In 1782, the ruling Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland were given country-wide self-rule by the British Parliament, greatly increasing the powers of the Irish Parliament, situated at College Green in Dublin. One of the first items addressed by the new Parliament was the Trade Agreement which…

 Onion soup is a surefire hit on anyone’s winter menu. Instead of using only yellow onions, this soup uses three — yellow, red, and shallots — adds Guinness to flavor the broth, and tops it with hearty, thick-cut croutons with melted blue cheese — Cashel Blue preferred! You can make…

There once was a particularly dark time in Ireland when the length of a man's hair determined his fate. If his hair was shorn close to the scalp as opposed to the longer hairstyles of most of Europe at that time, he ran the risk of arrest, interrogation and was often subjected to torture by…

MÁIRT -- On January 15, 1861, Young Irelander Terence Bellew MacManus died in San Francisco. MacManus was born in County Fermanagh in 1811. He later moved to Liverpool, England, where he began a successful shipping agency. In…

Seán Moylan slowly moved his binoculars back and forth pointed to the west as he scanned the east Kerry countryside in the direction of Scartaglen. He was standing on some high ground in Thade Daly’s Glen in Tureengarriffe, along what is now the R-577 road. Moylan, commanding the Cork No. 2 (North)…

Do you remember this old song?

Come single belle and beau, onto me pay attention -

Don't ever fall in love, it's the devil's own invention.

For once I fell in love with a maiden so bewitching

Miss Henrietta Bell out of Captain Kelly's kitchen -

With me toora loora la, toora loora…

There are many stirring tales of Irish and Irish-American military heroes in the long history of the United States. From…

Often called “plum pudding”—despite the fact that it contains no plums whatsoever— steamed pudding was first recorded as “Christmas Pudding” in 1858 and later popularized in the carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” The name is probably derived from the substitution of raisins for…

Does human nature translate divinely?

Have you ever had lunch with a Jewish mother? “Have I mentioned my son David graduated valedictorian from high school and is now on full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University? (About 14…

Father Felix Varela became the advocate for the Irish immigrants in New York from the 1830s to 1850s. including the famine period.  There will be a celebration of his life at the Church of the…