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It’s 1963 in Belfast, and a young Hazel, just 18 years old steps onto a plane, about to embark on a mammoth journey as one of the first immigrants to leave Ireland via air bound for New Zealand.

What Hazel was leaving behind her as she began her journey; may well have been part of what pushed her to go. Beneath the surface in Northern Ireland, deep tensions were lurking. Decades-long divisions between Catholic and Protestant communities, compounded by political and economic inequalities, created a fragile and increasingly volatile situation, a situation that would later erupt into what became known as The Troubles. There was possibly a feeling among many families in Northern Ireland and for young people like Hazel, that their futures might be limited.

For some, maybe a better life seemed to lie far, far away from all that mounting unease?

With encouragement from her grandmother, who believed Hazel needed a bigger life. Hazel stepped onto that plane into the unknown. Would she find more opportunity in this far-flung, almost unheard-of country on the other side of the world?

Back in those days, emigrating wasn’t simple. Hazel recalls having to apply formally, filling out what felt like a mountain of forms and paperwork, and going through what she describes as a “stiff medical.” She never really thought it would amount to anything. But she also felt restless and always had a desire to travel so she told herself, Sure, I’ll try it for two years.

Little did Hazel know her life was about to completely change course.

Hazel James - Patron of the Christchurch Irish Society.Hazel James - Patron of the Christchurch Irish Society.

Interviewed and Written by Kylee Dillane

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Christchurch Irish Society – Annual Members’ Christmas Lunch

Sunday 23rd November 2025
12:00pm – 3:00pm
Irish Society Hall

Join us for a festive afternoon of great company, delicious food, and Christmas cheer at the Christchurch Irish Society’s annual Members’ Christmas Lunch!

Enjoy a glass of bubbles or orange juice on arrival, followed by canapés and a two-course meal lovingly prepared to celebrate the season. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together, reflect on the year gone by, and toast to the year ahead with friends old and new.

  • Tickets: $45 per person
  • Includes: Two courses + canapés + drink on arrival
  • Members and guests welcome!

Let’s raise a glass, share a laugh, and celebrate the spirit of community and Christmas — Irish style!

Book Your Tickets

Member's Christmas LunchMember's Christmas Lunch

Kylee's June/July Blog: A journey of belonging between Aotearoa and Éire.

When people ask me, "Where are you from?" I hesitate, not because I’m particularly mysterious, it’s just never a straightforward answer.

I was born and raised in Auckland, but I haven’t lived there since I left for university in Dunedin in my early 20s. Technically, yes I’m from Auckland. But does it feel like home? Not really.

Right now, we live in Christchurch. But over the past 17 years, my Irish husband and I have been constantly back and forth between New Zealand and Ireland like two very confused homing pigeons. It’s been wonderful and costly, my bank account might never recover (Honestly, the cost of international flights for a family is right up there!) but this is the reality when your life and heart are stretched across two hemispheres. When you’re married into another culture, your idea of “home” becomes beautifully complicated.

Because of our (maybe sometimes questionable life choices) We’re deeply rooted in both places, yet fully settled in neither. It’s a wild paradox: feeling completely at home in two places, and yet never entirely at home in either. Always a little bit homesick for the place you’re not.

Home, for me, isn’t pinned to a single point on a map. It lives in the rhythm of my footsteps along a quiet boreen on the Aran Islands, where summer evenings linger endlessly, the sun slow to surrender, slowly giving up and dipping below the horizon. It’s in a crowded village pub on the West of Ireland where music spills out the door, and the craic flows as freely as the Guinness, laughter rising like smoke into the rare and extremely beautiful still night.

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Our Deepest CondolencesJean Scullion

The Christchurch Irish Club warmly invites all members to attend our upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM)

This is an important opportunity to reflect on the past year, discuss the club’s progress, elect committee members, and help shape the future of our community.

📅 Date: Sunday 20th July

🕒 Time: 11am Brunch 1pm Meeting Starts

📍 Venue: The Christchurch Irish Club

Your voice matters - we encourage all members to come along, participate, and stay connected with the heart of the Irish community in Christchurch.

Please could you let us know if you are attending by clicking on the link so we can gauge numbers for catering purposes, go raibh maith agat!

Tell us you are coming

(Tickets are free)

Annual General MeetingAnnual General Meeting

Bonfires and Sunlight: Celebrating the Summer Solstice and St. John’s Eve

As the sun begins its long, golden descent on Saturday, June 21st, 2025, if you are in the Northern Hemisphere will find yourself bathed in the radiant fullness of the Summer Solstice. At exactly 3:41 a.m., the sun will reach its highest point in the sky, marking the astronomical beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. In Ireland, where the rhythms of the land have long danced in step with the turning sun, this moment is more than a celestial event; it is a time steeped in meaning, echoing with ancient customs and a still kind of magic.

Just two days later, on June 23rd, Ireland marks St. John’s Eve, or more commonly known now as ‘Bonfire Night’ an ancient midsummer fire festival with roots older than Christianity itself. Once a widespread tradition throughout the island, bonfires would blaze across the landscape at sunset. People gathered around flames for protection, healing, and a touch of revelry. Herbs were tossed into the fire, stories were told, and some brave souls leapt through the flames, shedding bad luck and old fears with every jump.

In more recent times my memories of Bonfire Night are forever bound to the wild heart of the West of Ireland on the island of Inishmore, where the Atlantic winds carry whispers of older times. In the weeks leading up to the night, locals would quietly begin their preparations, gathering driftwood, pallets, and anything that might catch a flame, though now and then, someone might slyly slip in the week's rubbish for good measure. The fires are built high, stacked with care and anticipation, ready to greet the midsummer dusk.

Celebrating the Summer Solstice and St. John’s Eve Celebrating the Summer Solstice and St. John’s Eve

 

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