Hegartyfelds Abroad

We’ve arrived at the beautiful house we’re renting in Drumbar, County Donegal! Our arrival was delayed by a couple days (more on that later), but we made it here early in the afternoon on Friday.

Since we started planning this move, the most common reaction we’ve gotten is “That’s amazing! I wish I could do it!”

The second most-common reaction we’ve received is “Why do you want to do that?”

I’ll go through our motivations, leaving the most obvious for last.

So here you go, with our list, in no particular order, of reasons why we wanted to move from the United States to the Republic of Ireland at this point in time.

1. Because We Could

I was lucky enough to be born to two children of Ireland. Back about 25 years ago, I felt a motivation to get closer with the culture I mostly shunned in my youth and reached out to the Irish Consulate in New York City. It was early days of email, but I sent them one.

“Hello,” I said. “I would like to explore getting Irish citizenship. My parents were both born just outside Donegal Town in County Donegal. Could you please inform me of what the process is to get my citizenship?”

In a ridiculously short amount of time (especially considering it was, as I said, the early days of the Internet), I got a reply.

“Thank you for your inquiry,” the email started. “But I’m confused. You are an Irish citizen. Children of parents born in Ireland are automatically Irish citizens.”

“Cool,” I thought. “One fewer thing.”

But back then, in the late 1990s, it was just an option to keep in the back pocket.

Over many years I postponed getting my Irish passport, but, thankfully, there’s an organization located in suburban Philadelphia called the Irish Diaspora Center that was a godsend. They are employed by the Irish government and are tasked with helping people fill out and send in their paperwork.

I took advantage of that and paid the low fee to have them do the work for me.

Then the most amazing thing happened: I met Meg. We started dating. We got engaged. We got married.

Then another most amazing thing happened: Our son was born.

When the boy was young, I decided to get him his citizenship, since he didn’t have the same pathway I did. In early 2020, we decided it was a good time to get his Irish passport.

Then COVID happened and the world was turned on its ear. Two years later, I got an email from the Irish government saying (paraphrasing) “It’s been two years. The picture you sent doesn’t look like him anymore. Go online to resubmit your application and upload new photos and your application will be expedited.”

So, we did. And the pictures were rejected. (Pictures of pictures don’t work, apparently.) And I did it again. And the pictures were rejected. (It seems his head was slightly tilted.) So, I submitted the pictures a third time and, yes, they were accepted. A couple months later, his passport arrived!

So, the only member of the family who couldn’t move to Ireland by right was Meg. But we could find ways to handle that. More to come later in this post.

2. The Cost of Education

We started a 529 account for the boy when he was very young. Over the years, as statements would come in, Meg and I would joke that he could afford lunch on the first week of his time at college. The cost of college education in American is very, very high. While we were researching, we found that, as a citizen, the cost of college education is capped at about €4,000 a year.

Then we looked at each other. Then we laughed.

According to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of college in the United States is $38,270 per student per year, including books, supplies, and daily living expenses. It goes on to say that the cost of a bachelor’s degree in the U.S. can top $500,000.

Now, the €4,000 cap doesn’t include food or housing, but there’s a big difference between €4,000 and $38,000.

When making our case to our son that the Irish educational option might be better for him, we pointed out that, currently, we had enough money in his 529 for four years of education in Ireland, plus graduate school, if that’s what he wants. Or we could afford two years of education at a moderately priced school in the U.S.

But that leads to our next reason for the move, and why it had to happen now.

3. Residency Requirements

If we were going to do this, it had to happen now. In order for the boy to qualify for the citizens’ rate of tuition, he had to establish residency for three years in Ireland. He had just finished his freshman year in high school in the U.S. That means he had three years of school remaining. For this to work and for it to make financial sense, we had to do this now.

4. We Can Both Work Remotely

Location doesn’t matter anymore. When COVID happened, both of us were able to work remotely. And it was heaven for both of us. You see, Meg and I are both slightly neurodivergent and would be considered “extroverted introverts.” By that I mean that we can both put on presentations. We can talk to people. But it’s very, very exhausting. We prefer to be at home, with each other, to going out and socializing.

So, when COVID happened and we didn’t have to commute into work in Philly or any of the other surrounding areas, it was AMAZING. During this time, I think we both decided that we never wanted to work in an office ever again if we could help it.

This brings us to the final reason on this list, but the primary reason we’re making the move.

5. The U.S. Is a Dumpster Fire

Our plans started in earnest the morning of Nov. 6, 2024. I woke up at 3 a.m. and looked at my iPad and saw that the presidential election results were in – days earlier than anyone anticipated. The unthinkable happened. He was elected again.

Immediately I started researching to find out the process for getting Meg residency in Ireland. (It’s not as difficult as I originally thought, thankfully.) I fell back asleep.

Two hours later, Meg woke up and saw the election results and started looking up real estate prices in Ireland.

Two hours later we both woke up and found that we were of like mind. So, we were clear to start planning our move.

I’ve described the process as being a series of dominos lined up. Thousands of dominos. They have to fall, in sequence, in order for the process to work. We were on the first domino: We both agreed to do it, and we were motivated because we knew the convicted felon who was elected president again wouldn’t have the guardrails of his previous administration.

And time has proven us correct.

The government is weaponized against anyone who doesn’t agree with them. The president’s sycophants and worshippers won’t hear or accept any criticism of him, to the point of cutting off contact with family members. (Sadly, it’s true. Trust me.)

America didn’t feel like a safe place for a family with fairly progressive values who think that the purpose of government is to help its citizens.

So, we felt like it was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.

And now we’ve arrived.