Resa Hall has some very deep Irish roots.

And they’re growing deeper, now that one of her sons lives there.

Hall, of Palmerton, explained that her maternal grandparents were adults when they arrived in Pennsylvania from County Donegal in the early 1900s.

Her paternal grandparents were also born in Ireland, and were children when they came to America in the late 1800s.

“I still have relatives that I am in touch with and have visited in Ireland over the years,” said Hall, who lives in Palmerton with her husband, Frank Hall.

Her first trip to the Emerald Isle was more than 50 years ago - in 1973 - when she traveled with her parents and sisters. They explored the land of her maternal grandparents, and met cousins there.

Hall made sure her sons Frank “Jay” and Sean Hall knew about their heritage.

“My children were raised on Irish stories, and that must have made an impact,” she said.

That’s because Jay, a 2010 graduate of Palmerton High School, moved to Galway on the west coast of Ireland in 2015 to pursue his master’s degree. He’s now working on his doctorate in archaeology.

“People ask me when is he coming home, and I tell them that he is home,” Hall said.

She and Frank have visited Jay several times, “once when he was an undergrad working on a dig at one of Grace O’Malley’s castles on Achill Island; Grace was a notorious Irish pirate queen, then again in 2019, and 2022 as he pursued his studies at the National University of Ireland at Galway.”

They’ll be returning next year to attend his marriage to Edel Brennan, a Galway woman Hall said they look forward to welcoming to their family.

“On our visits, we have journeyed north to visit our family in Donegal, and have done a lot of the tourist attractions, but we have also explored parts of Ireland with our ‘private archaeologist’ that are off the beaten path,” she said.

The feeling Resa gets when she visits is like no other. It’s a slower and more peaceful way of life, she explained.

“It’s home,” she said.