Back to the Wild Rose County: A 10,000 km search for Leitrim ancestors

Getting ready to travel 10,000 kilometres to visit Leitrim, the county of his ancestors, Dara Mac Raghnail outlines the motivations behind his planned journey. 

Emerging from the warm waters of My Khe Beach in Da Nang, Vietnam, I squinted against the midday sun as a nearby Irish bar draped green, white, and orange bunting in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day. The tricolor fluttered against a backdrop of motorbikes, street vendors, and swaying palm trees, an oddly familiar sight in such an unfamiliar setting. It stirred something in me, a quiet pull toward home, or at least the idea of it.

Having traveled the world for the better part of a decade, I’ve encountered the Irish diaspora in all corners. From open-plan offices in London skyscrapers to roadside cafés in Vietnam to beach bars in Thailand. No matter where we are, we Irish (born, bred, or so-called plastic Paddys) keep strong ties to our homeland.

As someone with the surname Mac Raghnaill, tied to County Leitrim, I’ve noticed that people abroad recognize it as distinctly Irish, sparking conversations wherever I go.

I’ve met countless people whose parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were Irish. Each story of leaving Ireland is a tale of uncertainty, bravery, and resilience, driven by economic necessity. Despite these shared histories, I find myself reflecting not only on the migration out of Ireland but also on movement within the country itself.

Though I’m a Meath man myself, my paternal roots lie in County Leitrim. This makes me curious about the internal migration often overlooked within Ireland. The name Mac Raghnaill (or its anglicized form, Reynolds) is rare in Dublin or Meath, and everyone I’ve met so far with that name has been family.

It’s this rarity that compels me to search for more of my distant relatives, prompting a journey back to my ancestral homeland, County Leitrim.

On the banks of Lough Rinn, we once had a castle until the Brits ousted us roughly 400 years ago. Now, I’m an economic refugee of sorts, priced out of Ireland and opting for a modest life in Southeast Asia.

I’ve not explored my roots in Ireland beyond vague family stories, and given Ireland’s poor historical records, it’s hard to trace my ancestry beyond the 1870s. I have no idea when my ancestors migrated from County Leitrim to Dublin or if it was just one young lad in search of work, dreaming of returning someday but never doing so.

One conversation stands out with a third-generation Irishman, Rory, in a bar in Vietnam.

He and his parents were born and bred in North England, but his family has a tradition of giving their children Irish names, and he knows every lyric of “The Wild Rover.” Yet, despite this, he has never been to Ireland and confessed to me that he doesn’t particularly feel a connection to the place.

Listening to him, I realised that, despite my strong ties to Ireland as a whole, I share a similar detachment when it comes to County Leitrim. Having never been to Leitrim myself, I don’t particularly feel a connection either. But perhaps that’s because I’ve never set foot in the Wild Rose County.

Kurt Cobain once called other Cobains in the phone book because of how rare the name was in the U.S. He eventually spoke to one, who told him that the family name came from County Cork. Later, when he played a gig in Cork City, he recalled feeling an unexpected sense of belonging.

I can’t help but wonder if I’ll experience that same feeling when I finally set foot in my family’s home county.With that thought in mind, I’m booking my tickets to Leitrim from Southeast Asia, 10,000 kilometers away. Like the second- and third-generation Irish returning from England, you’ll soon hear my Leinster brogue wandering the lanes of Leitrim in the months to come.

Dara Mac Raghnaill holds a Bachelor of Business Studies from DCU and an MPhil from Trinity College Dublin. Living abroad since 2017, he writes about culture and lifestyle, comparing life in Ireland to his experiences overseas.

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