Leslie Wrenn

“This is home, I have no desire to ever move back.”

Iam a musician. Classically trained (BM degree) in voice and choral music, but started playing harp and Irish trad later in life. I am originally from Pennsylvania but have I lived all around the U.S. I had been to Ireland in my late 20’s and had an epic adventure here with my best friend in 2001.

In 2013 I was living in Kansas, single after breaking off an engagement. I decided for my 40th birthday I would go back to Ireland with the same friend from my trip in 2001. It was February, so my flights were cheap and my accommodation was as well! There are not a lot of tourists in Ireland in February, so we were lucky.

We had an amazing time and I performed in a few pubs and made some connections, musically. I decided to come back that summer and to make it a plan to visit a couple of times a year.

On March 15, I decided I wanted to have a date next time I visited, so I sent a message to a handsome guy in Dublin who matched me quite a bit on OKCupid. He responded and we began chatting, emailing, texting, and Skyping. Over the next four months we talked and video chatted constantly.

We met in person in July 2013 on his birthday in Dublin. In January 2015, after nearly two years of long distance and the two of us traveling back and forth, I came to stay in Dublin to do a seven month internship to finish my masters degree in Music Therapy. On March 15, 2015, exactly two years after our first communication, he proposed at The Cliffs of Moher.

We married that December and welcomed our little girl in March 2017. This is home, I have no desire to ever move back.

Every time I used to visit Ireland I felt more at home and comfortable here than I did in any of the places I lived in the States (Pennsylvania, Chicago, Phoenix, Kansas). I remember a friend of mine in Phoenix remarking that when they first met me, they thought I was from Europe. Sure, sometimes it is hard to find friends or fit in here, but I found that the case in the U.S. as well when you move around a lot.

I worked as a music therapist and voice/harp teacher here before my daughter was born. I now gig as a trad session musician and sing with the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir. I still do a bit of Music Therapy work. I haven’t been back to the States since October 2016 (my mother passed in June of 2016, and I’ve only my sister and some cousins left in the U.S.).

In addition to loving the quality of life here (aside from housing costs), our daughter was born with Down Syndrome and a heart defect. Both of which were not diagnosed until after she was born. I don’t feel that the U.S. would be a welcoming place for her. I think overall Ireland is a much kinder society. Also, her life saving heart surgery and all my care when she was born cost us €0.

My husband is a Dub, born and raised. His family have become my family. While I miss my family and my sister, I know Ireland is going to provide the best life for our family.