Navigating friendships as an expat in Ireland

Cheryl Moderator

17086POSTS

2 months ago

Hello everyone,

Moving to Ireland reshapes many aspects of life, and friendships are often one of the biggest changes. Whether you're maintaining lifelong bonds back home, building new local relationships, or forming connections with fellow expats, friendship in expatriation comes with its own joys and challenges. We invite you to share your experience to help fellow expats and soon-to-be expats:

Have you found it easy to connect with fellow expats or locals in Ireland? Why or why not?

Have you noticed cultural differences in the way people make friends or share personal matters?

Since moving to in Ireland, how have your friendships back home evolved? Do you ever feel “out of sync” with friends and family in your home country?

How do you deal with the temporary nature of many expat friendships when people (or you) eventually move on?

Have you changed the way you approach relationships since becoming an expat?

What has been your biggest challenge in building or maintaining friendships in Ireland? Any advice to share?

Thank you for your contribution,

Cheryl
Expat.com Team

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RayneintheRain New member

5POSTS

last week

I'm still in the planning stages of moving to Ireland, but making genuine connections is something that's important to me and, honestly, something I think about quite a bit.

I'm autistic and have ADHD, and socializing has never exactly been my strongest skill. Since the pandemic, I've found it even harder to navigate sometimes. Small talk with people I don't know can feel like pulling teeth, and once I've said everything I have to say about a particular subject, I can struggle to keep the conversation going.

It's not that I don't want to talk to people. Quite the opposite! I enjoy learning about people's lives, interests, experiences, and perspectives. I just don't always know how to get a conversation started or keep it moving when the usual small-talk topics run dry.

Obviously, tell me your name and maybe your age, where you're located, or a little something about yourself, but I'd love it if we could skip the awkward introduction conversation types and simply message each other like we've known each other for years. Tell me about something you're interested in, ask me a random question, or jump straight into a conversation about music, gaming, technology, or whatever else you're passionate about. I'm much more comfortable when conversations feel natural rather than like an interview.

I'm hoping to settle somewhere around Cork or Galway eventually, and I'd love to get to know some people in Ireland before I arrive. I'm particularly interested in connecting with other LGBTQ+ people, neurodivergent folks, and anyone who understands what it's like to start over somewhere new.

I'm curious how others have made friends in Ireland, especially those who don't find traditional socializing easy. Besides going out to pubs/clubs or tabletop gaming meetups, what else has helped you build meaningful connections when it was otherwise challenging?