The Most Rev. David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and a son of Ireland, writes about home and welcome:
‘Welcome home, Father.’ The flat vowels of the passport officer at Dublin Airport. I’m caught — misty-eyed — between Ireland, which is home in the sense of deep belonging and family history, and Scotland, which is home by choice and calling, the place which has made me welcome, the place where my grandchildren are growing up with Scottish accents. So Good Morning to you on this St. Patrick’s Day.
One of the things which Ireland and Scotland share is the story of migration — movement from Ireland and particularly west Donegal to lowland Scotland — but of course a much wider diaspora to the New World and elsewhere. They were driven mainly by need and poverty, the Highland Clearances in Scotland and the Great Famine in Ireland. Work, dignity, place to rear a family … and somewhere to call home.