THIS week, I caught up with Fiona Healy, from St Lukes, who now lives in Kentish Town in London, having moved from Manchester after completing a PHD.
London is an amazing city. It’s so multi-cultural and diverse here, which makes it a really exciting place to live.
People think of London as one really big city but actually it’s more like lots of interconnected towns. We have a great community around us in Kentish Town and have made lots of friends.
That being said, life here can be hectic and fast-paced – we need to make sure we take it easy and don’t try to take on too much, especially now that we have a toddler in the house and another baby on the way.
When we moved here first it felt very anonymous and I was a bit lonely. But I joined the Women’s Institute and made some really great friends there, and over the years we’ve put down lots of roots and built up a lovely network here.
Sometimes, it can still feel like a big unfriendly city (especially on public transport!) but usually now when I leave the house I bump into someone I know, which feels very nice.
Pre-Covid and pre-babies, we had very exciting weekends. There are lots of museums and theatres here, so often we would go to exhibitions or shows. The restaurants and bars here are great (if expensive!) so we used to go out a lot.
Obviously, Covid put a stop to all that, and by the time the lockdowns ended we’d had our daughter.
We’ve mostly exchanged trips to the museums for trips to the Kentish Town City Farm (or London Zoo if we’re feeling really adventurous), and instead of going out to eat we have a nice Friday evening takeaway.
Fiona Healy with her husband Colm and their daughter Carrie Lou.
London is so multi-cultural, and there are so many people living here who came for work and opportunities (like ourselves).
I would say there is a real culture here of action and activity – everyone is very busy and has a lot to do. It’s so densely populated and as soon as you walk out the door, you kind of get swept up in it.
The sheer amount of people here really shocked me when I moved here first – I am always needing to remind myself that, whenever I want to go out and do something, there are about 10,000 other people who want to do it too, at the exact same time!
Once you accept that, it gets a bit easier to cope.
My background is in astrophysics but after my PhD I wanted some experience working outside of research, so I took a job in the civil service working at the Cabinet Office here in London.
I was in a special part of the Cabinet Office dedicated to delivering Brexit and it was a very interesting place to be. Our offices were on Whitehall in central London so sometimes you would be walking into work and see the Mounted Regiment on their horses, or some government minister whizzing by in a car with tinted windows and a police escort.
But, after they tried and failed to get Brexit through a couple of times, I decided it was time for me to move on, so I took a job at a financial tech company (more spreadsheets).
London is a very easy place to find a job if you work in the tech sector.
I ultimately decided to leave that job too, to take care of my family – my husband Colm and I were working in the tech sector and it can be all-consuming, so we felt that it would make more sense for one of us not to be working once there were children involved.
I wasn’t keen to conform to gender stereotypes, but Colm was a few years more advanced in his career than I was so he was the higher earner, and truthfully, he likes his job a lot more than I did!
Fiona Healy with her husband Colm and their daughter Carrie Lou.
One of the most exciting things about living in London is how many opportunities it opens up, in so many different aspects of life.
Being so big and so international, I feel like I’m always learning new things about the world when I’m here.
During my career here, I met so many inspiring people who were really driven and hardworking – people come to London to build their careers and that’s a great energy to be around.
I also feel like it’s a wonderful place for children – my daughter has seen and done so much already and she’s only two-and-a-half!
While I feel like Ireland is a wonderful place to grow up, and it’s ultimately our wish to return to Ireland and have our children go to school there, I do sometimes wonder if their world would be bigger and offer more opportunities for them if we stayed here.
My wedding day! We got engaged just before Covid started and spent two years trying to plan a wedding, only to have lockdown after lockdown, so, ultimately, we lost patience and went to the registry office with two friends as witnesses.
I was seven months pregnant so we weren’t up to much partying anyway.
After the ceremony, we went to the Tate Modern and looked at some of our favourite paintings, and then we strolled around the city together and had a nice dinner.
Our lives here had been so busy, we didn’t often make the time to just enjoy London together, so the whole day was actually really romantic and sweet.
Yes, we would like to say hello to my parents Jack and Ita in St Luke’s, and Colm’s parents John and Sheila in Newcestown!
When I’m back home, I like to go into Cork Coffee Roasters for a coffee, and then head down Patrick Street for a little look around the shops.
I have lots of happy memories from my time in UCC so if I have time to go for a stroll around the campus, I love to do that too.
Then I would probably just head home for dinner with my parents or Colm’s parents.
Our son is due in September so that’s probably the main thing! London typically has lovely summers and there are lots of leafy green spaces here for picnics, so that will be nice too.
The peace and quiet, the smell of fresh air, and the English Market.
