Compiling family history can be a fascinating pursuit, particularly when a living descendant bequeaths a story as colorful and riveting as that of brothers Tom and John Irwin. The young men, among my grandmother’s numerous first cousins, shared a cold-water flat in Manhattan’s gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. That was, until…

Ships, Real and Imaginary

It’s a piece of rock with a wonderful beginning.

A cause for marvelling in a right of its own.

Formed deep in the magma of earth.

Mainly composed of quartz, the colour of light

And feldspar carrying the…

A ploughman’s lunch is a traditional salad made with sliced meats — most often chicken, turkey, ham, or roast beef — and cheddar cheese, coleslaw, or chutney. Popular in the United Kingdom as well as in Ireland, the salad is open to wide interpretation but always includes a good piece of cheese and sometimes even slices…

“Be my valentine” = “A bheith ar mo vailintín”

We're getting ready for Valentine's Day with a special 10% discount on our website on all things Hearts & Claddagh.

PLUS a further 15% discount off ALL our sale items for Wild Geese…

LUAIN -- On January 30, 1879, Edme Patrice de MacMahon (right) retired as president of France. MacMahon's ancestors had immigrated to France from Torrodile, County Limerick, in 1691, after the…

When St. Brendan got back from his travels discovering America in a small wooden and leather boat around 564 AD, he wrote a book in Latin, 'Navigatio Brendani' or 'The Voyage of Brendan', which, some 900 years later (1477) convinced Christopher Columbus that there might just be something out there beyond the western…

IRISH SOCIETY WRITING CONTEST

The Irish Cultural Society announces its annual writing contest for students in the 9^th through 12^th grades in the Nassau County high schools.  The materials describing the contest, named the Martin J. Kelly…

When the wind whips, as is often the case in January and February, a bowl of soup is a welcome offering at lunch or dinner. When it’s creamy, rich, seafood-laden chowder, it’s even better! This recipe, which originally appeared in my Irish Pub Cookbook and makes another appearance in Favorite Flavors of…

Who was Molly Malone? . . . That is a very good question, a question that has had many historians baffled, and continues to be debated by experts in this field for many a decade. Stranger than fiction, an inspiration to many millions of people all over the world, not only for her singing of "Cockles and Mussels" as she plied…

One of the many events held during 2016 to honour those who took part in the Easter Rising 100 years before was a stage play From the Backbone Out, which told the story of Richard O’Carroll, a labour leader and a member of the Irish Volunteers.

O’Carroll…

Save as much as $1200 and come see Cherish the Ladies!…

DEARDAOIN - January 22, 1760, at Wandewash, India, General Thomas Arthur Comte de Lally's French army, including his regiment of the Irish Brigade, was defeated by…

I’ve come to the conclusion that potatoes are really the stuff of greatness and no more so than in a potato cake, to which any number of other ingredients can be added — bacon, cheese, herbs to name a few. A perfect side-dish, this recipe originated at Oliver St. John Gogarty’s Pub, 58-59 Fleet Street,…

DOMHNAIGH -- On January 15, 1702 Thomas Arthur Lally, a renowned but tragic officer in the Irish Brigade in the service of France, was born in Romans, France. Lally was the son of Sir Gerard Lally of Tullynadala, County Galway, one of the original "Wild…

I see the long, blue line, push back the rebel pickets

Far stretched o’er hill and dale; through break and thickets.

My old heart leaps

As up the steeps

Rock-crowned and flinty:

I see the dash,

And hear the crash,

Where leads the peerless…

I still remember the whole thing like it was yesterday. Summer of '73 and me standing on the kitchen table in my Uncle Dan’s house in Forest Park singing Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and the whole place…

On a cold, stark night in August 1588, as a fierce gale subsided and the clouds slowly parted, light from a full autumn moon revealed a horrific scene strewn along the shoreline of Streedagh Strand in County Sligo, Ireland. The drowned corpses of 800 doomed sailors, washed up by the raging Atlantic Ocean waves, lay…

Irish Fashion

Customs & Traditions

 Capes, Shawls and The…

When I’m really stuck for a quick supper, I turn to eggs! Not fried, poached, or scrambled, but to what the French (and the Irish) call a tart or a quiche. While many use the term interchangeably, the main difference, I’m told, is the amount of egg mixture that’s poured into the pastry base: a quiche uses more eggs, while a…

We're celebrating St. Brigid's Day with a special offer for Wild Geese members on bronze St Brigid's Crosses made in Ireland, in time for world-wide shipping before 1st February 2017.

Order deadline for shipping in time for St. Brigid's Day (1st February)

World-wide = 18th January 2017

U.K. = Thursday…