Colleen Corbett, Growing up Irish in Toronto

Today, I will be speaking with Colleen Corbett. Any Irish person who has moved to Toronto is sure to have encountered the famous Colleen at some stage. She brings energy and enthusiasm to any conversation she is in and this is no exception. Colleen’s mother, the equally famous Maureen Mulvey O’Leary, winner of the 2024 Irish Person of the Year Award, was a previous guest on this podcast. Colleen talks about how her mother raised her as Irish in Toronto, attending Irish cultural events in the city and traveling around the North American continent to various Comhaltas events. Colleen discusses how St. Patrick’s Day is like Christmas for her and she also discusses how it feels to be on the other side as Irish people begin to move back home, after having formed close bonds with people in Toronto. 

Colleen’s experiences as Irish growing up in Toronto is unique and she is currently chronicling these experiences in a novel she is writing. We discuss the ups and downs of creating writing and how she came to lose her original manuscript.