The Mayor of Belfast, Máirtín Ó Muiileoir, interviewed by Martin O'Brien in 'The Irish Catholic'.

http://www.irishcatholic.ie/20130718/feature/building-the-peace-in-belfast-S35409.html

Still sitting there now in The Gather Inn at well past the hour and with a flight to catch in the early morning, Padraig began to wonder when the old man’s rant would come to its conclusion. All the old stories from days long gone and friends resting in the soil.

“And I’ll tell ye this and I’ll tell you no more, your mother is a saint, looking after our family the way she did. Looking after me all these years and I her father for jaysus sake.”

 The old…

After watching the video of Genetic ghosts, I kept recalling one of my poems, written in preparation for our first performance tour in Ireland back in 2005. I set to understanding the feelings I awakened during my visit the first year in the only way I knew best, rhythm and rhyme.…

I decided it’s time that I published print versions of my eBooks. I first checked the internet to see what folks had to say about POD publishers, and decided to choose CreateSpace. I put a date in the title because the internet has no self-policing mechanism. Therefore, I spent several days learning all about PDF, formats, templates, etc. then found, I didn’t need them.

            There are three ways to submit covers and interiors to CreateSpace:

1)…

The Irish book market is heavily saturated and books tend to have short shelf lives so it is often possible for good books to go unnoticed. I first heard about this book on the radio show Liveline, where the presenter, Joe Duffy was fascinated by the long forgotten about Seapoint Tragedy. In 1890 a mother and four of her children died from eating toxic mussels,…

I had occasion to visit Dan O’Hara’s hillside farm in Connemara recently as part of my work as a tour guide, work that takes me all over the country. The owner Martin Walsh, a natural born storyteller captivated the group with the story of how the unfortunate farmer ended up in New York and sang the sad song which told of his misfortune.…

http://voxhiberionacum.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/review-columba-life-legacy/

Mum told me a story years ago about her godchild's mother and aunt being shot by the British army. Even though I have been digging around in her O'Rourke past, she always refers me to this other side of her family who she reminisces about with such fondness. When mum ran away from home, she went to live with Uncle James who…

A scene from the Draft Riots.

SATHAIRN - MÁIRT -- From…

Here's a great review for Michael Hogan's…

Next Saturday, July 20, at the Andy McGann Festival during the Catskills Irish Arts Week, there will be a tribute to the renowned piano and keyboard player Felix Dolan who died this April. Dolan was one of the seminal performers of traditional Irish music in the New York City area, going back to the 1950s, and played for more than 50 years. He was also a really good guy.

Here's the info (only on part of a day-long festival).:

Friends of Felix Dolan: 3:15-4:15…

From the Desk of the Executive Producer

New York -- We noticed in today's Google Analytics the following:

For the previous 30 days, the 5,737 visitors to The Wild Geese typically spend 4 minutes and 50 seconds in our community, while the 1,360 visitors from Ireland lingered 27 seconds longer, about 9 percent more. Meanwhile, those stopping…

Originally posted at artofneed Blog for the Auld Irishtown trilogy: 

http://artofneed.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/the-white-hand-gang/

There has…

Carrowntryla House was one of the ‘Big Houses’ in Dunmore, County Galway and is a place of personal interest to me as it was in this house that my grandmother was born in 1915. Her father, a former RIC constable, was the caretaker there until 1928. It is not known for certain where the name comes from. In its corrupt English form it appears to have several spelling variations.…

http://www.irishmusicdaily.com/galway-shawl

Photo courtesy of Jane Lyons

For any of you who are researching their family history in Ireland, you might want to take a look at:…

In a picture-postcard graveyard clinging  to the side of the Black Mountain in Belfast, the memory of Belfast Celtic’s  greatest ever player was recalled on June 30, 2012.



Mickey Hamill, the former Glasgow and  Belfast Celtic centre-half, who also played…

Imagine you were launching a new medicine for arthritis and in your application for approval from the FDA you employed as technicians people who had huge numbers of shares in your company and stood to make a fortune if the FDA gave your product a green light, that you only canvassed patients who had reported health improvements and…