1st Pic: My kids on at Sunset in Perth. 2nd Pic: Myself and my husband, Mark at the Japan Rugby world cup 2019
Hi, I'm Kim. I was born in Dublin but moved to Tipperary when I was ten. My childhood was as Irish as they come, playing Red Rover and Tip the Can with 50 kids from the estate, gathering wood for months for the Halloween bonfire, riding on tractor trailers during hay baling, and roaming through fields, farms, and rivers on adventures.
After college I did what many Irish graduates do, packed a backpack. At 22 I left Ireland for what was meant to be an 18‑month adventure through Asia and Australia ✈️. Eighteen months became eighteen years, and sunny Perth ☀️ is now my home. But for anyone living abroad you know there is a very distinct difference between “home” and “home‑home.” Ireland will always be my home‑home 💚.
Me and my daughter's, Juno and Bobbi celebrating a hot Paddy's Day in Perth
Now that I'm the mammy of two little girls growing up in Australia, I often feel a pang 💔 that they won’t experience an Irish childhood like I did☘️. Although we live a great life in Perth, I, like many Irish parents living overseas carry a bit of good aul catholic guilt 😔 that our kids can’t soak up Irish culture every day. When you're growing up in Ireland you don’t even realise it’s culture; you only see how unique it is when you leave and come back for a visit ✨. My girls may not get to grow up there, but I still want them to feel that connection. So I created Leprechaun Letters 🍀 to bring Ireland to them between trips home.
version 1.0 of Leprechaun Letter
Version 1.0 of Leprechaun Letters landed in our letterbox 📬 last year, addressed to my daughter Juno. She loved the story, but it she wanted to know how come there was no pictures... and as any parent knows pictures are a must for small kids in storytelling. Over the last year I have been working on bringing the best of Irish culture ☘️, folklore 🧚♂️, craic 🎉, and storytelling, 📖 combined with beautiful illustration to give you the new and improved version 2.0 (really version 108million) of Leprechaun Letters.
Culture is more than geography it’s belonging 🤝. For mammies like me raising children abroad, there is always a longing for home but little things like Leprechaun Letters can help children feel a little more connected. I want these letters to give kids and parents a feeling of nostalgia and Irish pride.
So whether your children are first‑generation Irish in Dubai, fifth‑generation in the USA, or living right in Dungarvan, Leprechaun Letters is a lovely way to connect with your children and connect them to their Irishness.
I’ve loved creating them, and I hope you love reading them 😊.
Le grá (with love),
Kim xx