home is where the hearth is

As a radio presenter, Christine enjoys talking politics, a skill she inherited from her father. She believes opening up and embracing diversity enriches a society. This open-mindedness is at the core of her being.

Reading between racial lines

home is where the hearth is

Published: Fri 12 Sep 2025, 4:10 PM

By Navjyoti Dalal

In this column, 'Home Is Where The Hearth Is', written by Navjyoti Dalal, we shine the spotlight on the immigrant experience. And, as a cultural exchange, get them to share food recipes they hold dear.

This week, let us meet Christine O'Mahony, a radio presenter with a Jamaican mother and Irish father. While her surname proclaims her Irishness, Christine has spent her childhood and adolescence struggling with identity and fitting in on home turf.

Growing up in Balrath, a small town in Co Meath, Christine O'Mahony was the only person of colour in her school. Her visibly fair skin, big green eyes, afro hair and thick lips point to a confluence of races - Irish and Jamaican. She was picked on for being different, she says. "Not only by classmates but even teachers. This one time, I got her a souvenir from a trip to the US, my teacher refused to accept it," recalls Christine, whose childhood was underscored by a longing to belong. This pining to be accepted is something she has in common with the immigrants I have featured so far in this column. I thought it would be interesting to see what 'home' comprises, from an insider's lens. Christine's is a tale that began at discovering oneself, leading to self awareness, to culminate into self assuredness.

A Quest For Identity

Born to a nurse from Jamaica and a HSE health counsellor from Ireland, Christine was raised in a small town which was as Irish as it can be. While she was teased for looking different, an ADHD diagnosis isolated her further from her peers.

“ADHD meant that I struggled with focus, or following social cues. It also meant that I had an SNA in school at most times. So, my classmates didn't like to hang out with me or tell me their secrets. I felt left out," shares Christine of the loneliness.

What helped her cope was therapy, at CAMHS, and a newfound friendship with a few Nigerian students, who had freshly migrated. For someone who was bullied for her black heritage, meeting fellow black people stoked a sense of connection and belonging.

"I was very close to them, but then they moved to Navan," says Christine, who met them again in secondary school in Navan. "I was so excited to meet my childhood friends. But they had moved on. There's a big African community there, which they felt more aligned with," shares Christine.

It is noteworthy, the way we tailor our need to belong to an almost identical match. For instance, an Indian would bond better with a fellow Indian, and if they manage to find one from the same region or community, the affinity is stronger. They wouldn't feel the same warmth with a brown person from another country. In Christine's case, she had neither the skin tone to be black enough, nor a mane to call herself fully Irish.

Christine’s Jamaican mother and Irish father met while working at the same hospital in England. The two have been role models for her when it comes to acceptance.

A Map to Self

Young adulthood broadened Christine's world, especially zooming in on the geography her mother hailed from. She found a small community of Jamaicans in Duleek, near Balrath, and also began discovering the culture through her Jamaican friends she made at Institute of Education, Dublin.

"In Duleek we even celebrated Jamaica Day a few times. But the congregation faded away after the Caribbean pastor stopped coming to town from Northern Ireland. In the grind school, though, for the first time I made friends who got me.

“It was liberating to go to school and not feel targeted. More importantly, to feel accepted, to belong," Christine notes.

Serendipitously, her first trip to Jamaica manifested around this time. "It was a discovery of my roots, this tour. I visited the area where my mother grew up, met my cousins, saw Bob Marley's house, and also a haunted house of a slave lady, climbed up the Dunn's river falls," Christine excitedly recalls. The visit gave her the anchoring she needed to soak in the culture she had little access to in her hometown. The change was positive, visible even on her report cards. Christine went on to graduate as a law student (bachelors and masters). She even worked at a Dublin-based law firm before deciding to change course and pursue a masters in political communication.

Today, she is a media professional (radio) with a special segment on current affairs and politics. She attributes her interest in politics to her father. "I love going to council meetings and reporting. It introduces me to the communities that have built Athlone," says Christine, who lives in Longford.

A Proud Irish-Jamaican

While she has spent the better part of her life consumed by her Jamaican heritage, Christine gives an equal weight to her Irish genes. "I have got both these cultures as my history, but I have only got to live the Irish part. Maybe that's why I am more curious about what I couldn't experience. I resonate and identify with both the Irish and Jamaican cultures. It is disappointing when you're either doubted on for either, or reduced to just one. I am both Irish and Jamaican, and proudly so," says Christine, who is fluent in Gaeilge.

She inherited the language from her father. "He loves the Irish language, and taught it to me. There's a neglect for the Irish language in general. I am happy I chose to continue this linguistic tradition. I have also inherited a flair for political ranting from my dad," says Christine.

We discussed the town's politics and councillors for a while before we wrapped up our meet. Christine left, while I stayed back in the cafe to meet an Indian friend. I greeted her in slang Hindi, in that moment I realised belonging is like a cup of tea, nothing extraordinary in itself, but nourishes your day with a cup or two.

Recipe: Jamaican Rice And Beans

CHRISTINE'S mother has West Indian heritage, but she left Jamaica as a young woman of 18 to study nursing in England. What she managed to bring with her were the culinary traditions to comfort her when she felt homesick. Christine has ably inherited and imbibed the recipes into her daily life. "I am so proud of learning these recipes from my mom, who learnt them from her mother and so on. I hold this wealth very dear to me," says Christine, whose favourite Jamaican dish is Jerk Chicken. She shares a simple to replicate recipe of rice and beans/peas, which is a Caribbean staple.