'In my family everything is a joke, so I’ve always been like that'

Regan Kelly

It can be hard to find a gem on social media, but one gem that nobody forgets is Gemma Leahy. Gemma is a proud Westmeath Woman who was part of the 2011 Women’s All-Ireland winning team.

Originally from Mullingar, where she lived until she was 21, when she graduated from TUS Athlone, Gemma moved to England following her All-Ireland win and graduation, and has been there since.

Gemma creates Irish-themed content on TikTok, and has a significant following in the last few years. “I do social media videos generally about information that people who are either Irish or have Irish connections can relate to.

“Things like ‘You Know You’re Irish When’ or how to pronounce Irish names. But at the same time, I also try to do some general life videos where I travel and have adventures around the world.”

Speaking on those early days, Gemma said: “I was working as a training manager during Covid, and I was on furlough, and everyone was tagging me in videos saying that this girl reminds me of you, doing skits.

“I was just incredibly bored, and I started doing skits of myself talking to Alexa, and people started to message me about when I was doing the next video, and it just kind of went from there.”

Gemma said as her popularity on TikTok rose, it took her by surprise. “I started doing a bit of Irish stuff and American people loved it, but it just kind of went from there and snowballed, which was mad.”

She went on to describe why she believes she took to influencing so well and how her personal life helps her achieve success on TikTok: “In my work life, my function is people, but also, I come from a comedic family where everything is a joke, so I’ve always been like that.

“Social media was never really my intention, being an influencer was never really on my radar, but I’m just taking it in my stride at the moment, it’s still a bit crazy though.”

Since making that bold choice to start posting on social media, Gemma has seen some incredible highs.

Asked what advice she would give other young creators who are toying with the idea of becoming an influencer, she said: “I think in Ireland we have this idea that we don’t want to look like an eejit – one bit of advice I received from another Irish creator was to put down your pride, and just do what you can for you, because you can only do yourself.

“The things that a career in social media can give you are amazing. Recently, I’ve had some once-in-a-lifetime achievements. I had drinks with Shea Given and Wayne Rooney at a BBC event I was invited to.”

Being part of the Irish Diaspora is important to Gemma, and her videos aim to highlight the uniqueness of Irish culture.

Gemma takes great pride in the feedback she receives from viewers, and it often makes her prouder to be Irish: “Half the reason I started doing this was for my own sanity, because I would remember what things were like back home, which weirdly made me prouder of being Irish than when I lived in Ireland.

“It’s mad when I get messages generally from Americans whose families are Irish and they tell me how I remind them of their granny.

“It’s amazing, I’ve met loads of Irish communities across the world and they have told me that they love my videos.

“So not only is doing these videos reminding people of something Irish, it reminds me of home and helps keep me grounded.”

Being from this are is deeply important to Gemma, and she aims to highlight the Lake County’s strengths wherever she can.

“I’m incredibly proud to be from Westmeath. It’s a county that’s full of good people; we might not be the best at sport, but we have some great talent who call the place home.

“Even Mullingar is highly underrated, and I’m just proud to be from where I’m from. As it is the heart of Ireland, it’s got the lakes and so much history, I just can’t describe it in words how proud I am to be from Westmeath.”