"James, your granddaughter is calling you". 

Can he hear me? Would he answer if he could? Has he been reborn or is he patiently waiting for me on the other side?

He often consumes my thoughts these days. The hopeless thoughts of a girl with no living grandfather or one that I can even recall in my lifetime. I feel I have been searching for him my whole life. The questions plague me. Where is he? What was he like? Did he love his children, grandchildren, would he have…

"Don't Give Up 'til it's Over" is a really uplifting song by Johnny Duhan.

I’m a fan of The Dubliners, and particularly the group’s past lead vocalist, the late Roddy Drew.  You can view and hear (what a voice!) Ronnie Drew and the Dubliners here:

There’s also another version recorded in Japan, shortly after the earthquake-tsunami disaster of 11 March…

The read through was scary. Letting strangers listen to the music while sitting right in front of them was scary. I did though and got some lovely compliments and ideas. It was good to see the reactions and gauge the feeling in the room as we went through. It helped me realise a few things and I have edited the score to make it flow better and sound better. :)…

If you’re concerned that modernity has caused the Emerald Isle will lose its rural charm, set your compass to County Tipperary for a taste of "the real Ireland."…

It was a very exciting weekend auditioning for "The Last Torch." Both tiring and exhilarating. Casting has been a very tough job, but we have our cast -- all except Brian O'Rourke, but he will appear!

BUAGH!…

Linkedin Long-Form Post  #7

Why Make Use of Fictional Characters?

James Francis Smith

Instead of the omniscient approach of most historians, Druids, Celts, and Romans invites its readers to enjoy learning about their ancestors. Fictional characters transform what would otherwise be a bland recitation of…

This is part four in a series of articles on "Searching for Your Irish Ancestors" written by Ireland-based professional genealogist Nicola Morris of Timeline Genealogy. You can find…

The  following is a transcript from the LIVE Community Chat held here at TheWildGeese.com on Friday, August 1, 2014 featuring Margaret…

To really understand Gáirdín an Ghorta, and its pathways, please go to our Facebook page and click on pictures and then click on our albums  and then click on the album, "A Walk Through the Famine Garden," and you…

Hi all at The Wild Geese, 

Please check out our Facebook link above about our Famine Garden in Newmarket, County Kilkenny and let us know what you think of it:…

Long Island City, N.Y. – How we try, and often fail to communicate, and how we ultimately and triumphantly can bridge that chasm came across as the focus of two extraordinary and allegorical films that screened Saturday night in Queens at New York Irish Center's…

DOMHAIGH -- On July 20, 1866, at the battle of Lissa (depicted left by Eduard Nezbeda, 1911) in the Adriatic, an Austrian fleet defeated a numerically superior Italian fleet. Commanding one of the…

If your great grandfather listed his occupation as a hostler – what did he do?

The word is spelled "hostler" in American English, but "ostler" in British English. It traces to c.1386, meaning "one who tends to horses at an inn"—and also, occasionally, "innkeeper." It is…

Sometimes you go in circles with a career before it feels right. I had owned an ad agency for eleven years before changing careers in 2001 and going into fundraising. I can now say that I feel like I have come full-circle careerwise and I am making a difference for something I have…

From "The Wicklow Mountains High" by Jim McGonigle.

One of the things I'm always on the alert for while driving along the roads of Ireland is any sort of roadside historical marker. The Irish have populated their cities…

Mary Eileen "Mims" Murphy Walsh was born in County Longford in 1881. She was college educated and worked in Dublin. She married Patrick "Paddy" Walsh on July 29, 1913. They immigrated to the United States in 1915. To Mims, it was an exile that she…

After fellow Wild Geese member Oisen O'Connell had generously taken me on my last Wexford tour via Ballyhack Castle,…

It takes less than two hours to drive from Nenagh to the Burren in Co. Clare. At a recent launch for the Cliffs of Moher Geopark  (www.burrengeopark.ie) in Lisdoonvarna, I was reminded just how much this region has to…