Christmas whitewashing: Around Christmastime, you’ll still find the odd farm building out in the Irish countryside that looks like it’s just been whitewashed. Long ago, farm families cleaned and then whitewashed every building on the farm in December. They were covered in…

I'll sing you home with me tonight

To Galway Bay & the old Hook Light

"O'Carolan's Lament" sung in harmony

I will sing you all home with me

It's Christmas in Montana, to be sure, draped in her mantle of white

Though I am here with the rest of the crew, my heart is lonely tonight

The rancher & his wife they take good care of the rest of the crew & me

The wife, she prepared a great feast…

Celtic myth had it that the robin that was suppose to represent the New Year killed the wren which represented the Old Year,  During this time Wren Boys blacken their faces and go from house to house asking for money to bury the wren. The money they collect is used to buy food and drink for the "wren dance" held…

IRISH TO THE CORE

I recently discovered the word "hiraeth" (HEER-eyeth) and the definition explained why I'd been feeling a bit lost these past months.  Do any of you know the word, and perhaps the feelings?

"(n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past."

This isn't just the holiday blues; I've felt like this for months, and this particular year was consistently stress-filled…

Part 1 of 2: Early War In the Irish Brigade

By Kevin O'Beirne…

The Christmas season in Ireland is a happy combination of modern and ancient customs that combine to bring a unique meaning to this special time of year.  While Christmas shopping, decorated trees, and Santa Claus are evident everywhere, traditional customs that signify the true…

Thomas Clarke Luby

DOMHNAIGH -- On December 1, 1901, Fenian Thomas Clarke Luby died in…

1.5 oz Clontarf 1014 Irish Whiskey 

.5 oz Celtic Honey Liqueur

hot water

cinnamon stick

clove-studded lemon or orange wheel



Add lemon or orange with 4-5 cloves inserted on either side to…

By Patrick Bonar

Irish folk lore is part of our heritage and the tradition of storytelling runs strongly through our veins. It would be difficult to find an Irish person who did not hear the stories of ‘Oisin in the Land of Youth’ or ‘The Children of King Lir’.…

As we know from the ancient Celtic legends, our ancestors were very fond of a board game named Fidhcell by the Irish and Gwyddbvyll by the Welsh. It was like chess, often being proclaimed as one of the precursors of our modern chess game, and was reportedly…

IRISH TO THE CORE

The 'dissident' republicans have decided to detonate bombs in the city centre of Belfast. One wonders what they hope to achieve? Murdering Christmas shoppers is not glorious. These groups cannot survive without financial backing. Unfortunately people are still willing to donate money to the cause. …

I woke up at 4:45 am a few days ago and within 5 minutes, this was forming in my head so I got up and starting jotting down some the words. I went back to bed but the thoughts wouldn't let me sleep! So I got up again and by 7 am I had this tweaked and ready. I submit it for your thoughts.

God bless Ireland

In her patchwork dress so green

Her blue Atlantic eyes are smiling

Full…

On the Galway's Horrible Histories Walk, I weave the Brendan Voyage tale into the stories I tell, explaining how in 929 AD the Vikings raided the Priory Abbey of Annaghdown, 4 miles up the Corrib River from Galway city, which was founded by St. Brendan for his sister, Briga, and where he died in 577 AD.…

IRISH TO THE CORE

Zen and the Art of Knots

Celtic knotwork has fascinated me for over 30 years now. It has always been drawn, painted, etched and carved etc., so I set myself a completely new challenge to tie the longest Celtic knot I could. And to my…

Irish to the Core

Last Thursday, Israel’s Labor Party elected a new leader.  Isaac Herzog replaces Shelly Yacimovich as the party’s Chairman.

Herzog immediately called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to move the peace process with the Palestinians forward.  In his victory speech, Herzog vowed to refocus the party’s agenda on diplomacy.  He said the Labor Party would offer a…

Hulton Deutsch Erskine Childers in his British army uniform, c. 1900

LUAIN -- On November 24, 1922, during the Irish Civil War,…