The first time that you meet someone, the first exchange you usually have is “Hi, what’s your name?” And I always say, “My name is Kerry.” When I studied abroad in London back in 2017, I spent the following month backpacking around Ireland. If you knew me back then, you probably followed my adventures through the blog posts I would put up every week! I’m not as good about consistency this time around, but I still have some pretty good stories. Anyway, when I was in Ireland a few years ago, I wanted to go to County Kerry and get everyone shirts that said something like, “Kerry is the Best!” If you knew me back then, you might’ve heard me telling the story about how I went to County Kerry looking for the shirts, and whenever I said, “Hi my name is Kerry,” all of the shopkeepers laughed in my face and told me that was ridiculous!
I eventually got over the initial shock of the exchange, and now have a great story to tell. I love my name, and I always have loved it, because it tells a story of the Irish traditions in my family. My dad’s family came to Ireland from Listowel in County Kerry, so my name reminds us of where we came from. The name, Kerry Elizabeth Hayes, tells a story, and it’s a story I love.
Since moving to Ireland last year (wow, that went fast…), my first introductions to people have been the same. “Hi, what’s your name?” “My name is Kerry.” The exchange is roughly the same; someone hears my name and asks if I have any Irish heritage, and I say yes. But this time, more often than not, they will say, “Welcome Home.” And the thing is, in every sense of the word, Ireland in my home. Ireland is where I got my first job. Ireland is where I got engaged, and where I said yes to a wonderful life with my best friend. Ireland is where my family is from. And Ireland is where I have had the greatest joy to be for the past year.
But let’s get to what this post is really all about: my Nanny Hayes’ Irish Soda Bread.
Let me start by saying that this is the best recipe for Irish Soda Bread in the whole of Ireland and probably in the entire world. And I’m sure everyone says that about their own recipes, but trust me, this one is the best.
My Nanny lives with my Pop Pop in our hometown, Milford, but her family is from County Kerry in Ireland; they moved from Listowel to the Bronx in New York, and then to Milford, Connecticut. She hasn’t cooked in years, but I can remember her making Irish Soda Bread.
Most recipes for Irish Soda Bread start the same way: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. But there is something about her recipe that is better than any other in the world. Now I can’t just tell you all the rest of the ingredients that go into making this soda bread better than all others, so you’re just going to need to try it and see for yourself.
For everyone who has tried it here, it is a great piece of soda bread. They taste all the sugar, the butter spread on top, the warm crust on the outside, the soft dough on the inside, and the sweet raisins (which I have replaced with dried cranberries because of my hatred for raisins and sultanas, but please God, no one tell my Nanny!!).
I have struggled with feeling a bittersweetness as I am finishing up my year in Ireland, leaving the place I’ve called my home, and trying to see how I will keep Ireland with me. When I make my Nanny’s Irish Soda Bread, it smells like her kitchen, and it reminds me of my home in Connecticut. But when I think of the Irish Soda Bread, I think of my home in Ireland, and how everyone here has a recipe from their own Nanny. Each recipe for Irish Soda Bread tells a story; does your Nanny use raisins, sultanas, caraway seeds? Does she say a Hail Mary before putting it in the oven? How long does she tell you to knead the dough for? Does she cut a cross on the top? How much sugar? Does she use eggs? All of the possible steps to making Irish Soda Bread tell a story of our home in Ireland, and the home that has been built for us since then.
This simple recipe, flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk, has helped me to find the connection between my two homes, and two places that will always hold pieces of my heart. This recipe for Irish Soda Bread was a way for my Nanny to remember where her family came from, and a way for her to share that family tradition with us.
So why is her recipe so important to me? Other than the fact that it is the best recipe in the world, I started making this recipe at a really great time in my life. I am finishing up one step of my journey and entering into another; I graduated college, got my first job and moved to Ireland, and now I am moving back to the states and getting married. I know that I will always have a home with my family and my fiancé in Connecticut, but over the past year I have found a family and made a home in Ireland as well. Making Irish Soda Bread has been a way for me to build a bridge between my two homes, just as my Nanny did.
My time living in Ireland has been one of the greatest joys in my life, but I have a feeling that marrying Jake will be as well.
We are blending our families, creating a new home, starting new traditions, and growing together in our faith. But in creating a new life together, we are bringing our homes and family traditions together at the same time.
When someone tastes my recipe for Irish Soda Bread, they will see how delicious it is. But when I make Irish Soda Bread, I smell my Nanny’s kitchen, I feel connected to the story and tradition of making the bread, and Ireland and Connecticut suddenly don’t feel so far apart. I know that no matter where I end up in this life I will always have a piece of Ireland in my heart.
This recipe tells the story of my life, and the lives of my ancestors in Ireland. Now, I might be putting way too much pressure on a loaf of bread, but it is the best piece of bread you’ll ever taste, and it is part of the best story I’ll ever tell.
