By Robert Cassidy

Special to The Wild Geese

It has been said that one of the traits the Irish brought to these shores was that of survival. Heavyweight champion James J. Braddock demonstrated that in life, as well as the boxing ring.…

As we were heading north on R-702 in Kiltealy, County Wexford during our recent vacation to the southeast of Ireland, my eye caught sight of some sort of plaque on the wall along a driveway to the right. There was a beautiful horse farm that seemed to run along both sides…

We cannot believe that Christmas is a mere 5 months away and so for this post we asked our Founder, Lisa McGee to put together a list of her top 10 Irish Food & Drink…

The Great Shame: And the Triumph of the Irish In the English-Speaking World

By Thomas Keneally (of "Schindler’s List" fame)

Reviewed by John Edward (Ed) Murphy

Overall a good book and a very scholarly work. Great Shame covers significant historical events in 19th century Ireland,…

The Healy family is an interesting Irish-American and and African-American family.  I did the following book review a couple of years back:

Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920

by James M. O’Toole

Reviewed by John Edward “Ed” Murphy

I first learned of the Healy family in January 1959, when I paged…

If you’re concerned that modernity has caused the Emerald Isle will lose its rural charm, set your compass to County Tipperary for a taste of "the real Ireland."…

It was a very exciting weekend auditioning for "The Last Torch." Both tiring and exhilarating. Casting has been a very tough job, but we have our cast -- all except Brian O'Rourke, but he will appear!

BUAGH!…

This is part four in a series of articles on "Searching for Your Irish Ancestors" written by Ireland-based professional genealogist Nicola Morris of Timeline Genealogy. You can find…

Long Island City, N.Y. – How we try, and often fail to communicate, and how we ultimately and triumphantly can bridge that chasm came across as the focus of two extraordinary and allegorical films that screened Saturday night in Queens at New York Irish Center's…

If your great grandfather listed his occupation as a hostler – what did he do?

The word is spelled "hostler" in American English, but "ostler" in British English. It traces to c.1386, meaning "one who tends to horses at an inn"—and also, occasionally, "innkeeper." It is…

Sometimes you go in circles with a career before it feels right. I had owned an ad agency for eleven years before changing careers in 2001 and going into fundraising. I can now say that I feel like I have come full-circle careerwise and I am making a difference for something I have…

Mary Eileen "Mims" Murphy Walsh was born in County Longford in 1881. She was college educated and worked in Dublin. She married Patrick "Paddy" Walsh on July 29, 1913. They immigrated to the United States in 1915. To Mims, it was an exile that she…

From "The Wicklow Mountains High" by Jim McGonigle.

One of the things I'm always on the alert for while driving along the roads of Ireland is any sort of roadside historical marker. The Irish have populated their cities…

It takes less than two hours to drive from Nenagh to the Burren in Co. Clare. At a recent launch for the Cliffs of Moher Geopark  (www.burrengeopark.ie) in Lisdoonvarna, I was reminded just how much this region has to…

After fellow Wild Geese member Oisen O'Connell had generously taken me on my last Wexford tour via Ballyhack Castle,…

In Tombstone, Arizona, the town too tough to die, Nellie Cashman, the Miners’ Angel, is legendary for her business skills, her philanthropy and her Irish grit. Her biographer once said, when asked to describe her, “Pretty as a…

Dunmore Cave

Ballyfoyle, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland



History and geology blend at Dunmore Cave to give an interesting and unique situation. Consisting of a series of chambers formed over millions of years, the cave contains some of the finest calcite formations found in any Irish cave. The case has been known to man for many centuries…

When a "family detective" starts researching  “Royalty” connected to one’s family, there arises  women known as “Mistresses” and “Concubines”.  Most Kings had them. Do you know the difference in these terms or “titles”?

A concubine can be part of a harem, or a…