In 1985, the Burkes returned to the land of their birth and bought a new house in a brand new section of Knocknacarra, a small suburb of a small city, about halfway between each set of parents. Land is important in Ireland. 80% of families own their own homes. Says Christy of the move, "we wanted to raise our children in harmony with the tick-tock of a human being." And this they felt could be done best in Ireland. "In touch with our past," adds Barbara, "in touch with our stories."

CHRISTY TOOK A CUT IN PAY to work at an Irish Post Office, first as a letter carrier, now happily inside, as a clerk. This lack of conspicuous ambition may seem unusual in the US, but in Ireland not at all. "Our work ethic may not be too strong," says Christy only half in jest, "but our play ethic is great" According to Christy, still sporting with the stereotype, the first question an Irishman asks of a new acquaintance is "not where he works, but where he drinks." There is a message here.

DURING THE DAY, the Burke family goes about its business: Christy at the Post Office, the kids at school, and in the afternoon, Barbara usually in an around the kitchen, the one room heated throughout the day. Proportionately, fewer Irish women work out of the home than anywhere in the industrial world. And of the mothers on the Burke’s cul-de-sac, none has a full-time career.

Sometimes, the whole family will come home for lunch. Sometimes Barara and Christy will meet in town. But the Irish do not center their day on lunch as do many other European peoples. Too many times during their history there was no lunch to be had.

When the kids come home from school, Barbara stokes up a coal fire in the sitting room, and the back boiler passes its heat throughout the home’s radiators. Typically, the kids do their 60 to 90 minutes of homework right after school. The whole family regroups for dinner about six. The fare varies--pork chops, chicken, fish, lamb chops, and yes, lots of potatoes. Per person, the Irish still consume more than four times the spuds we do. The kids, of course, prefer pizza and at least twice a month finesse a trip to SuperMacs, a MacDonald's clone, for the just passable Irish version thereof.

Immediately after dinner, all retreat to the sitting room to watch Home and Away, an Australian soap that plays nightly on one of Ireland's two TV channels. This is the one show they all enjoy. But Siobhan, 11, admits to an equally deep affection for that traditional Irish favorite, Beverly Hills 90210. Yes, even here. After Home and Away, David usually heads off to track practice or “training” as it’s called; and Siobhan to music or pottery lessons. About once a week, Barbara and her girlfriends go out to bowl and have a drink afterwards--an excursion that would have been unthinkable in her mother’s generation.

The Burkes all read. Although they absorbed the language under duress, the Irish remain the world’s most literate English-speaking people. Christy, for instance, has read all of Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde, and Siobahn much of Mark Twain. When the mood strikes, Christy also writes poetry, sometimes in the middle of the night.

Families are close in Ireland, the Burkes no exception. One reason is the very ecology of the homes: the high cost of fuel keeps houses small; the universal dampness discourages basements; and the vital heat of the fireplace pulls the family together. Kids can’t wander off to their own spaces and surface like the teenage mutants one sometimes spots in large suburban American homes.

Another factor is the Catholic Church which Christy calls “an extension of the family.” Like most Irish families, the Burkes go to mass together each weekend. And church and parish reinforce the essential social contract within families and among them. On alternate weekends, the Burkes go back to the farms to visit their parents and keep their rural traditions alive for the children.

When all is said and done, there is much about the Burkes’ lives that is very much like our own. They barbecue with the neighbors, take the kids to kiddie sports on Saturday mornings, watch TV together, go on weekend trips, have a drink or two with friends, and even make the occasional excursion to MacDonalds.

On the material front, there is much that is less: space and heat foremost among them, household gadgets, multiple TVs and bathrooms, CD players, family rooms, second and third cars, good roads, drive-in restaurants, home-delivered pizza, decks, same-day surgery, discretionary income.

But on the spiritual side, there may be something more. Of their own accord, the Burkes’ dwell within an unbroken, almost timeless circle of friends and family and church that strengthens their roots without stifling their spirit. Each night at bedtime, as the glow of the coals fades in the fireplace, they unceremoniously head off to bed, thankful for what they have, unworried about having more. To be sure, to be fair, a comparable completeness-in-the-world can be found here in New Jersey.

One just has to look a whole lot harder.

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