Musings, ramblings and thought provoking articles from our team of talented writers - all views expressed are their own!
We don’t get our fair share of sunshine in Ireland. The island is famous for rain, for the endless soft drizzle that gives us our 40 shades of green. So when summer comes and we do get some sun, which isn’t guaranteed even in summer, we tend to celebrate it. This isn’t new. Our ancient […]
It might take years to actually read James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, but you can celebrate it in just one day. June 16th, to be specific. The entire story of Ulysses takes place on that one day in 1904. And now we take that day to celebrate. Joycean scholars, Dubliners, tourists and everyone who likes to […]
Once upon a time, a whole generation of Irish Americans grew up thinking that the cuisine of Ireland consisted of corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips and a lot of potatoes. A lucky few knew that oatmeal porridge figured in there somewhere. The really fortunate ones had also heard of or maybe even sampled […]
The first year of marriage is exhilarating, joyful and difficult. You are both learning to compromise and cooperate on a deeper level. You have big decisions to make together, but honestly, sometimes the smaller, everyday decisions are harder. But the year is full of fun firsts. Every day is still a bit of a new […]
Does creativity require a bit of solitude? Consider the stereotype of writers toiling away in an attic somewhere. Virginia Woolf said women need a room of our own, and long before man caves men were retreating to workshops to create all sorts of wood crafts. Our Irish ancestors had this figured out. In fact, they […]
A lot of people think that wedding bells are only rung on your wedding day. But an old Irish tradition says otherwise. Ireland has two wedding bell traditions. Church bells are rung, of course. That started because people believed that the sound of bells scared off any evil spirits lurking around. (You’ll have to provide […]
Irish mothers are a special breed. And Irish people are extremely close to their mothers. North Americans living in Ireland often have a moment of culture shock when they realize it is perfectly normal for Irish professionals to phone their mothers from work daily. They aren’t ringing to check on any alarming medical issues. They just know […]
They say talk is cheap, but the written word is another matter entirely. Today, we have predictive text on our mobile devices and universal education and we think nothing of typing out quick comments as we skim social media throughout the day. But our ancestors had a very different relationship with the written word. They […]
It has been a whole year since that magical, glorious day when you exchanged vows and put a ring on it. Every couple’s first year is different. Maybe you both lived at home until you wed, and setting up housekeeping together was exciting because it was all so novel. Or maybe you both lived in […]
Year round, Ireland is lauded as the land with forty shades of green. But in May, our favorite shade of green gets the center stage. This is the emerald isle, and emeralds are the birthstone for May. It’s quite fitting really. May is often a gloriously green month in Ireland. Yes, it’s wet, but spring […]
