US couple have box of clay from Tipperary shipped 4,000 miles so daughter can take first steps on Irish soil
Darragh Mc Donagh
An American couple had a box of clay from Tipperary shipped almost 4,000 miles to their home in the United States so that their newborn daughter could take her first steps on Irish soil.
Michael Murphy and his wife Nikki have never been to Ireland, but he traces his roots to Armagh, and they have always had a deep interest in Irish culture.
When their daughter Vivienne was born in Illinois last month, they wanted her feet to touch Irish soil first, and had asked some friends from Tipperary to send them a box of earth and grass from the Emerald Isle.
The Murphys posted a video of the baby girl touching the box of soil with her foot on social media two weeks ago, and it has since garnered almost five million views.
The footage is accompanied by the sound of a Kerrygold advertisement from the 1990s, in which an Irish expatriate has the same idea and says of his son, “He’ll be born in Germany but his feet will touch Irish soil first.”
Michael, 37, told American website, What’s the Jam?, that the occasion was “so exciting and meaningful”, and explained that he had grown up hearing about his Irish roots from his father.
“I have always been fascinated with our Irish roots,” he said. “I deeply revere the Irish people and their history and how much it shapes their modern-day political and social attitudes.
“I admire the effort that has been made to revive the Irish language that was once banned. Irish culture is something that has always resonated with me.
“We celebrate St Patrick’s Day in our home. You do not have to be 100 per cent Irish to see that and to feel that, and want to experience it yourself,” he added.
“Nikki and I would love to take [Vivienne] to the banks of the broad, majestic River Shannon and to dip her feet in its water and possibly catch a few rowboats as they glide across, as Shane McGowan would have wanted.”
Michael said he would love to visit the plot in Belleek, Co Armagh, where his grandfather was raised one day.
“In the end, for us, it’s about teaching [Vivienne] to respect other cultures and teach her about the wider world beyond her corner of it. It’s about open-mindedness and respect,” he said.
