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by Mike McCormack, AOH National Historian

Two Hundred and ten years ago on August 25, 1803, a tragic event befell Irish history. It all began when the United Irishmen, a group of Catholics and Protestants united to work for Ireland's independence, rose for that freedom in 1798. The English put down the rising…

What's it all about? Is it  a day to pay homage to the father of our national beverage (although we drink his stout every other day of the week) or a clever marketing ploy by diageo, an international concern which has little or nothing to do with Ireland?

Christy Moore has written a satirical ditty about the event.

BTW how Irish is Guinness?…

The Kate Mullany National Historic Site in Troy, NY is pleased to join the Wild Geese Blog.  The following is a recent article for Berkshires Week.  For more information go to: www.katemullanynhs.org.

Paul F. Cole

Troy landmark honors…

Dr. Nicholas Grene, professor of English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, lectured on J.M. Synge’s “Riders to the Sea” on September 17, 2013 at Hofstra University.  Dr. Grene’s host was the Irish Studies Program co-directed by Dr.Maureen Murphy and Dr. Gregory Maney.

For his audience…

I recently finished Gerard Cappa’s thriller, "Blood From a Shadow."  If you had been with me at the time, you would have heard a loud exhale as the little readometer on my…

Review: "That’s That", by Colin Broderick

reviewed by Eamon Loingsigh 

Innocently, children ask for things contrary to the idiosyncratic rules of adults.  When answered a flat “no” without explanation, a mysterious void can be felt in the mind.  

Not as innocently, teenagers demand things…

There is a link with Spain that is revealing itself. I was looking for a flamenco guitarist for for my Irish/Spanish musical. I scoured the web looking for people and came across a tapas bar that had flamenco guitar. I got an email and sent it off. A week passed and I wondered but decided to let it go. I got an email from an entertainment website where I have a profile because there were jobs matching me. I thought I would contact guitarist needs singer. Said nothing but…

I recently did a photo shoot in aid of a wonderful charity called Forgotten Horses Ireland (www.ForgottenHorses.com).  This organisation is strictly volunteer-run -- that is, every cent donated or raised by the charity goes directly to caring for these beautiful animals ...…

Two round-trip tickets to Ireland will go to the most successful…

Our thoughts go out to the Navy families and personnel who have lost loved ones at the Washington Navy Yard today. The Irish have long had a rich heritage with the Navy. The situation is still unfolding, but if you are close to or interested in the Navy, below are some articles we have researched and curated over the years, while you await more details. …

MÁIRT -- On Sept. 17, 1860, units of the Irish Battalion of St. Patrick of the Papal army fought a Piedmontese army allied with Garibaldi at Spoleto. Spoleto was a walled city south of Florence with the fortress of Rocca on the side…

I just recently came across these lovely colourised photos from circa 1930 which depict life as it was for most folks in Connemara and in the Claddagh area of Galway Town.  What's striking, to me, is that the lifestyle shown would not have been much different even 100 years (or more) earlier!  The conditions of rural Ireland all the…

After watching the videos produced by Coláiste Lurgan in Connemara and posted here a few weeks ago, I think a few eyes have been opened.  Any eyes who are still blind to the budding revival of the Irish…

Colin Broderick's readings from and discussion of his memoir That's That held an audience of 61 Irish born and Irish Americans in rapt attention as he brought the audience at the Irish Cultural Society meeting into the turbulent North of the Troubles, the North of the first twenty years of his life.  Meeting in the Garden City Library the evening of September 11,…

By Sandy Boyer

Fifteen years ago, the Good Friday Agreement promised a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. Today there is still no Bill of Rights, and human rights are under a severe and sustained attack.  

Internment without charge or trial is back; “special” political offenses are being used to muzzle political activists; and the police have…

STAND UP AGAINST THE IRISH NEWS CENSORSHIP OF THE PENSIVE QUILL

The following is a transcript of the LIVE Wild Geese Community Chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Sunday, September 8, 2013 with historian C. Michael (Mike) Harrington.  Some editing has…

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

LUAIN -- On September 8, 1798,…