New Year's Eve (Oíche Chinn Bliana)

These days, when we think of New Year, parties, champagne and celebration spring to mind. Once upon a time however, it was more about getting through a quiet night. The New Year was never really a big festival in Ireland, with the focus more on the necessities…

Cuireadh do Mhuire was composed by Máirtín Ó Direáin (1910 – 1988), the great Irish language poet from the village of Sruthán, on Inis Mór (Inishmore), the largest of the Aran Islands, in Galway Bay.

Ó Direáin penned this beautiful and delicate verse at Christmas 1942, when the whole world was at war and his…

Prior to the firing squad death of Hickey, there appear to have been few reprisals for I.R.A. ambushes -- with the notable exception of the Hampshires running amok in Youghal after the November 1920 Piltown Cross engagement. This may very well have been attributable to the general chivalry displayed by Lennon’s…

TITLE: Irish Hunger and Migration: Myth, Memory and Memorialisation…

The Church of the Holy Rosary was dedicated on Rosary Sunday 7th October 1901.

The need for a new church had been acknowledged as far back as the 1860’s. Cannon Mc Gee like his predecessor Archdeacon Brown was an enthusiastic and talented man. He saw the need for a new church and set about the task of raising funds for the establishment of a new church. As…

It was well past sundown in a village named Bethlehem, just beyond Jerusalem, in the hills of Judea, on a surprisingly mild winter’s night.

Now the Roman occupiers of the kingdom of Israel required that all men go to their own towns…

DOMHNAIGH -- On December 27, 1969, Dan Breen, one of the most famous IRA leaders during Ireland's War of Independence, died in Dublin. Breen was born in Grange, Donohill, Co. Tipperary, on Aug. 11, 1894. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1912 and the Irish Volunteers in 1914.…

When I lost my Mum and my husband within two days of each other, my whole life crumbled around me.  I very slowly learned how to live again, with the help of my then two teenage boys and my grandchildren. Since then, my Christmas has changed, with my daughter now being the host of Christmas lunch, with family coming…

It’s not too late to make this delicious dessert, a riff on steamed pudding and gingerbread. Similar to a one served at the Meyrick Hotel (Eyre Square, Galway), this pudding starts with deliciously gooey pears on the bottom and finishes when the cake is turned upside down to reveal them as a deliciously gooey top! In…

The film "Spotlight" was recently released, based on the true story of the Boston Globe’s investigation of the Boston Archdiocese’s willful coverup of child molestation and abuse. The reviews have been, like the movie itself, scattered.

This is, without a doubt, a shattering film. Well made and well acted, it…

The Gods were smiling on us that day, long ago when we travelled out to the windswept island of Sceilg Mhichíl (or Skellig Michael), eleven kilometres off the coast of Kerry.  What a special place!  Sacred. Unique. Awesome.

It is not known when the monks first arrived on the…

There’s the turkey, of course, but oh those sides! Roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, boiled onions — the list goes on and on for favorite dishes to serve at Christmas. Without relinquishing any family favorites, you might want to try this recipe from my new cookbook “Favorite Flavors of…

In light of all the terrific Christmas-flavored postings lately, I've been prompted to share an excerpt from my historical novel "The Lockwoods of Clonakilty," a scene based on a little adventure my own family had a few…

My father, Thomas Francis, was born in 1901. He lived his entire life on a farm situated in the townland of Muckinish West between Ballyvaughan and Bell Harbour in the Burren region of County Clare. He died in 1991. He left a copybook containing his memoirs. The following extract was written July, 1989. P.J.…

DEARDAOIN -- On December 20, 1865, Maud Gonne  was born in Aldershot, England. Her father…

The authorities took Hickey’s remains to the barracks of the Royal Irish Constabulary, in Dungarvan, where the body of Sean Fitzgerald lay. He was duly conveyed, on Tuesday the 22nd, to the new section of the cemetery at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Dungarvan. No civilians, except…

After my last post, I received a request for old-fashioned potato stuffing for turkey. You’ll find this recipe for roast goose with potato-bacon stuffing in my “Christmas Flavors of Ireland” cookbook, easy enough to use in your Christmas turkey as well.  For some other classics, order my newest book “Favorite…

I would love all of you to see a very recent film piece about my Aunt Winifred.  Here she is for a posed photograph with her mother (Sarah Cassidy Carney) and her two sisters, Mabel and Maud, who later become nuns.  She is standing between her two sisters.  Winnie also had four brothers:  Alfred, Ernest,…

The number if married couples in Ireland who met in dance halls is considerable. That is particularly true of people who were married in the '60s and '70s. At that time, dancing was Ireland’s most popular pastime among young people. It was not confined to youth, as many people, including married couples, enjoyed the music,…

Ernie O' Malley was born in Castlebar on the 26th of May 1897. His family moved to Dublin in 1906. He was educated at O'Connell's Schools and attended UCD, where he studied medicine.

He was a member of The Irish Volunteers and he joined the rebels on the Thursday of the Easter Rising in 1916 and was interned…