It was shortly after 5 pm on the hot afternoon of June 1, 1921, in Milltown, County Kerry when the sharp ringing of the phone shattered the still air of the doctor’s office. Thirty-eight-year-old Dr. Daniel Sheehan, whom many of the…

         Once upon a time in Ireland — at least at the time I made my first trip in 1984, and even a decade later — a salad was not a salad as we know it today: think a few leaves of iceberg and a slice or two of tomato. Perfectly acceptable at…

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 22, 1805, Young Irelander Michael Doheny (right) was born in Fethard, Co. Tipperary. Doheny joined O'Connell's Repeal Association in the 1830s and wrote for the Young Irelanders' publication, The Nation, under the name Eiranach. He fled to the…

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 15, 1847, Syria, the first ship to arrive during what Quebecois would call the 'Summer of Sorrow,' landed at the Canadian quarantine station in the St. Lawrence River, just north of Quebec. The French had called that…

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 8, 1857, William Brown, of Foxford, Co. Mayo, an Admiral in the Argentine navy, died in Buenos Aires. Brown first came to the New World as a boy, when his family immigrated to the United States in 1786. He later went to sea on a merchant ship. Pressed into the British navy in 1796,…

On this day 5^th May 1981 a daring political statement was made when a young man died while adhering to the ancient Irish Brehon law of “Troscad.” 

The phenomenon known as ‘troscad’ (translated as ‘hunger strike’) is nothing new in Irish society. It predates Christianity, which swept Ireland in the mid-5^th…

Rocks and stones have always been special to the Irish. The Stone of Fal, reportedly brought to Ireland by the Tuatha de Dannan, was said to have the power to roar – but only when a man fit to rule Ireland stood upon it. The Rock of Doone, similarly only roared out under one fit to be a Chieftain of the…

LUAIN -- On May 2, 1870, Father Francis Duffy, World War I chaplain of the 69th New York, was born in Cobourg, Ontario. Francis moved to New York at age 22 to teach at St. Francis Xavier College but quit to enter the seminary. Father Duffy became well known around the town…

On the Hill of Uisneach, in a portion of land taken from the province of Connaught, a fortress was erected by High King Tuathal Teachthmar. Uisneach, believed to be the geographical center of Ireland, was,…

DOMHNAIGH -- April 24, 1916, Easter Monday, was one of the most critical days in the history of Ireland. On that day, Irish Volunteer units and the Irish Citizen Army, led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, began their famous …

Justin McCarthy, Lord Mountcashel

LUAIN -- On April 18, 1690, five regiments of Irishmen set sail from Ireland for France. These soldiers, about 5,400 in all, would form the nucleus of…

On Easter Monday, April 24 1916 one of the most important events in the long, tortuous history of Ireland took place. The event, so shocking and bold, is still debated and analyzed until this very day.…

The ‘Gallowglass’ as they were called, were elite mercenary warriors and members of the Gaelic clans of Scotland. They came to prominence between the mid 13th century and late 16th century. As Gaels, they shared a common background and language with the Irish, but as they had intermarried…

The hot summer sun beat down on 72-year-old John (Don Juan) O’Brien as he slowly mounted the wooden platform in the Plaza de Armas in Lima, Peru. The Cathedral of Lima (below-left) loomed above the plaza that 28^th of July, 1858, just as it had on the same day in 1821. On that day,…

     Irish whiskey is a popular ingredient in desserts, where its distinctive taste complements a wide range of flavors. The combination of whiskey and chocolate is especially delicious, and when caramel and nuts are added (you can substitute walnuts, if you wish), this tart simply screams “Easter.”…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 10, 1923, General Liam Lynch, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army, was mortally wounded by Free State troops in Tipperary. Born in Limerick, Lynch commanded the …

One of the myriad of exceptional qualities that we Irish are blessed with is our ability to drop everything and sail out into the unknown completely unafraid. We have the uncanny ability to travel to the furthest reaches and, as they say, ‘become more native than the natives themselves.’ This ability has…

DOMHNAIGH - Beginning on April 3 and continuing to May 8, 1781, the Irish Hibernia regiment of Spain helped lay siege to British forces in Pensacola, Florida, during the …

On April 11, 1878, a baby girl was born to Edward and Catherine Daly in Limerick. They named her Kathleen; she was the third daughter in a family of nine girls and one boy. The boy, Edward junior (Ned), was born in 1890, five months after the death of his father, and his 12-year old sister helped raise her…