Hi, you found me!

My name is Róise Nic an Bheatha – what an absolute mouthful and a complete admin nightmare I hear you say – but… I’ve had the name for twenty-four years and it’s a large part of my identity so I won’t be changing it any time soon.

You’ll have probably guessed that the name comes from Ireland. I was born in Belfast and grew up in the North of Ireland in a city called Derry. People also refer to it as LondonDerry but if you’re looking for the terminology that I use, I would advise Doire meaning oak leaf – the Irish word that Derry derives from. 

Whilst in Ireland, I went to Irish Medium Education, spending my primary school years speaking to my chums in Irish or Gaelige as I prefer to call it (the Irish word for Irish). When I was fourteen, I moved to Edinburgh where I began to learn Gaidhlig (Gaelic, Scotland), and from there on in, I felt connected to both Celtic languages.

After finishing highschool, I studied Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow. Scottish Literature is a relatively new field of study, but it’s growing in interest and I loved how it combined my love of Gaelic, myths, literature, music, history, and writing all under one umbrella.  

In the third year of my degree, I was lucky enough to bag myself a spot on Glasgow’s study abroad program which meant I ended up in Vancouver, Canada, for a year. There, my love of climbing and getting outdoors grew, but I was also able to explore Scotland’s heritage abroad (although Gaelic is mostly spoken on the east coast of Canada). It was in Canada that I first began blogging, believe it or not, but I failed miserably – I was partying, travelling and exploring too often to maintain my writing consistently. 

I returned to Glasgow, finishing my degree and graduating in 2019. That summer, fresh out of University and keen to not go back to studying just yet, I took a job up in Aberlour (I don’t think I’m bring too dramatic when I say it’s in the middle of nowhere in the North of Scotland). I began a role as a PR Associate (I still don’t quite know what that job title entails) and have sold my soul to marketing for the past two years. I jest, it’s not so bad and the work is really interesting, and I’ve also come to realise that the world revolves around marketing so I’m glad I have some insight into its wicked ways.

I currently work for a little PR firm based in the Highlands of Scotland, so this enables me to reach the Munros at weekends and surround myself with the Scottish Highland wonders. I am based in Inverness, but I am always open to change, so we’ll see where the future takes me. 

MUNROS

Apologies, I feel like I’ve given you a narrative of my life and I haven’t even mentioned Munros once, but that’s reflective of my Munro journey, because I didn’t really begin climbing them until I moved up North. I had done Ben Lomond a couple of times, but apart from that, I hadn’t really climbed anything above 3,000 feet (other than the hills in Canada). I didn’t even know what baggin’ was (gosh, that sounds kind of dirty when you say it like that). Anyway, I have started my Munro journey now, but it’s part of a bigger campaign to prioritise health, fitness, and well-being in my life. 

And so, in short, that’s my life. I feel as if I skipped over quite a lot of stuff (did I mention I have five siblings and my mother studied with Barack Obama?) but any burning questions then please do reach out to me theramblingcelt@gmail.com or via my Twitter. 

For now, my rambles have come to an end.