Musings, ramblings and thought provoking articles from our team of talented writers - all views expressed are their own!
December brings an air of magic to Ireland. As the month goes on, business slows down as people prepare for the Christmas holiday. December is a time for family and loved ones. As the year winds down, our minds focus on what is really important – each other. Shoppers bustle down town and village streets […]
If you watched Ireland play in the World Cup qualifiers against Denmark in the last week, you heard the song. Actually, if you’ve seen any Irish team play any sport against another national team, you’ve heard the song. You mightn’t know the name or the history of it, but if you’ve watch an Irish sports […]
Temperatures are dropping rapidly in Ireland, and shops large and small have begun to decorate for Christmas. The fixing for a traditional Irish Christmas cake have been on display for weeks now, but it is not late to make one. They need to be aged before the big day. While some swear you should make […]
As you carve the pumpkins, hang the fake spider webs and stock up on candy for trick or treaters, you probably are not thinking about romance. But the Celts of old were. Halloween’s roots are in Samhain, the pre-Christian Celtic New Year. People believed that a veil separated this world from the spirit world, where […]
It’s getting cooler and wetter, and the sun is setting earlier. Autumn can be a dreary time, but a great way to warm it up is to treat yourself to some delicious soup. It’s no surprise that a cool, wet country like Ireland has some fantastic soup recipes. The kitchen is a key place to […]
Bogs, a particular type of land, play a quiet but central role in Irish life. It is quintessentially Irish that we would see a substance that is 90% water as burnable fuel and be correct. Bogs shape our language and cultural views. City dwellers jokingly refer to their rural counterparts as ‘boggers’. In small towns […]
For the children and grandchildren of immigrants, it is normal to wonder what your life would be like if you were in the country of your roots. What would you be eating and wearing every day? What would your house be like? If you are young, you might wonder about what school would be like. […]
While Ireland’s traditional music is famous, the nation is no slouch when it comes to rock and roll. U2 is Ireland’s biggest musical export. The band can brag of winning 22 Grammys in their 40-year career, and being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They’ve been topping the charts since the 1980s, and […]
In August, summer is in full swing in Ireland. The weather is changeable, of course, but most years it is mostly warm and dry. Well, warmer and drier than the rest of the year! We’re past the summer solstice. The days are shorter than in July, but it is still light until after 10 pm. […]
Diego, the company that owns the Guinness brand, is poised to open a new Guinness brewery in Maryland sometime this year. But it won’t be brewing the traditional Guinness stout there. Instead, it will be making Guinness Blond and Guinness IPA. Is this a sacrilege or just the normal course of cultural evolution for the […]
