Musings, ramblings and thought provoking articles from our team of talented writers - all views expressed are their own!
The bogs play a remarkable role in Irish life. For generations, Irish people have cut turf from the bogs to burn as fuel. Visitors arriving to parts of Ireland in winter notice the rich, distinctive smell, and Irish people living overseas long for the smell of the home fires. Bogs have also preserved and eventually […]
Somewhere along the way, Beltaine became conflated with May Day in Ireland. People began celebrating on the first day of May with festivities our ancestors would have considered quite tame. It is also the first day of summer, although the weather rarely cooperates with that. The word ‘beltaine’ is used for the month of May, […]
Most mothers occasionally feel overshadowed by their children. Once little ones arrive, they tend to take center stage for a couple of decades. Hence, to avoid overlooking mothers completely, we have Mother’s Day. (Ditto for daddies and their special day!) In Ireland, Mother’s Day is the last Sunday in March, several weeks ahead of the […]
St. Patrick’s Day shows us just how the various strands of Irish are woven together – Irish, Irish-American and Irish in America. The history of the holiday is a story of traditions going back and forth, evolving and influencing each other. It’s not a case of tradition flowing only from the old country to the […]
St. Valentine’s Day is on the horizon, and romance is in the air. Who doesn’t love a good love story? The Irish are known for our gift of storytelling, and so it is no surprise that behind one of most popular Irish motifs is an incredible love story. The Claddagh design is iconic and deeply […]
We are past the solstice now. A pink glow appears on the horizon earlier each morning. The daylight lingers a bit longer each afternoon. At a glance, the trees look as they have all winter. Bare. But beneath their bark, they are preparing for spring. A few have buds or soon will, a visual promise […]
Ancient Irish royalty was nothing like the Disney version. The kings and queens of Irish history and myth were fierce and fearless warriors. They did not spend their time attending lavish balls. They led their troops into battle to gain more wealth and power, and to avenge various wrongs. Maeve became famous as a queen, […]
A library loaning out a book is normally not a big deal, but when the volume in question is the ancient Book of Durrow, that’s another story. Trinity College Dublin recently lent the precious tome to the British Library in London for a special exhibit that runs until February 2019. It will join other significant […]
Halloween has Irish roots. It was originally Samhain, the last day of the Celtic year. The ancient Celts believed a sort of veil separated our ordinary world from the spirit world. As the year went on, this veil got worn thinner and thinner until on the last day of the year, it was so worn […]
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 […]
