I was in southampton once- a short trip to do a presentation. I wish I could have stayed longer. It was beautiful! I totally get you on wanting to go there in the winter time. I'm from Wisconsin and we are probably nearly as cold lol. a good mild, rainy Ireland is preferred over several feet of snow! We are going to Ireland for a two week visit this fall and I cannot wait :)

My husband worked construction while living in Ireland and that industry completely tanked. There's no way we could have stayed in 2011. I have my masters but Ireland has a completely ridiculous law regarding background checks so my ability to find work would be challenging at best. In a nutshell, in order to work with 'vulnerable populations' in Ireland, you need to have lived there for FIVE YEARS before they can do a complete background check so you can work with said individuals. um... I work in human services so I would have to essentially live in Ireland for 5 years before I could even apply for a job in my field. I called the guarda about it and everything. I wouldn't be able to handle doing completely unsatisfying work for 5 years of my life if we moved back.

I miss it every day... but with few job prospects and a low income, we would not be able to do handle it :(