What happens when you spend years longing for home — and then discover that coming home doesn't necessarily mean finding the place you imagined?
In this episode of Voices of Greystones, Terry sits down with Maxine Gallagher, who moved from Berlin to Greystones with her husband and two children believing she was coming home.
What followed wasn't quite the homecoming she had imagined.
Maxine speaks openly about leaving a life she loved in Berlin, adjusting to a much smaller town, losing her job, the pressures of starting again, and the difficulty of finding her place and rebuilding a sense of community.
But gradually, something changed.
Not through one dramatic moment, but through small interactions — a conversation, a coffee, someone noticing her, a hug, joining a choir, basketball, swimming with the Ducks and simply continuing to turn up.
Those moments began to change how she saw Greystones, community and herself.
Along the way, Maxine talks about her family, creativity, writing, music and her growing desire to call herself an artist. And she reflects on something many people who have moved away from home — or moved somewhere new — may recognise:
Perhaps home isn't always where you came from. Perhaps it's where you eventually feel safe enough to become yourself.
The conversation finishes with Maxine performing her original song “Keep On Keeping On” — a beautiful ending to a conversation about persistence, connection and the small things people do for one another.
This is a conversation about home, belonging, community, identity, creativity and finding your people.
🎙️ Voices of Greystones is a community podcast from High Tide Studios, created to preserve the stories of the people who make this town what it is.
We’re also delighted to have Greystones Wellness Hub as a community partner. The Hub plays an important role in bringing people and local initiatives together, and we’re pleased to help create another space for those stories and voices to be shared. It’s a simple collaboration built around community, conversation and creating something of value for Greystones.