About

I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and given the name Áine. It’s an Irish name (roughly pronounced AWN-ya). Since Irish was not widely spoken in Minnesota in the 1970s, I was most often called Annie, after a maternal great-grandmother.

It’s not just my name that’s Irish. I have not yet done a DNA test, but I’ve always been told that I have 100% Irish heritage. For the past ten years, I’ve written about family history, genealogy, and my Irish heritage for TheIrishInAmerica.com, as well as contributed on genealogy and heritage topics to several print and online publications.

When I was twenty-five-years-old I lost the majority of my eyesight. Technically I am legally blind, but I find that description terribly unsatisfying. I am definitely more blind than sighted; my eyesight falls well within the parameters of legal blindness.* But because I can see a little bit and my brain is full of twenty-five years of images, I generally don’t feel blind (legal or not). I guess I don’t like classifications or labels. Many years ago my eye doctor described it best: “You have an island of vision in a sea of blindness.” If only poetry was always used to describe people and our abilities…

I like to visit new places, but not as much as I like going home.** I live in St. Paul, Minnesota where I bake delicious brownies and banana bread. I am also a Minnesota Twins baseball fan who loves going for walks in my neighborhood, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

* Most government agencies and health care institutions agree that legal blindness is defined as a visual acuity (central vision) of 20/200 or worse in the best seeing eye or a visual field (peripheral vision) that is limited to only 20 degrees.

** I visited Hawaii for the first time over Thanksgiving and I fell in love with paradise. I was still happy to get back home. Also, I love going to Ireland, but it is not a new place for me and it is almost like home, so it doesn’t count.