Since March of 2010, former LA resident Clare Kleinedler has been blogging about her expat experiences in the small Irish town of Drogheda as “An American in Ireland.” For Angelenos wondering about a far-flung alternative to the LA rate race, her musings have proved to be an entertaining, Local Hero type primer.

With Kleinedler now set to move to nearby Dublin to live with her boyfriend, a.k.a. “Mountaineering Man,” she took time to thank some of the folks who helped make her time in Drogheda memorable. People like Gerry Kelly, a fixture at 95.8 LM-FM:

Gerry was one of the first fans of this blog, and within three weeks of moving here he’d written an article for the local paper and invited me to be on his radio show. I’ve been on once a month ever since, and for me it’s almost like a therapy session! He allows me to vent about the things that drive me crazy (like Irish customer service!) and has always been very supportive of my writing.

Kleinedler writes that she is also indebted to Traders, a cafe that appeared on the scene just a few months ago and finally delivered a cup of coffee on par with those she used to consumer in La-la land.