen.<\/p>\n Moving here as part of a duo helped her to integrate, as did her job.<\/p>\n \u201cI was going into an office full of other people, and chatting with them, and then they would invite me to do other things, and then I\u2019d make friends,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t mean it was all plain sailing, and Irishisms flummoxed her to begin with. \u201cI could understand everything but I definitely took things very literally.<\/p>\n Somebody said, \u2018Come here to me,\u2019 so I just walked over to them and they were very confused,\u201d she laughs. \u201cOr you know, \u2018Your man.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018He\u2019s not my man!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n These days, Hannah wears a few hats. She works part-time for Vintage Tea Tours, and is well known for her Instagram account, @woman.in.wool<\/a>, where she shares her passion for all things crafty along with witty commentary on cultural differences. Additionally, she is planning to launch a business selling her own bespoke knitwear.<\/p>\n Instagram has introduced her to new friends and work opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, I\u2019ve been working with the European parliament office. They\u2019ve released a lot of my stuff, especially with knitting focused on wool, sustainability, and slow fashion, and natural fibres,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Ireland is definitely home but she still misses an American Halloween, autumn in New York, and those long hot summer nights. Hannah visits family in New York a few times a year, and they come here also.<\/p>\n Time offers perspective: How does she feel about the US these days?<\/p>\n \u201cI think the politics are horrific at the moment,\u201d she says. \u201cI think that the administration has done a really great job in dividing Americans and polarising the world, and I fear for the people it\u2019s going to affect the most.\u201d<\/p>\n With so many fellow Americans arriving now, what\u2019s her best piece of advice?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge deal to put yourself out there and try to make friends. It\u2019s hard to do but, you know, it\u2019s necessary,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Comedian and actor Zac is practically part of the furniture these days, having arrived in Kilkenny from California 18 years ago.<\/p>\n Zac\u2019s grandmother hailed from the Marble City and he increasingly found himself drawn across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d been here a few times, and then my mom died and I decided to go and find myself. I was in Ireland for a while, I was in France for a little while. But there\u2019s always something about Ireland, especially Kilkenny, so I would go back there and, eventually, I just stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n These days, Zac lives in Dublin\u2019s Cabra with his wife, and he also has three daughters with a previous partner. Of his northside home, he says: \u201cIt\u2019s working class and has a great sense of community. But also, it\u2019s got this grit to it, just the right amount of grit.\u201d<\/p>\n When he first arrived in Kilkenny, one of his biggest culture shocks was the nation\u2019s fondness for fake tan in the depths of a freezing Irish winter.<\/p>\n Hiberno-English took some getting used to as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI love all that,\u201d he exclaims. \u201cWhen the Irish language is turned into English, it turns out like Yoda.\u201d<\/p>\n Observing those idiosyncratic colloquialisms is now a big part of his rapidly growing Instagram account @zacleecomedy.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI do a few different types of video. One is where an American comes into a conversation and can\u2019t keep up. And then I\u2019m basically trying to do different accents from different counties. When I first moved, I was amazed at how you could throw a stone and hit a different accent.\u201d<\/p>\n Zac is inherently funny, so it\u2019s no surprise to find that he\u2019s busy making a living out of being gas. He has a podcast, Clowns of the Round Table, and hosts a regular comedy night in The Hut pub in nearby Phibsborough.<\/p>\n Last year, he founded Dead Pheasant Productions, which he set up with a specific goal in mind: To create a truly great comedy show.<\/p>\n![\"Chelsea](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5138115_12_articleinlinemobile_Chelsea_20Lennon.jpeg.jpg\" "\\"Chelsea")
Chelsea Lennon: My husband had wanted to come home for a long time<\/p>\n![\"Lauren](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5138097_14_articleinlinemobile_Lauren_20McCauley.jpeg.jpg\" "\\"Lauren")
Lauren McCauley moved to Ireland with her husband in 2021<\/p>\n![\"Hannah](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5138118_12_articleinlinemobile_Hannah_20Civita.jpg\" "\\"Hannah")
Hannah Civita: I think the politics are horrific at the moment, the administration has done a really great job in dividing Americans and polarising the world<\/p>\n![\"Hannah](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5138157_11_articleinlinemobile_Hannah_20Civita_202.jpg\" "\\"Hannah")
Hannah Civita wearing some of her knitwear which she is planning to launch a business for<\/p>\n![\"Comedian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5138169_10_articleinlinemobile_Zac_20Lee_1_.jpg\" "\\"Comedian")
Comedian and actor Zac Lee: When I first arrived in Kilkenny, one of my biggest culture shocks was the nation\u2019s fondness for fake tan in the depths of a freezing Irish winter<\/p>\n