American comedian, actor, and former talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell has spoken out about her experiences of moving to Ireland, expressing that it has been both “very beautiful” and “sometimes lonely”. She made the comments on her appearance on the Good Hang podcast with Amy Poehler.

Her move from America to Ireland came after Donald Trump was inaugurated as US President for a second term in January 2025. O’Donnell has described Ireland as extremely welcoming, saying: “The best part is that they don’t have celebrity culture there. Nobody really cares that you’re famous.”

O’Donnell described a run-in she had with someone, recalling that it lasted two and a half hours before they even revealed they were fans. In their words, her fame was not the most important thing about her.

While she raises her 13-year-old child, Clay, in Ireland, she expressed that leaving the rest of her friends and family has “been very difficult”.

O’Donnell came out as a lesbian in 2002 during a stand-up show, and has since been married twice – first to Kelli Carpenter for a short time, and also to Michelle Rounds. Her child has come out as non-binary, and in support of their identity, she tattooed ‘they’ as a permanent reminder of how important it is to respect their chosen pronouns.

During her conversation with Poehler, Rosie O’Donnell likened being queer to being left-handed or having blue eyes. She also described the pain of being forced to grieve in private after her first girlfriend’s death, saying that: “People don’t choose it. Who would choose it? It’s not an easy life, but it’s a true life if you know that that’s who you are.”

During the conversations, O’Donnell also recalled her past visits to Donegal, where her father was from, after her mother’s death in 1973 at the height of The Troubles.

“My cousins were in their very late teens, and so they got us into trouble. They would shoot cap guns and try to provoke the British Army,” she said, describing what she was up to at the time.

Overall, she said her experience of living in Ireland has been “very beautiful”, revealing that: “People say they notice a difference, and I think I’m just calmer. I’m calmer being over there.”