About Me and Contact

Welcome!

My name is Jean Tubridy and I am delighted to welcome you to Social Bridge.

I am an Irish  Sociologist, Writer and Sensitive Soul  and  I decided to merge these elements of my life  under the title ‘Social Bridge.’

Social Bridges are all about connections, reaching out, bringing people and ideas together.

I have numerous interests and passions and these include: 

  • Ireland, Irishness, and especially my native Co. Waterford
  • Losing Elderly Parents and all that Process Entails
  • Poetry
  • Nature, particularly the sea and seasonality
  • Sport, especially tennis and hurling
  • Bridges of every possible description  from stone structures, people, events, places, ideas … anything that links people.

I look forward to connecting with you and hope that you will comment on posts that capture your imagination or interest. Should you wish to get in touch privately, my email is: jeantubridy@aol.com

Jean.

 

81 thoughts on “About Me and Contact”

  1. Jean, your post on losing elderly parents is so interesting, the one in which you quote Cicero, about the different stages of life being like the seasons. It reminded me of that lovely biblical reading ‘A time to reap, a time to sew’ etc. Having lost my mum when I was 13, losing my dad (93) in recent years was hard but somehow it felt that his death was the ‘natural’ order of things and it was an opportunity to celebrate a life.

    Reply

    1. Thanks very much for writing. I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your parents ~ so far apart ~ and am glad that Cicero on the seasons resonated with you. I feel that his work is intensely inspirational and it certainly changed my whole perspective on ageing and death.

      Reply

  5. Thank you for sharing about Ireland! Every person I know who has been to Ireland talks about how nice people are and how beautiful it is there. I play a Celtic harp and love traditional Irish music. My hope is to visit Ireland once day and listen to Irish music.

    Reply

  6. Jean, one of my blogger friends (Narf7 from ‘The Road to Serendipity’ just completed a Dreamweaver course with her husband, Steve. Her course project is here:

    http://www.ddmstudy.com/fran/

    I thought you might like the photo of the bridge with all the boots.

    Have a great weekend. ~ Linne

    Reply

    1. Hi Navigator, thanks for your kind words. I certainly hope that you get to visit Ireland. You certainly won’t regret it!

      My PhD thesis was on the Social Experiences of People with Significant Physical Disabilities in Ireland.

      Reply

  10. You’re quite welcome. Interesting thesis topic. I was just curious, as I currently have a line of inquiry that delves into the psycho-social realm. I’m developing a thesis (non academic context) on gender and social narcissism.

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  11. Thank you. I’ve created a unified construct of gender narcissism that I am guardedly optimistic will prove to be the bridge by which Christopher Lasch’s “The Culture of Narcissism” can be unified with Edward Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” The implications are rather significant.

    In the sequel to my current book, I will be addressing the Irish abortion law issue, amongst other topics. Abortion as a social phenomenon is one of the many things that the construct appears to coherently explain. (Not looking to start a contentious debate here.)

    Cheers.

    Reply

  12. Hi Jean thank you for talking to me and stopping by my blog and for following me.I do appreciate this especially as you are still on your January blog break. I look forward to your return and to following you too. xxx

    Reply

    1. Hi Willow, the pleasure is all mine. The ‘January Break’ has been good in that it has given time to write elsewhere and, most importantly, meet new people. Talk soon, j.

      Reply

  13. So I gather. While I spent the first 42 years of my life as a moderate Catholic, my opposition to abortion was and remains grounded in a secular analysis of it.

    Succinctly, my ex-wife of 19 years has expert confirmed personality traits. I hold that these traits are of the elusive covert narcissist variety, and that covert narcissism is the feminine form of the personality disorder. I could not help but notice that the feminists who were maliciously interfering in our divorce to aid my ex-wife had essentially similar narcissistic personality traits. I saw these again in the books that I read by academics who were critical of feminism.

    At its core, ideological/radical/gender feminism is a gender narcissistic phenomenon. It’s most sacred cause–abortion–becomes brutally exposed when viewed through the lens of gender narcissism. Abortion has nothing to do with rights or justice or equality.

    Sorry if I seem to proselytize. As a general rule, the religious and/or conservative opposition to abortion is correct, according to my secular gender narcissism thesis. There is one crucial aspect to the recent Irish abortion law that is uniquely tied to my gender narcissism interpretation, which is why I plan to write about it.

    Reply

  14. Hello from Florida! I am so glad to meet you, I bridged over from scottishmomous’ blog. I see I can spend hours coming back to read your engaging pieces. Looking forward to reading more, as soon as I can. I am doing some ancestral research too, with Irish and Scottish ancestry although so far I have mostly been digging into my most elusive history, Cherokee. I love your Social Bridges concept, for me your title, pictures, good writing skill and heart for people made the bridge.

    Reply

    1. Hello Joan, many thanks for visiting and for your kind words about the blog and especially the ‘social bridge concept.’
      What an interesting ancestral background you have! We share the Irish and Scottish but I don’t think Cherokee is part of mine. Maybe a bit more digging would a lot more, though!

      Reply

  17. Thanks Jean. Delighted to have found your blog and I look forward to reading more. Regards from Thom at the immortal jukebox (featuring irish musicians and a poem about hurling and my dad!).

    Reply

  18. Jean, what a great blog. If Eddie hadn’t directed me here I wouldn’t have found you. I’ve been living in Russia for the last several years and have been blogging about “Life In Russia”. Like yourself I truly believe in bridges, the creation brings people together and helps us understand the cultural differences between nations, people groups, and so much more.Hope to come back often and explore more of your writing.

    Reply

    1. Many thanks for your kind words and am delighted to have connected through Eddie. I look forward to reading about ‘Life in Russia.’ Are you from Ireland originally?

      Reply

  20. Hi Jean – I’m 39 and my mom is 83. My dad died over 30 years ago. My mom is the person I talk to everyday, actually multiple times a day. She is slowing down in all ways. Sleeping a lot and being forgetful. Not interested in things she used to be interested in. I sense her giving up. She is in poor health with congestive heart failure and arthritis. I find myself wanting to keep her alive and make her ‘better’. I’m so afraid of losing her and losing myself. I’m afraid I’ll lose it when the time comes. I’m afraid I’ll have a mental breakdown. It doesn’t help that I’m on my own and don’t have much of a support system. I feel myself trying to plan for her passing but in reality I know this probably won’t make the loss any more bearable.

    Reply

    1. Marie, thank you for sharing your situation and fears. I’m sorry that your mother has a number of health issues and I can more than understand how you feel about losing her. I was very much like that about my own mother. I really thought that her dying would mean the world had ended but even though I had had a number of very significant losses before that I simply didn’t ‘get it’ that Mother’s presence would remain so strong in my life. I often wish someone had told me beforehand that this would be the case. It’s like she’s with me all the time through the tiniest things ~ like when I’m cooking or in places that we visited regularly.
      I had viewed death in very black and white terms but from the very morning she died I realised that she would be a fundamental part of my life forever. I hope that you have the same experience and that knowing that this can be the case will ease your worry about losing yourself.
      Do keep in touch and feel free to email me if you’d prefer ~ jeantubridy@aol.com.

      Reply

  21. Hi Jean
    Love your blog:)
    I’m in Australia and my Irish Mother died 31 March this year. I had been ‘preparing’ for this for a while as she grew less physically able. She was mentally quite with it just – grew physically tired – but maintained her fierce desire to be independent till the end when the day before she died she told my brother to ‘stop interfering.’

    Apart from my studies, the thing I found most helpful was having to write Mum’s Euology. As I looked back on what I knew about my parents I was able to contextualise their experiences within what was happening around them. It gave me a whole new way to think about my Mother and Father. My Irish Dad died some 15 years ago and it was a shock…so in some ways, I was able to come to terms with his death at the same time as my mother’s.

    As a family, we chose to bury Mum and Dad together…and that is now how we will always be able to think of them…Mum missed Dad terribly when he died, and now they are together again…

    For everything there is a season, they say, and I believe it now.

    kind regards
    Olga

    Reply

    1. Hi Olga, deepest sympathy on the recent death of your mother. She sounds like she was a great character.
      I must say I agree with you about writing eulogies as I had the honour of writing my father’s and it helped me enormously.
      I wonder is it only when both parents die (assuming they had a strong relationship) that we can indeed come to terms with the passing of the first one.
      I’m delighted to have made contact with your Irish blood!

      Reply

  23. Hello Jean I have nominated you for the Three Day Quote Challenge

    The rules of the challenge:

    Post your favorite quotes or your own quotes for 3 days in a row.
    Thank the person who nominated you
    Pass it on to 3 other bloggers.

    Reply

          1. Hi Jean yes it’s hard to stop once you start but it’s illuminating! I went to bed after your last text as my eyes could not stay open. 🙂 Good morning how is the sea today. xxxxx

            Reply

    1. Hi Jean,
      I would like to use your photo of the enginehouses at the Copper Coast Geopark for my book on the Kapunda Mine in South Australia. Cornish Capt. William Barkla came to Kapunda via Knockmahon in 1852.
      Thanks
      Greg

      Reply

      1. Hi Greg, you’re more than welcome to use the photo. I’d love to see the book when it’s finished. How small the world is!
        Do keep in touch and let me know if you need any additional pics or info from this side of the world.

        Reply
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  30. Hi Jean, I wish to thank you for making me alert to your blog, so interesting, I will explore further for sure. Thank you for your interest in mine. I know that Ireland, culture, nature, and people has so much to offer, so much beauty and mystery, so much to write about. I am glad to have met you here. I am also impressed with the clarity of what you want to blog about.
    Kind regards, Agnes

    Reply

    1. Hi Agnes, I’m delighted to have made the connection as well.
      I’m thrilled that you see clarity in what the blog is about. I’ve only just recently made a lot of changes so it’s brilliant to hear how it seems to a newcomer!
      Look forward to reading your posts from now on.

      Reply

  32. Hi have enjoyed your blog – I will be coming to Ireland in November and will be spending time with family in Kilmacthomas. After reading this I will be visiting Dunhill Castle

    Reply

  33. Thank you so much for helping me to realise that the way I currently feel is normal and comes from my deep love for my father. It has been very enlightening and I will read Cicero with interest. Blessings to you. 💖💫🌟

    Reply

  34. Hi Jean I have nominated you for Song Challenge (Music That Means Something)
    The rules are:
    Post a song a day for five consecutive days.
    Post what the lyrics mean to you. (Optional)
    Post the name of the song and video.
    Nominate 1 or 2 bloggers each day of the challenge.
    willow xx only if you want to.

    Reply

  35. I so miss the Bridges we crossed with you that lead to Tramore Beach and Stan and Mount Congreve Gardens and lovely reminiscing about your mother and father. I do hope we might cross them again with you in 2019!

    Reply

  36. I loved seeing my little cottage on the pier road in your blog and the magical way your described the 4 houses that lead you to the pier. 🥰 very honoured to see my house

    Reply

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