It’s a modern tale of girl-meets-boy. Theresa Rowley, a Dallas actress and comedian, got an Instagram message from a man in Ireland. She and the guy, named Seán Rooney, began to text, then FaceTime. Within a few months, she was flying to Dublin to visit him, an experience she documented in a July TikTok post that went viral.
The response, she said, “was overwhelmingly supportive, which I was excited and slightly surprised about, because that’s not the norm as far as the internet goes.”
She should know. As a content creator, the Amarillo native shares quippy stories about her life to over a million followers on social media. “There were, of course, some people that told me how dumb I was to have flown over there and told me that it’ll never last, things like that. And you know, who knows?” she said.
Since posting that viral video, she has shared other posts about Rooney, who’s now her boyfriend, and his culture. “I leaned into it because at the end of the day social media is my job,” she said.
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The couple’s story has been chronicled by Texas and Irish media. Ireland’s tourism agency also partnered with Rowley to fund her trips to the country and film producers have reached out about future work. Rowley’s grateful for the opportunities, but notes she doesn’t want to “farm” the in-and-outs of her relationship for content.
Seán Rooney and Theresa Rowley.
Courtesy Theresa Rowley
This past Thanksgiving, the tables turned. She played host in Dallas, taking Rooney to Jimmy’s Food Store, an Italian market in Old East Dallas (“He was over the moon about it. They have really great sandwiches.”), and showing him around Bishop Arts.
The Dallas Morning News caught up with Rowley to hear more about how she has navigated the online attention and how Ireland compares to the Lone Star State. This conversation has been edited for clarity.
For the last few years, there have been countless dating horror stories shared on social media and a pervasive sense of fatigue looming over people’s romantic lives. Before you flew to Ireland, how did you feel about Dallas’ dating scene?
I am a culprit of sharing many a dating horror story online. I’ve had good relationships. I’ve had really heartbreaking relationships. Dating in Dallas was not for the faint of heart. I haven’t been on the apps in a long time because I was so exhausted by them and the impersonal aspect. My connection with Seán after we started to build it showed itself to be a little bit deeper and different than the ones that I was able to establish here in Dallas.
Was there anyone online treating you like a love guru trying to receive advice after the videos?
(Laughs.) Yeah and they should stop. It’s so interesting to be fostering a new relationship, let alone an international, long-distance relationship, and trying to get to know a person, while also under the microscope of the internet. Seán and I were talking earlier today about how crazy it is. We’ve only been dating for about six months. We’ve been around each other in person three times. And yet, every day, I’m getting messages from wedding photographers, from venues being like, have your wedding here. And I’m like, oh my God. It was kind of a beast of my own creation, but a beast nonetheless.
Is there any aspect of this whole ordeal that has given you source material for a joke?
I sat around in Seán’s kitchen with him and his family and could hardly understand a word that was being said. The Irish accent is incredibly thick, there’s definitely some material there. The cultural divide is funny through a certain lens.
How do Ireland and Dallas compare to you?
I have been in Dallas for about six years now and there’s a lot to do here, especially in the food and beverage scene. As far as landscape goes, Ireland has Dallas beat tenfold. You drive down the road in Ireland, you see a castle on your right-hand side and rolling hills on the left. And here in Dallas, you see White Castle on the right-hand side.
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