The life and times of Private Albert D.J. Cashier are one of those historic anomalies that make you scratch your head and wonder, ‘How the hell could that happen?’

Private Cashier served in the ranks of the 95th Illinois for three years – from their muster-in on September 4, 1862, until the regiment…

" It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.” 

                                                                          - Mark Twain

On April 25th of 1919 in…

With its sunny weather, vacation time, and, for the lucky, a shorter work-week, summer is a great time to catch up on hobbies, whether parasailing, mountain biking, or in my case, visiting new or favorite Irish pubs.



After much exhaustive research, with summer now nearly behind, I share…

DOMHNAIGH - On September 20, 1920 Kevin Barry (left) was captured after an IRA attack on a British van. Kevin Barry was born at 8 Fleet Street, Dublin, on January 20th, 1902, the fourth of a family of two boys and five girls. He was only 15 years old when…

The following Q&A with County Clare-born actor Kirby Simone (Oonagh) in Sixteen Films' biopic "Jimmy's Hall") is part of the studio's Production Notes for the film, shot in the story's actual locales in County Leitrim. The notes,…

In 1812, in the first summer of America's 'second War of Independence' with Britain, a valuable survey describing the whole Niagara Frontier was made by Irish immigrant Nicholas…

From midday Friday, September 18, until midday Monday, September 21 (BST), you can have free access to the Irish and British genealogy records available on the Irish version of the Find My Past website. You will be able to access millions of Irish census records, military records, travel and migration records, and 7…

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2015/0904/725644-a-caravaggio-in-tuam/

I would have known I am Irish had I been adopted at birth by a family with a different nationality. Sooner or later, I would have woken up to the fact by simply paying attention to the way I am wired. It’s the little things within us that tell us who we are, the things that we are born with, that…

DOMHNAIGH -- On September 13, 1803, John Barry (left), of Ballysampson, Co.Wexford, considered by many to be the 'Father of the…

Thanks to everyone who posted good wishes on my win of the Wild West of Ireland Tour: Kathryn Ann, Fran, Bit, Angela and anyone else I've neglected to mention.  A special thanks to Ger Regan, Mike & Trish of WIld West Irish Tours, Jon Ragnar Jonsson and all the others at WOW Air who are helping to make this happen.

My mother has decided that it's just too much for her to travel across time zones.  My sister and both my aunts had…

Many cultures throughout the world lay claim to having heard or seen the Banshee. Many stories of the Banshee can found in America; the most prevalent of these sightings are said to have happened during the 18^th century and came near Tar River, in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. In these cases, however, the…

Shamrock

The shamrock is the traditional symbol or Ireland. The shamrock forms a triad and the Celts believed three was a mystical number. Saint Patrick used the shamrock to explain the holy Trinity to the Celts. If good things come in threes then this silver 3-leafed shamrock pendant in beautiful…

It's almost like looking in the mirror.

High unemployment, mass emigration of the young and problems affecting health and education services are as current today as they were in the first decade of Irish independence, the period that informs the narrative of Ken Loach's newest film, "Jimmy's…

I found this website a while back and was able to note the location of several interesting monuments and find them while I was in Ireland in June. This is by no means all the war memorials in Ireland, far from it, but it's an attempt to catalog them.

The site…

What would you expect to see inside this old overgrown cottage on the side of the road in Donegal? Would you just pass by or would you try and get in to have a look?  Well, I was passing this cottage every day a few years ago until eventually, my curiosity got the better of me.

It wasn’t that difficult to enter, despite the tangle of brambles…

The Wild Atlantic Way waters are alive with all kinds of marine creatures ... with their own interesting stories to tell.…

The past, present and future happily coexist on my workplace doorstep. I’d written about the past in four books, but it was the future that caught my eye one day in the form of a crane, standing stark against a grey Dublin sky.

I work in a newspaper in the city centre, on Talbot Street. During my lunch break, I would leave the office and walk past the…

Linen Hall Library Lord Charles Cornwallis had already lost one colony, and his reputation wouldn't survive the loss of another.

MÁIRT -- On September 8, 1798,…