For Armagh playwright, author and biologist Byddi Lee, home has remained a constant even after a life spent travelling between continents, conservation projects and some of the world’s most famous cities.
Lee was born in Canada after her parents left Armagh to work on a First Nations Reservation as a teacher and nurse. The family returned to the Orchard County in 1973, when she was four, and Armagh became the place where she spent her formative years before leaving at 18 to study Environmental Biology at Queen’s University Belfast.
Her career initially followed science rather than writing. After qualifying, she taught biology for 15 years, although a two-year sabbatical opened the door to a series of international adventures.
“I just thumbed my way around the world,” she said, recalling work on a dolphin and whale project in South Africa. She also qualified as a ski instructor in Canada, something made possible by her Canadian citizenship.
From Armagh to Silicon Valley
Lee and her husband later made the life-changing decision to move to California’s Silicon Valley, where they lived for eight years. The move offered excitement and opportunities, including conservation work, but it also brought a growing sense that something was missing.
“It was really exciting, a real adventure,” Lee said. “But there came a point where I missed community. I missed going to the supermarket and bumping into people I knew. Here [in Armagh] you walk into town and there’s always someone who will beep the horn or wave as they go by.”
In California, she worked part-time in conservation while beginning to write. Her environmental work took her into county and state parks, as well as privately owned land being managed for environmental benefit.
One project focused on the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, which Lee described as unique to the area. Conservation teams gathered caterpillars and moved them closer to their food source, while also removing invasive European grasses that competed with native plants.
The work allowed her to use the degree she had earned in Belfast, but building a social network proved more difficult. Lee and her husband even wrote to people living on their street after buying their house, inviting them to drop in for coffee.
“We tried to create a community there but it was a slog,” she said, describing California as a diverse melting pot that could nevertheless make it difficult to find a deep sense of belonging.
A year in Paris before returning home
After deciding California would not be their permanent home, the couple moved again, this time to Paris. They spent a year in the French capital, living above a sushi bar in an area known for pubs and nightlife.
Lee enjoyed the city’s atmosphere and beauty, but the experience also had drawbacks. Their apartment was noisy, summer temperatures were uncomfortable and finding a new place to live involved extensive paperwork, including a passport and a detailed portfolio simply to view an apartment.
“We lived for a glorious year in Paris,” she said. “I loved it but I had the luxury of working from home and didn’t have the nightmare of trying to navigate the metro system.”
Food became another reminder of home. While living in America, Lee had learned to make pavlova, potato bread and scones because she missed them. Back in Armagh, she found herself missing lunchtime pho, although trips to Belfast or Dublin offered the chance to enjoy it.
That contrast also fed into Lee’s new book. The story begins with two chefs running a restaurant in Armagh. When the woman is offered a job in Paris and the man does not want to move, their argument raises the question of why people in Armagh might resist eating sushi.
Finding a creative community in Armagh
The couple initially imagined returning to Armagh for only a few months before moving away again and potentially renting out their house as an Airbnb. Instead, the return introduced them to fellow writers Tim Hanna and Malachi Kelly through the Armagh Theatre Group.
Lee became involved in the development of Impact, a play about the tragic Armagh Railway Disaster. She and her husband were soon drawn into the group, where they built friendships and what Lee described as an “incredible” network of connections.
Her affection for Armagh is rooted in everyday life as much as creative work. She says the city is quiet at night, easy to get around and small enough to walk across or park close to a destination. She has also reconnected with people her age from the Canadian Reservation where she spent her earliest years.
Lee’s visitors have enjoyed seeing the local area through fresh eyes. Friends from Australia were taken to Tayto Castle and the North Coast, while a visitor from the reservation experienced the Wickerman festival, which she felt was an authentic equivalent of the annual Pow Wow at Wikwemikong.
“You meet people here and feel connected. It’s a nice thing that the Armagh people can be so welcoming,” Lee said.
Now settled with her husband and their four cats, Lee says future travel remains possible, but a permanent move away appears unlikely. After years of exploring Canada, South Africa, California and Paris, Armagh remains the place to which she has repeatedly returned.