“NEW YORK CATHOLICS: Faith, Attitude & The Works!”

Patrick McNamara

Orbis Books, October 2014

211 Pages

When I first saw the title, I was apprehensive -- I was expecting either a dry history or a dry listing of…

What have you got in your hand?

A green bough.

Where did it first grow?

In America.

Where did it bud?

In France.

Where are you going to plant…

I sometimes think that, when words fail, art can find expression for feelings that have no words.   And art is especially good for remembering those who have gone before...

I visited the studio of Lorcan Walshe recently. A few years ago he had an exhibition entitled “The Artefacts…

One of the features of the landscape is the extensive bogland, which nature was indeed very generous in allocating to the Inishowen Peninsula of Co Donegal. The presence of these tree remains, found in the course of cutting turf, is evidence of the existence in the remote past of great forests of Fir and Oak. It is also this bogland that gives Mary the…

These are our latest range of celtic inspired bogwood necklaces.

http://www.inishowenbogwoodsculptures.com/jewellery

George Arthur French was born at Roscommon, Ireland in 1841. He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1860. 

In 1871, at the request of the Canadian government, he was sent…

“The Bog Road” as it is know is a three mile stretch of road between Athlone and the village of Clonown. The village has the unusual distinction of not having a pub - for Ireland this is quite an anomaly!…

If you’re looking to experience Ireland in the most in depth, up close, and genuine way possible, then Dave Yeates Ireland Tours is what you’re looking for.

As a passionate Irishman, Dave Yeates has been sharing the heart…

The Fadden More Psalter, a book of psalms as old as the Book of Kells, was found by turf cutters in a Tipperary bog in 2006.  It is written in Latin and includes illuminated letters and other decoration.  Dr. Eamonn Kelly and his team at The National Museum of Ireland dated the book to around 800 AD, and spent five years restoring it. 

The find was very exciting to Irish…

Ancient Ireland had many forested areas and when felled the roots remained.  Those sites are mainly the boglands of today.

The bogwood was easiest detected in these bogs in the early morning as it was known that the morning dew didn’t rest on the section of the…

Turf cutters have unearthed more than home heating fuel from Ireland's bogs.  Bog bodies - naturally preserved human remains - are a fascinating study.  The chemical composition of the bog has antibiotic properties which kill the bacteria that would normally break down the flesh.  The…

Avenge the patriotic gore

That flecked the streets of Baltimore,

And be the battle queen of yore,

Maryland! My…

There are some great bog walks all around the Irish midlands. For those of you who are unfamiliar with bog let me give you a few words of introduction.

Bog is derived from the Irish word ‘bogach’ which means soft ground.  First of all, there are two types of bog in Ireland: The “raised bog” that we see in the midland…

I hope that my examination of the stories in this series show that Irish myths and legends are not museum pieces to be taken out once in a while, dusted down, admired and then put back in a glass case. These stories are the living companions to our daily lives. They…