Winter solstice began as a celebration of winter’s end, the cycle of life beginning anew. Killadangan, a scattering of stones strewn around a salt marsh on the shores of Clew Bay, draws you right back to those Neolithic times. The mossy monoliths connect through a winter-solstice alignment to a notch in the hills opposite, but get there early – the sun sets…

...is in love with words. I retired as a high-school history teacher in June, but I finally wrote a book, about my California home town, which made a year's work a true labor of love. In 1941, it was a farm town, near the sea, of 1,090 souls. It was also a town of immigrants, people who very much like my ancestors--they were from the Azores, Japan, and the Philippines--and the book is largely about their children, who would carry the burden of the war. I think the writing is something I got…

I cannot Thank Gerry Regan, Michael and Trish of Wild West Irish Tours and the staff at WOW Airlines enough for the trip of a lifetime!  I've been without Internet access, and will be getting together with Dan again over Thanksgiving to retell the trip to family and friends and get our pics together ... I was able to get some great shots before my camera quit, and luckily Dan was able to get what I did not. I'll also be showing him how to upload and attach pics to e-mail!

BUT THE…

Language is a window into the soul.

This saying helps to explain why I have (unsuccessfully) tried to learn Irish Gaelic -- to better understand the Irish people. In one lesson early on, it was explained that Irish has no system to show possession. In other words, Irish has no words for "my" as in "my book," or "his" as…

Where dear Sandusky’s waters glide

From storied falls, through meadows wide,

By verdant hills on either side

To seek Lake Eiries’s famous tide:

On proud Fort Stephenson

 --- From the poem “Fort Stephenson,”

by Captain Andrew…

DOMHNAIGH -- On November 22, 1919, Máire Drumm (nee McAteer), (right) Republican activist, was born in Newry, County Armagh. Máire's family was strongly republican; her mother had been active in the War of Independence and the Civil War. When she moved to Dublin seeking employment in…

'The Fenian' is an epic production currently in the making, and we're excited to be able to share our story with you all, on The Wild Geese.

Development work on the upcoming feature film began in April 2014 and we look forward to sharing future updates…

SERVES 8

This pudding is reminiscent of an Irish “brack,” where the fruit is first soaked in either tea or whiskey. On a recent winter visit to Dublin, I discovered this version studded with rum-soaked raisins, sultanas, and holiday fruits like dried cranberries and chopped apricots. Instead of traditional white bread, it’s made with brioche. For an extra boozy…

On the morning of Good Friday, April 21st, 1916, a very young and excited Colm Ó Lochlainn, a captain in the Irish Volunteers, set out in Dublin on his bike, knowing that he would be leading a group of men to complete a mission that was thought would have had far reaching repercussions for…

From the air, in the dark 5:00 morning, Dublin is nothing more than a sheet of lights floating on water, glowing like a Christmas tree. I press my face to the glass, feeling the cold seep onto my forehead. The first time I saw Dublin, the sun was rising over the Irish Sea. The water was glossy and sugary pink, a confection for…

On the morning of the 19^th, George Plunkett, the ranking officer that night, visiting from GHQ, no doubt aware of the withdrawal from Durrow and other engagements due to want of ammunition, recommended a return to the ambush site to secure supplies possibly left from the night…

Above, this map shows the spread of the 'Black Death.'

A silent, unseen killer, born on the arid plains of Central Asia, attached itself to the rampaging Mongol armies, and traveled with them purposefully, along the Silk Road, arriving in the Crimea in 1343. The killer then boarded the myriad of…

Steamed Cranberry Pudding

Serves 8–10

You can start making your fig and fruit-laden Christmas pudding now, but for…

Dean Mulroy is the kind of guy who needs room to roam and access to the stars, which is why he lived way back in the bog behind the house I rented in Inverin. Only a certain kind of guy would want to live as he did. At the time, he was unimpressed with technological conveniences, including a telephone, and the first…

LUAIN-- On Nov. 16, 1814, Michael Kelly Lawler, general in the Union army during the American Civil War, was born in County Kildare, Ireland. Lawler…

If you're looking for great Irish books, CDs or movies, please have a look in The Wild Geese Marketplace Bookstore -- there are all kinds of great Irish books on History, Genealogy, Travel and Military History. If you are looking for Irish films and documentaries or great Irish music, there is…

Renowned Irish carver and gilder Patrick Coffey is holding an exhibition of his works, "1916 and Irish Tribal Art," at the Consulate of Ireland in New York City, Monday November 9 to Friday November 13, from 10 AM to 2 PM. To make arrangements for a viewing, please call (718) 651-7336. A reception for the artist will be held…

So many of the stories which come to us out of Ireland are, quite simply, sad. From James Joyce's "The Dead" to Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes," we read of people who are, if not figuratively, then literally, impoverished. It is a lovely…

Wheels hit runway, and the Airbus lands on Irish soil, once again.The familiarity of the place is all around me. I make sure to go around the roundabouts on the left side and continue southeast towards Wexford and the artistic event that recently took place in that ancient city. The Wexford Festival is an annual event where opera singers and others get together in formal settings and fringe events to bring visual and musical…

Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, has just published four new folios of research into the period of The Irish Famine under the collective title Famine Folios.

These compelling essays take a fresh and…