I was just reading through some articles on another site regarding the dark history of the Orphan Trains and their arrival in Arizona. In doing further research, I came across this amazing article written by Margaret Regan.

Here is the article in its entirety, reproduced here with her kind permission. It…

Lovely Loophead ~ ©2011 C.E. Devine

Ten years! My how the time has flown, it seems like that was just a few months ago.

It all started quite unexpectedly. In autumn of 2005, I was approached by friends who…

I was asked to write a review on the latest offering by Larry Kirwan, "A History of Irish Music."  As a scholar of Celtic music, I looked forward to reading his take on Irish music.  I will say that what I expected to read and what I read, whilst they meshed on some…

Each year, on September 12, Mexico pays tribute to the San Patricios at San Jacinto Plaza.in Mexico City. A Memorial Plaque was installed back in 1959 on the wall facing the plaza. The plaque was designed by Lorenzo Rafael, son of Patricio Cox, who wrote the first book, a novel in…

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…

The morning sun pressed through my window and pried open my eyes at half past six. Since breakfast wouldn't be served until half past eight, I decided that a short walk to explore the area around Dundrum House of Tassagh would do me some good. I spent an hour and a half…

The Celtic nations consist of:

Wales (Brythonic)

Cornwall (Brythonic)

Brittany (Brythonic)



Ireland (Gaelic)

Scotland (Gaelic)

Isle of Man (Gaelic)

In the beginning, the Celts were divided into different subsects who lived on the European mainland. One group made their way to Ireland whilst another group settled in…

After watching the video of Genetic ghosts, I kept recalling one of my poems, written in preparation for our first performance tour in Ireland back in 2005. I set to understanding the feelings I awakened during my visit the first year in the only way I knew best, rhythm and rhyme.…

Growing up Mexican and Irish, as well as Sicilian had its moments of light and shade. All three are a family-based culture so there was a great emphasis placed on family, loyalty, culture and history. Growing up in the Desert Southwest within a 45 minute drive of the Mexican border also brought about an acute…

Ireland to Texas, the Circle is Complete

In the most unlikely places, connections can be found linking two cultures, two worlds and two vastly different centuries. Such was the case in a small, village in County Laois, Ireland.

At the edge of Ballybritas, on the back road to Vicarstown, sits the dairy farm of Michael and Brigid Dempsey. It is a quiet, unassuming…