Reverend Peter Cooney, CSC

DOMHNAIGH -- On May 3, 1921, the South Mayo Brigade of the Irish Volunteers, commanded by Tom Maguire, ambushed an RIC / Black and Tan supply column of a Crossley tender and a Ford car at Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo on the western shore of Lough Mask. This was the 2nd in a series of major attacks on crown forces in the county…

Imported asparagus are available all year round, but there’s nothing to beat those locally grown in its short spring season: in Ireland, traditionally beginning on April 23 and ending on Midsummer Day.  Although its delicate flavor and seasonality makes it highly desirable in the kitchen,…

I’m a PhD researcher from Glasgow School of Art, and, for the last 6 years, I have been working on a research-led doctorate about the cillíní – the children’s burial grounds.



The research has been based in County Kerry, where I’ve worked closely with members from the local…

LUAIN -- On April 27, 1779 Irish-born (County Donegal) U.S. Navy Capt. Gustavus Conyngham , "The Dunkirk Pirate," was captured by…

Are you missing a classic wedge salad from your favorite restaurant? No worries . . . easy as pie to make at home, especially if you use Ireland’s favorite blue cheese, Cashel Blue, from County Tipperary.

ICEBERG WEDGE WITH BLUE CHEESE-CHIVE…

LUAIN -- On April 20, 1772, William Lawless, revolutionary and officer in Napolean's Irish Legion (a soldier of the Irish…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 12, 1816, Charles Gavan Duffy (right) was born in County Monaghan. Self-educated as a journalist, Duffy would found the Nation, a nationalist weekly journal, along with …

Originally published in 1996, the book “Desperate Haven” is the definitive study to date of the Great Famine and its effects on the towns and villages of West Waterford. This long out-of-print and much sought-after volume was the product of more than five years of research by Dungarvan Museum…

Born in Dublin in 1856, Laurence Carroll worked his way across the Atlantic, hoboed across the States from New York to Chicago via Montana to San Francisco, worked as a sailor on the Pacific Mail to Yokohama and wound up in Asia, where he became an…

Irish Volunteer Seán Hogan gazed out the window of the train toward the distant Galtee Mountains to the south. It was early evening on May 13, 1919. The train had just pulled out of Emly, County Tipperary, headed toward the small town of…

Social distance. Work from home. Shelter in place. Self-quarantine. The new normal appears to be upon us, whether we like it or not. As much as I would prefer to be out and about, I do find solace in my kitchen, and this new confinement has given me the time to bake some brown soda bread recipes…

I took this photograph in Galway around 1982. 

The two, twin, cozy cottages always caught my eye, when I was headed out after…

DOMHNAIGH - On April 5, 1818, Bernardo O'Higgins (right) defeated the Spanish at the battle of Maipo River,…

LUAIN -- On March 30, 1873, Richard Church (left), of County Cork, soldier, sometimes called the "liberator of Greece," died in Athens. Church was born in Cork in 1784. As a young man, he ran off to join the British army. As ensign in the 13th (Somersetshire) Light Infantry he…

LUAIN -- On March 23, 1862, Irish-born Union General James Shields (left: pictured during the Mexican War)…

 As a child running around the garden’s and fields in Wolfe Tone Square where I was raised, playing with friends on the Bray Head that rose above the Town of Bray m I was always fascinated by Butterflies and their many different colours of beautiful wings. Trying to catch them in jam jars, to have a good look at them. I say ‘trying to catch’ because that…

My Grandfather Tom left Westport, Mayo, and farm life in Aughagower, I assume around 1923.  As one of the "Lost Legion" of Irish republicans, disgruntled by the affairs of the state, he decided to emigrate. Accompanied by his best friend "Ton" Malone, he set out one evening from a…

This winter I was travelling through Mexico -- almost into Guatemala and as far up as the deserts bordering the U.S. The last time I had been down Mexico way was in 2010 when I presented the Irish language documentary…