irish-mammies

TaytoGate

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 19:26:46 GMT

A poem by an Irish Mammy in NZ

Taytogate

Taytogate twenty twenty five,
Irish mammies called far and wide.
What started as murmurs, as whispers,
quickly became a roar among sisters.

Tayto, from our hallowed golden spuds,
prized like gold by Irish bloods,
usually squirreled in hand luggage, smashed to dust,
the currency of comfort, like a hug we trust.

Suddenly, out of the blue, whispers began,
news quickly grew across the land.
Tayto, GLORIOUS TAYTO, have graced the shelves,
as if mischievous sídhe had crossed the oceans themselves.

Misty winter mornings roll from Bluff to Cape Reinga’s first light,
across Auckland city lanes and Waitaki valleys’ last goodnight.
Settling at dawn on Kaipara’s misty hills,
Kaukapakapa kids with Tayto-fueled thrills.
Cheese and oniony tangy breath mists the frosty air,
as rugby fields and netball courts wake to crisp-crunching care.

What’s usually flu season in cold Kiwi July
will go down in history for reasons awry.
For the Irish diaspora who found comfort in each bite,
with Tayto calling like pipes through the night.

We would like to thank Reduced to Clear NZ, for spreading the Tayto love around NZ, and your social media team are amazing!

Who are the Irish Mammies?

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:50:23 GMT

Stuff interviewed our Trustees on St Patrick's day to learn more about the group.

If you haven't read it yet, click this sentence :-)

Best Late Late Toy Show - Ever

Sat, 25 Nov 2023 01:21:01 GMT

The mystery becomes clear as the mammies upload their Christmas video

The Irish Mammies in NZ got together around the country to prepare a video for Paddy Keilty's first ever Late Late Toy Show. Sharing a shout out from Sunny NZ and wishing him well from the other side of the world.

An Insight into Expat Parenthood: A Family's Tale from New Zealand

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 01:13:09 GMT

An Insight into Expat Parenthood: A Family's Tale from New Zealand

It was a cold and grey winter evening when this wonderful family came to my Helensville studio. Weather that both Ami and Ray and I are all too familiar with, in our native Ireland.

Irish Mammies already festive?

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 04:26:03 GMT

Irish Mammies in NZ were spotted in Wellington wearing Christmas gear, in October!

They were also spotted around the motu in Auckland, Tauranga, South Canterbury, Christchurch, Hawkes Bay and Dunedin.

What were they up to?

There must have been a really solid reason for this given they don’t normally get into the festive spirit until Halloween is over for fear of a slagging from fellow mammies.

We have been asking around but the ladies are remaining tight lipped, not even the promise of a wee cup of tea would persuade our sources to divulge any information.

Stay tuned, we’ll be back with an update when we know more!

Why join the mammies

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 23:16:21 GMT

Is our group right for you?

Who Should Join Irish Mammies in NZ?

If you're a female Irish immigrant living in New Zealand or planning to move there soon, you might be interested in joining the Irish Mammies group. Irish Mammies is a community of Irish women who have come together to support each other and share their experiences of living in New Zealand. But who exactly should join Irish Mammies in NZ? Let's take a closer look at what the group offers and who might benefit from it.

What is Irish Mammies?

Irish Mammies is a community of Irish women who have emigrated to New Zealand. The group was founded by Ami McLean, who wanted to create a support network for other Irish women living in New Zealand. The group has a website (irishmammies.co.nz) and a Facebook group where members can connect with each other, share advice and tips, and organize meetups and events.

Who Should Join?

Irish Mammies is open to any Irish woman living in New Zealand, whether you're a young single person, a couple, or a family with children. The group is particularly focused on supporting mothers, but it's not limited to them. If you're feeling homesick, struggling with the New Zealand way of life, or just looking to make new friends, Irish Mammies can offer you a friendly and welcoming community of like-minded women who understand what it's like to be an Irish expat in New Zealand.

What Does Irish Mammies Offer?

· Irish Mammies offers a variety of resources and support to its members. Here are some of the benefits of joining the group:

· A community of like-minded women who understand the challenges of being an Irish expat in New Zealand.

· Opportunities to make new friends and socialize with other Irish women.

· Advice and tips on everything from finding a job to navigating the New Zealand healthcare system.

· Meetups and events where members can get together and have fun, such as coffee mornings, playdates for kids, and nights out.

· A platform to share your own experiences and advice with others in the community.

How does the mammies operate?

They are a not for profit, they work with the support of volunteers, sometimes there will receive funding for specific projects. They do not own a building nor have a physical home by design as they focus on community support nationwide. There is no cost to join the group and all events are optional as they know how tough life can get.

Conclusion

If you're an Irish female expat living in New Zealand, joining Irish Mammies could be a great way to find comfort in your new home and have a home away from home. You do not need to have children to become one of the mammies. Join now to connect with other Irish women, make new friends, and get support and advice on navigating life in New Zealand.

A huge thanks to Jane Buckley, Author of Stones Corner Tetrology

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 06:35:30 GMT

Jane Buckley sat down for a chat with us

Jane Buckley joined Ami McLean of the Irish Mammies in NZ for a chat about her books, past and future and life as an Irish Mammy.

We streamed this live into the mammies Facebook group and was viewed by 800+ members of our 1600 base which was a huge piece of engagement. We faced minor technical issues in the beginning but sure isn't it typical when you are trying to look flash!

Whether mammies read the books or not they got a great understanding of who Jane is and where she will be going next with her books. Although those who had the books had the chance to have them signed the next day when Jane and her family joined us for soft play. A real down to earth author.

Proud as punch to see she gave us a shout out in an Irish online news outlet too! Check it out here .

We will soon be adding our reviews of the book to goodreads to support our new friend, Jane Buckley. You can share a review here.

On the couch with Jane Buckley

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 07:57:32 GMT

Jane Buckley will meet the Irish Mammies in NZ for an on the couch session.

Author and Derry native, Jane Buckley will be in New Zealand in December and January promoting her two current books, Stones Corner, Turmoil and Darkness and launching her third, Light.

Fellow Derry woman and Irish Mammies in NZ trustee, Ami McLean reached out to Jane to see if she wanted to come over for a cup of tea and an event was created. They will be co-hosting a virtual event streamed live into the group of 1500 mammies on Friday 6 January 2023.

"Our group is always sharing book recommendations with each other. There is nothing better than getting your hand on new books from fellow Irish women. We all know how cheap books can be at home compared to NZ so we appreciate a loaner!" Ami said,

"We are recommending everyone out there to request these books in their local library if the libraries don't already have them. Alternatively you can buy the books direct from Jane's website where she is happy to sign them before they go in the post.

To all the IMINZ out there, this has been set up as an event in the group, click "going" so you get notifications, sure it's a long way to January yet!

Mammies in the Media - Ami McLean

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Mon, 09 May 2022 04:45:17 GMT

Ami talks of her delight to get home, the things our Mammies have been missing and some info on the Mammies group. Click here to read the full story.

My story as an Irish Mammy in NZ

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 06:53:32 GMT

"I am one of the lucky ones that feels like I am ‘home’ in two different places in the world."

So come May, I will be reminded of that feeling of being really happy and fortunate with my lot in life. I’m happy to have my foot in two places but without it making me feel uncertain. It gives me a firm base to build a happy and healthy family life here in New Zealand and at the same time, solid relationships for my girls with family and friends in Northern Ireland too.

Brigid's Day 2022

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 03:57:12 GMT

The women who shaped us

To celebrate the Irish traditional festival of Brigid's Day, the Embassy of Ireland and the Irish Mammies in NZ warmly welcome women and girls of all ages to a special online gathering to Celebrate Brigid's Day.

A huge thank you to the Irish Embassy in New Zealand for collaboration with us on this very special Brigid's Day event.

It's about 40 mins long so grab a cup of tea (or a wine) and take a break, you will laugh, you might get tearful, and maybe even learn a thing or two!

Celebrate Brigid’s day 2022

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 07:40:11 GMT

with inspiring tales from Friends of Ireland women

To celebrate the Irish traditional festival of Brigid's Day, the Embassy of Ireland in partnership with Irish Mammies in NZ are hosting a special online gathering to celebrate Brigid's Day.

In Ireland, the first of February marks the beginning of Spring and the celebration of Lá Fhéile Bríde, St Brigid’s Day, Ra O Hato Brigid. Like many of Ireland’s other feast days, Brigid's roots lie in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, the feast of the goddess Brigid, celebrated at least five millennia ago. In old Irish, Imbolc means "in the belly", a reference to lambing and the renewal Spring promises.

Brigid was a triple goddess – of healing, fire, and of poetry – and the saint who took her name, born in 450 AD, carried some of those same associations. The patron saint of poets and midwives, by legend, she maintained a sacred fire by the monastery she founded in Kildare. Alongside St Patrick and St Colmcille, she is also one of Ireland’s three patron saints.

Her name can be translated as “the exalted one”. And, over recent years, her festival has come to be a exaltation of Irish women. Ireland’s diplomatic network, in partnership with local communities, host a series of festivals each February celebrating the contribution Irish women have made across the world.

Date and time

Tue, 1 February 2022

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM NZDT

Add to calendar

Nollaig na mBan

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 07:05:51 GMT

Keeping the tradition alive in Nz

Little Christmas, the 12th day of Christmas or Nollaig Na Mban is a tradition that has slowly ebbed over the years in Ireland. In NZ, for the second year, it has seen a resurgence of this tradition. Our Irish Mammies have been celebrating in different ways around the country, whether it's just meeting up with one other mammy or getting together in a group with or without the kids. Our group uses it as a way to keep our traditions alive, even though we are on the other side of the world. It also acts as a conduit to introduce new people to the group to provide more than the digital connection.

One of the sites we want to recommend if you are keen to here more about the amazing women in Irish history is a Facebook group called - Irish Women in History - A Nollaig Na Mban celebration. We enjoyed this page as it showed us the strength of Irish women in history.

Keen to learn more on Nollaig Na mBan, we think RTE told it best when it shared its traditions based on January 6th - View it here.

This year I attended the Auckland Picnic at the Domain, pictured, we had families bring the kids or add us to a stop on their biking adventure for the day. We had people travel large distances to attend and from the event we have a top secret announcement that was discussed and a further night out minus the kids at the Clare Inn on January 29th .

Building our community brings me a huge sense of pride, even writing on our new website, delivered with the support of the Irish Embassy in NZ, gives me butterflies. With a few exciting things happening in the next few months it feels like our group is strengthening. Thanks for all the support so far.

Ami

Irish Mammies in NZ announce two new subgroups

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 08:28:55 GMT

As the pandemic took over the world, the Irish Mammies became a place of solace for many. Unable to get home or only able to really afford it if it was a complete emergency. We saw a new wave of people returning home and a fresh wave of women joining the mammies. Alongside this we noticed a steep rise in the number of men attempting to join the site, these gents were finding an alternative connection with home and weren’t necessarily seeking a mammy!

The admin team worked together with the information coming through those join requests and saw two new groups start to form, one for immigrated men, and one for Irish women who returned home. We soon announced new groups called Irish Daddies in NZ, led by Ray McLean and Irish Mammies returning from NZ, Led by Aoife Scanlan.

The new groups created spaces for people to go to and meet like minded others, they are still both in their infancy and growing slowly. Irish Daddies in NZ is specifically on the look out for someone who has time they could dedicate to the group, preferably someone who is not already given their time voluntarily to another group.

We welcome everyone to these groups, whether you are an active member or someone in the background, if the groups could be beneficial to you, click the join button and complete the questions.

Kai sa Chistin - Virtual Cooking Class with Jess Murphy from Kai Galway

info@irishmammies.co.nz (Irish Mammies) — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 02:47:00 GMT

Join the Embassy of Ireland and Irish Mammies NZ in hosting award winning Chef Jess Murphy of Kai, Galway.

Join us for a virtual baking and cocktail making tutorial with Jess Murphy!

To mark Samhain this year, we’ll be making an Apple Tart with Miso Butterscotch, paired with a Spiced Apple Whiskey Sour Cocktail.

Once you have registered your attendance on Eventbrite, you will receive a list of the ingredients.

You're welcome to bake alongside Jess in your own kitchen, or you can just sit back, relax and enjoy watching and learning!

We'll be streaming the tutorial live on Zoom - a link will be sent out to all participants closer to the time.

We look forward to having you join us for a festive night of Samhain fun.

Kia Kaha Ireland - Stay Strong Ireland

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 01:12:36 GMT

Kia Kaha Ireland - Stay Strong Ireland

Kia Kaha Ireland' is the product of 24 Mammies and 1 talented and generous film producer Nick Dobbie. It's our labour of love for those who we hold so dear back home at the most challenging time our generation has ever experienced.

To those who contributed - go raibh míle míle maith agaibh. Thank you for giving us all a voice that is louder than each of us individually. Your words and pictures say what so many of us are feeling and watching this makes me so incredibly proud to call myself an Irish Mammy in NZ.

Project by Eithne Sweeney & Irish Mammies.

Professionally edited and produced by Nick Dobbie, Knack Video Editing.

Meeting The Curve Crusher

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 01:19:16 GMT

Some of our Irish Mammies recently caught up with Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health.

Dr Bloomfield qualified in medicine at the University of Auckland in 1990 and after several years of clinical work specialised in public health medicine. His particular area of professional interest is non-communicable disease prevention and control, and he spent 2011 at the World Health Organization in Geneva working on this topic at a global level.

Dr Bloomfield was Chief Executive at Hutt Valley District Health Board from 2015 to 2018. Prior to that, he held a number of senior leadership roles within the Ministry of Health.

Support from H.E Peter Ryan

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 01:19:15 GMT

Irish Mammies in Christchurch recently hosted H.E Peter Ryan, Ambassador of Ireland to New Zealand. Ambassador Ryan congratulated our group on the support it provides to our members.

Ambassador Ryan congratulated our group on the support it provides to our members throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Read Ambassador Ryan's remarks.

Is mór an onóir dom a bheith an chéad Ambasadóir na hÉireann chun na Nua Shéalainne. Ba mhór an dúshlán é, ach táim ag tnúth go mór leis is déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall. I am deeply honoured to serve as the first resident Ambassador of Ireland to New Zealand.

Ireland is fortunate to enjoy special ties of kinship and history with New Zealand and with the many New Zealanders of Irish heritage. Our small island nations share many values, as reflected in our long-standing commitment to the United Nations where we work together and with other like-minded nations to advance fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Our countries are to be found in the frontline of global efforts on disarmament, peacekeeping and assistance to our partner developing countries.

Ireland and New Zealand also share similarities in terms of our economic development, as small island states with open, export-driven low regulation economies. While trade in goods and services between our countries is growing, I believe we can further increase this figure in the coming period, particularly against the backdrop of the trade negotiations between the European Union and New Zealand. We will work closely with our trade promotion agencies, their New Zealand partners and the business community to help to facilitate increased trade and to build closer business links.

In the cultural sphere, we enjoy close ties and I will be working to highlight collaborative opportunities across New Zealand for Ireland's unique language, sport, literature, dance and music. While our nations are rivals on the rugby field, I have no doubt that there will be many opportunities for us to collaborate closely in the sporting, cultural and education sectors.

I hope during my time as Ambassador to New Zealand to contribute to the further development of the strong ties between our two nations. New Zealand is also opening an Embassy in Ireland at this time and I look forward to working with the first resident New Zealand Ambassador in Dublin.

In the course of my role, I will be looking to build on the exemplary work of our successive Honorary Consuls, including the incumbent Ms Niamh Mahon & her colleague Vice-Consul Denise Flanagan. I look forward to meeting many members of the Irish Community & Friends of Ireland over the coming period. I would very much welcome your ideas for potential collaboration so please do not hesitate to get in touch with us via this website.

As the famous Maori language phrase reminds us;

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He Tāngata, He Tāngata, He Tāngata. Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. (Translated: What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, it is the people. Therefore, Greetings, Greetings, Greetings to all.

Thank you - Go raibh maith agat.

Peter Ryan
Ambassador of Ireland

Little legs, big adventures: Mum and son tramping for charity

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 02:19:15 GMT

Aisling O’Riordan started tramping with her 11-month-old son in a carrier, but now they are traversing rivers and sleeping in frozen huts along the country’s greatest walks together.

The Christchurch mum and Sawyer, now 5, have combined their love of the outdoors with their annual tradition of fundraising for a charity in lieu of their own birthday presents.

To celebrate O’Riordan’s upcoming 40th birthday, and Sawyer’s 6th, they hope to raise $3000 to install a heart-saving defibrillator unit in their suburb of St Albans.

They were due to begin the five-day, 66-kilometre St James Walkway in the Lewis Pass on Monday, but Covid-19 level 3 restrictions scuppered those plans for now.