My ethnic background, like most of us, is a mixture of many cultures. My father is Norwegian and German/Scot/English stock, from his mother and father respectively; my mother is Irish/English (both parents).

While I did hear about the Norwegian side of things in passing conversation as I grew up, the overwhelming feeling I developed was of being Irish. My mother’s family was overwhelmingly Irish, with a wee bit of English thrown in (just to keep it interesting!) I grew up with brown bread, strong Canadian tea, roast beef dinners, making do, passionate ‘discussions’, and knowing the value of hard work and faith. Family was important, and that included laying your cards on the table even if feelings got hurt; honesty was prized, and unkind words quickly forgotten. While you might feel like killing someone for a split second, you hugged them the next. Life went on.

Later, I grew to appreciate my father’s family and their background. In the end, however, I’ll always think of myself as an Irish girl…as Ireland having a special place in my heart, although I’ve never been there…


"It's a sad country, but it's the most beautiful God ever made.
There's a wildness to it, a richness of colour, a sweetness on the wind you couldn't know unless you'd smelled it.
It's a very old land where once heroes and saints and scholars lived and now the memory of those days aches
in the colour of the earth, the standing stones, the trees against the sky, the sound of a storm." - Ann Perry


Potency & Sin: Ireland and the Phallic Continuum Satan in the Groin: Male Exhibitionist Carvings on Medieval Churches (including Irish churches) Satan in the Groin, Part II: Male (and Female) Exhibitionist Carvings on Medieval Churches Satan in the Groin, Part III: Male (and Female) Exhibitionist Carvings on Medieval Churches


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