LUAIN -- On Oct. 17, 1803, nationalist politician and Young Irelander William Smith O'Brien was born in Dromoland, County Clare. O'Brien was educated in England and was a Conservative when elected to…

Richard Hetherington O'Kane (below-right, in his Annapolis graduation photo) was born on February 2, 1911 in Dover, New Hampshire, a town near the Atlantic coast with a population of about 13,000 at the time. His father, Dr. Walter Collins O'Kane, was a professor of entomology at the University. Richard attended…

In 1492, the same year that Christopher Columbus purportedly discovered the New World, an incident, with far reaching effects, took place in a chapter house attached to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. The incident ended a long running and bloody feud between two of Ireland’s most powerful dynasties, the FitzGeralds…

Delicious on their own, pears are also a wonderful ingredient in recipes from sweet-tart salads to sweeter-than-sweet pies and tarts. They’re great partnered with blue cheese — Kerrygold’s Cashel Blue…

DOMHNAIGH -- On Oct. 9, 1779, members of Dillon's and Walsh's Regiments of the Irish Brigade of France took part in the Franco-American assault on Savannah, Georgia, during the final stages of the siege there during the American Revolution.…

We have just started to stock our first Ogham gifts and I thought I had better learn a little bit about it. 

Ogham (Oh-ehm) is the earliest version of an ancient Celtic language, used c.4th -7th century AD. Each letter of the Ogham alphabet is formed by up 5 strokes and is identified by the number, position and direction of their…

Most of the stuff in my novels comes from my imagination but I owe a fair amount of what I write to a pub called The Rocking Chair where there’s such a variety of characters that you’d need to be brain deaf not to pick up some nuggets. …

There are over 3,000 known pear varieties grown around the world, each with a distinctive character, texture, and flavor. The most popular and recognizable pears are the yellow Bartlett, egg-shaped Anjou, graceful Bosc, pudgy Comice, and tiny Forelle. Crisp, crunchy, and sweet, U.S.-grown pears are harvested from the…

I WANT TO INVITE YOU TO MY PARTY!!!!

 As you probably know, I have officially left office as Director of the Xavier Society for the Blind.

 But the formal farewell is going to be a dinner cruise party on

 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14

The Place – Pier 62, at 23^rd Street, Chelsea Piers, on board the ATLANTICA

 It’s a dinner cruise, with an outdoor deck (for those who want to…

LUAIN -- On Oct. 3, 1691, the Treaty of Limerick was signed, ending the…