Why the Name?

You may wonder what this entry is going to be about...The address of my blog "Cushendun" or my name "Siobhan". This is about the address of my blog. I will probably get around to explaining my name, for those of you who don't already know how to pronouce and what the origin of it is, in a later post.

Cushendun is the name of a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland where some of my family is from and where I spent my summers growing up. Cushendun means "The Foot of the Brown River" in Gaelic. My mom would ship us off with my Grandma when the school year ended. Sometimes, we left on the last day of school, I remember several times missing the end of school trip to the amusement park. We spent the whole summer in Cushendun and sometimes awhile in Glasgow, Scotland and then came home a week or so before school started again in September.

Cushendun was and is a great town. I highly recommend visiting it and the rest of the Antrim Coastline if you ever visit Ireland. Many people are leary about going to Northern Ireland, but they are missing out. County Antrim is in my opinion the most beautiful place, of course I am somewhat biased. Nestled in the Glens of Antrim on the beautiful Antrim Coast, Cushendun is a beautiful place to live and visit. The rolling hills and waves provide endless views and comforting sounds. My happy place, the place that I think of when I need a mental retreat (e.g., in the dentist chair), is sitting on the beach in Cushendun watching and listening to the waves lap the shore.

I learned a lot from my experiences in Cushendun. The lessons learned were based on the contrast between American and Irish cultures, being in a small village versus the city where I lived the rest of the year, and the varying classes of people that I was exposed to in each place. I hope that I am able to provide my children with the same opportunity one day. I believe it provides a unique perspective that is necessary to begin to understand that everyone thinks and functions differently. The key is to understand that it is impossible to truly understand anyone else and that you must give the benefit of the doubt and be willing to learn from each person you encounter in life. Nothing is as it seems from first glance and nothing is simple enough to ever be really explained. You must experience something for yourself to truly understand and that is not possible.

I haven't made it back to Cushendun in over two years. I still keep in contact with people there and I hope to be able to go back again soon. It will always be HOME to me just like St. Paul is. If you do visit, stop into McBride's Pub in the village center and tell them I said hello.