You may know him because of his Irish accent or simply because he is a history teacher here at Fossil, Mr. O’Dwyer has a different but cool background. Born and raised in Ireland, O’Dwyer lived in Ireland since the summer of 2013. Living there is one of the many things that makes him unique. One other thing that makes O’Dwyer unique is that he spent a year living in Japan, there he created many of his all-time favorite memories.

O’Dwyer’s family’s home was in a village called Tulla in the county of Clare in the West of Ireland and he lived there until he went to University (college), but his parents still live there today. “It is a rural area and well known for traditional Irish music and the ancient sport of hurling.” O’Dwyer studied for his undergraduate degree at the National University of Ireland in Galway where he lived in the city for three years. After that he moved to Dublin, Ireland’s capital city to specialize in teaching at Trinity College. Trinity College is Ireland’s oldest university, it was founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. “I lived in Dublin before and after my year in Japan. Then for six years, I lived in a commuter town near Dublin, called Newbridge.” Finally, O’Dwyer moved to Colorado and has lived here for two and a half years. During both of the summers her has lived here, he traveled back to Ireland to visit his family. “It is very important to me to see my friends and family and it is something that I save up for. We stay for almost a month. My parents also visit, and are looking forward to coming this march and spending time with us.”

While living in Ireland, O’Dwyer was able to observe the difference between the lifestyle there and the lifestyle here in the U.S. One of his observations was that Americans are a more direct people, Irish people although friendly tend to be more subtle or modest about what they want in life. The most common difference that he noticed is, “the Irish are a more homogenous people. By this I mean that in terms of religion, ethnicity and values that there is less diversity in Ireland.” However, this has changed with emigration into Ireland over the last 20 years from places like Eastern Europe, but this point still largely holds true. The positive side of this for Ireland is that as people, they are less divided. Living in Ireland has made O’Dwyer miss the Irish sense of humor, and the “banter” with old colleagues and students. It is a very mischievous sense of humor, and not for the faint hearted. He also likes that everything is close, Ireland is a small country, indeed Europe is a very compact continent. Though the U.S. is different from Ireland, they are also similar, as they are both western democratic nations.

Living in Ireland is only part of what makes O’Dwyer unique, he got the opportunity to travel and live in Japan for a year. That was the year of his life that is packed with the most special memories. His advice to young people is, “if at all possible I think that young people should travel abroad before they settle down to careers and marriage and that kind of thing.” Studying abroad and getting that opportunity to learn the lifestyles of different places around the world is such a thrill and so formative to live in such a foreign culture.