Seamus McAteer’s first trip back to Montgomery County in 16 years was short, but memorable.

The Irish resident – along with his wife Joanne – stayed at the county for three days before traveling to Nashville, Tenn., then heading back home to Northern Ireland. He was happy that he got to reunite with several residents, including 1st District Commissioner Dave Teeter.

“I actually loved the last couple of days,” McAteer said. “It brought back a lot of good memories. It brought back sad memories, too.”

In 1997, McAteer was one of 30 teenage residents from Ireland who visited the county as part of the Wider Horizons Program. The program attempted to bring all of the Irish residents together. Back then, there was a conflict in Ireland that separated the Catholic and Protestant residents.

“The children and parents stayed separated,” Joanne McAteer said. “The separation was through religion. You were either Catholic or Protestant. You didn’t mix. But this project was to bring everybody together and show there was no difference.”

The students came to the county to see how Americans lived in different religions, such as Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian. They stayed there for about two months.

“We all got along together,” said Seamus McAteer, who worked at the old LaCrosse Lumber building that was across from Immaculate Conception Church. “We did a lot of things. We did good and bad things in Montgomery.”

McAteer and his wife stayed with Rick and Bobbette Tucker of Montgomery City from Sept. 21-24. McAteer was happy to see Teeter twice during the visit, including at the county commissioners meeting on Sept. 24.

“I actually spoke for 10 minutes,” McAteer said.

McAteer was originally from Strabane, Northern Ireland. He now lives with his wife and seven children at Ballymoney, Northern Island. Three of those children are adopted.

McAteer works as a full-time mailman, while his wife works as a part-time hairdresser. They have been married for six years. Their wedding anniversary was on Sept. 26.

“Joanne and I have mixed religions,” McAteer said. “I’m a Roman Catholic, while Joanne is a Protestant. I made my marriage work.”

McAteer’s last visit to the county before this year was in 2010. Joanne said her husband stayed connected with the county residents even though he hadn’t visited the area in 16 years.

“He stayed in touch with them and they stayed in touch with him,” she said. “They shared Christmas cards, phone calls and weddings.”

The McAteers plan to make another trip to Montgomery County in the future.

“We’ll try not to make it 16 years,” Joanne McAteer said. “We’ll come back soon.”