Episode 9: Home is Where I Am

The Immigrant Perspective · May 27, 2026 · 23m

What does home mean when you've lived in two countries, moved around a lot, and built a life far from where you started? For my younger sister, Laurie, the answer is simple: home is just where she is.

Laurie was seven when the Mangan family left Kilkee, a small beach town on the west coast of Ireland, and landed in Southeast Tennessee. She is the youngest of five siblings, and her immigrant experience may be the most quietly radical of all of them. She doesn't romanticize Ireland. She doesn't feel particularly nostalgic. And she hasn't been back since 2009.

In this conversation, the sisters…