Musings, ramblings and thought provoking articles from our team of talented writers - all views expressed are their own!
In October, people across Ireland are lighting fires in their fireplaces and stoves to take the chill out of the air. It’s starting to get cool, but it isn’t really cold yet. Outside of the cities, people often burn sods of turf they’ve harvested from their own plots in the bog. They go out in […]
The 2018 autumn equinox is on Saturday, 22nd September for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. On this day, the sun rises at due east, passes directly above the equator, and sets in due west. This divides the day into two equal halves of light and dark, but due to the way light passes […]
Wexford, with Vinegar Hill and its National 1798 Rebellion Centre, is the star of that particular effort to gain freedom from British rule. The county had many successes in that uprising. Insurgents captured the towns of Enniscorthy, Wexford, and briefly Gorey. The rebellion ended in Wexford in early July, but it had yet to begin […]
The Boyne Valley is home to an amazing site of Neolithic structures decorated with intriguing and distinctive swirls and spirals. It’s a must-see for visitors to Ireland, and the island’s recent drought conditions have revealed that it is even more amazing than previously known. Historian Anthony Murphy, who has written extensively about the area, was […]
Normally, water is indeed everywhere in Ireland. It rains so much we have developed a wide range of terminology to describe it from a ‘soft day’ to ‘bucketing’. But this summer, Ireland is actually facing a drought. Farmers are worried, lawns are yellow and inland waterways are low. So the beach is the place to […]
Some traits are more common among the Irish. The ability to turn an ordinary event into a great story. Hospitality. The musical talent to sing a ballad so it grabs your heart. Insults so subtle and witty the insulted person needs a few days to discover the slight in the words. And celiac disease, a […]
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and her husband Prince Harry are getting the royal treatment for their visit to Dublin this week. Markle, who arrived wearing a simple but stunning dark green dress from Givenchy, is living every Irish American’s dream. She is being presented with details of her Irish roots and visiting some of […]
Old Irish cottages are popular vacation rentals. Spending a week in one leaves you with amazing memories and perhaps a dream to retire and renovate one to live in. But what is really involved? How much can you modernize an old Irish cottage without robbing it of its charm? Which details are critical and what […]
Annie Moore entered the history books as the first immigrant to the USA processed at Ellis Island when the center opened on New Year’s Day, 1892. It’s unclear exactly how she came to be first off the boat, but one credible theory is that the ship’s captain called out ‘women and children first’ and other […]
A wedding is a time when we tend to embrace tradition, but what we think of as Irish wedding traditions aren’t the oldest approach to marriage on this island. The Claddagh ring has a very romantic backstory and beautiful symbolism, which make it a lovely choice for an Irish wedding ring. Horseshoes, wedding bells and […]
