The Emigrant's Walk

17/10/2026

Oíche ar Chnoc Uí Néill 💚

Some places just feel a little more magical.

My grandmother was an O'Neill from Tyrone, and I went on to marry an O'Neill too! So an evening at the Hill of the O'Neill was always going to feel special.

What a wonderful evening celebrating the traditions of a Gaelic bardic court, with an autumnal, Samhain-inspired atmosphere, historically researched food and drink, music, storytelling, drama and plenty of Gaeilge.

From the Irish wolfhounds to the performances and the lighting of the beacon, it was a fantastic celebration of our rich history, language and culture.

Maith sibh! 👏 To all the talented musicians, singers and storyteller, and especially our own Carntogher Players, who brought a wonderful short scene to life on the night.

Go raibh maith agaibh to Councillor Deirdre Varsani, Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, and everyone involved in organising such a memorable evening.

A special evening, in a very special place. 💚


Visit Mid Ulster

15/10/2026

🥾🍂 The boots are off, the stories have been told, and that's a wrap on my 2026 walking season!

Today I welcomed my final group of the season, bringing another wonderful year of walking, storytelling and sharing the heritage of Mid Ulster to a close.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined me throughout 2026, whether you travelled from just down the road or from the other side of the world. It's been a pleasure to share our beautiful landscape, our history and the stories of those who once called this place home.

A special thank you also to the tour operators, tourism partners, accommodation providers and local businesses who have supported and recommended The Emigrant's Walk throughout the year. Your continued support really does mean so much.

From familiar faces to new friendships and connections made along the way, it's been another memorable season. ❤️

While my scheduled walking season has come to an end, I'm still welcoming private and group booking enquiries, and my diary for 2027 is officially open!

Here's to more footsteps, more stories and more connections in the year ahead. 🍂

🌐 www.theemigrantswalk.com

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11/09/2026

A warm welcome in the North ☘️

One of the things that stayed with me after Milwaukee Irish Fest was a few conversations I had with people about visiting the North of Ireland.

While most of my conversations were about our history, landscapes and heritage, a few people also shared genuine concerns about visiting the North, influenced both by our past and by some of the events here over recent months.

I’ll admit, that saddened me. So much has changed here, and so much work has been done over the years within our communities and across our tourism industry. We don’t shy away from our past. We tell those stories, while also showing visitors the place and people we are today.

In Milwaukee, when these concerns came up, I found myself talking about the recent Fleadh in Belfast. The streets filled with people singing, dancing and celebrating together captured something that can be difficult to put into words: the warmth, energy and spirit of the people here.

It also made me think about some work I was involved in last year with BCRC, local communities and schools, exploring the Irish experience of emigration. We looked at why so many Irish people were forced to leave home, what it meant to arrive somewhere new and the challenges they faced in building a life there.

For me, that is an important part of telling our emigration story. It isn’t only about looking backwards. Our own history can help us think about how we welcome people today.

Perhaps that’s why those conversations in Milwaukee stayed with me.
For anyone thinking about visiting the North, I hope you’ll come. Come for the landscapes, the history, the stories and the places that don’t always make the usual itineraries.

But most of all, come and meet the people.

There is a warm welcome waiting for you here. ☘️

Building Communities Resource Centre

09/09/2026

One of the things I found myself talking about a lot at Milwaukee Irish Fest was where exactly in Ireland we are based — and just how much there is to discover here.

This is the view from Carntogher Mountain across Mid Ulster. 💚

From the Sperrins and Seamus Heaney country to sheepdog experiences, great local food, fascinating heritage and, of course, the people you meet along the way, there’s so much to discover in Mid Ulster.

Milwaukee gave me the opportunity to introduce our little corner of Ireland to people planning future trips, and it reminded me just how much we have here to share.

Sometimes it takes seeing a place through the eyes of visitors to remind you just how special it is. ☘️

04/09/2026

Two years of Gorta today ☘️

After spending time in Milwaukee last month sharing our stories of emigration and the Great Hunger with the Irish diaspora, it feels particularly fitting to be celebrating two years since Gorta opened its doors here in Swatragh.

Very proud to have been part of this story from the beginning, and even more proud to see how it continues to grow and connect with visitors from home and further afield.

Happy 2nd birthday Gorta! 🎂☘️

21/08/2026

One story. Different chapters.

Working alongside the team from EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum at Milwaukee Irish Fest highlighted a strong connection.

At Gorta, Swatragh’s Famine Story, we explore one rural community during An Gorta Mór.

The Emigrant’s Walk takes that story into the landscape and the deeply human experience of leaving home.

At EPIC, those journeys continue through the stories of the Irish diaspora around the world.

From the places they left, to the journeys they made, to the lives they built.
From departure to diaspora.

It was a real pleasure sharing stories and ideas in Milwaukee and looking forward to continuing the conversation back home. ☘️🌎

19/08/2026

From Carntogher to Milwaukee… and home again. 🇮🇪🇺🇸

What an experience Milwaukee Irish Fest has been.

To take The Emigrant’s Walk across the Atlantic and share the stories of our landscape, our people and generations of emigration with an Irish-American audience felt incredibly special

But I wasn’t just there to talk about one experience.

I had the opportunity to share so much of what we have here in Mid Ulster. From Gorta: Swatragh’s Famine Story and Friels, to An Carn, Walsh’s, Loughinsholin and the wider area — and to encourage visitors to see Mid Ulster not simply as somewhere to pass through, but as somewhere to stay, explore and use as a base for discovering more of the North.

Some of my favourite moments were the conversations: hearing where people's families came from, what they knew about their Irish ancestry and, sometimes, how little pieces of those stories had survived across generations.
It reminded me exactly why these stories matter.

A huge thank you to Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland for the opportunity and support, and to everyone I worked alongside and met in Milwaukee.

I’ve come home with plenty of ideas, new connections and an even stronger belief in the stories we have to share from this little corner of Ireland. ☘️

From Mid Ulster to Milwaukee and hopefully back again. ❤️

Friels bar and restaurant Gorta Swatragh's Famine Story An Carn Walsh's Hotel Visit Mid Ulster Tourism Ireland Discover Northern Ireland

19/08/2026

Great to meet the Mayor of Derry & Strabane in Milwaukee ☘️🇺🇸 So lovely to see Derry Halloween getting the international spotlight it deserves 🎃✨

15/08/2026

Day 3 at Milwaukee Irish Fest 🇮🇪🇺🇸☘️

A little piece of Carntogher has made it all the way to Milwaukee!

It’s been incredible meeting so many people with Irish roots, hearing where their families came from and sharing the story behind The Emigrant’s Walk.
There’s something very special about telling stories of those who left Ireland, here in the country so many of them made their new home. ❤️

If your family came from Ireland, do you know where their journey began? Tourism Ireland

02/06/2026