He glides across the smooth lakes’ surface,

but she is nowhere in sight.

Stately he moves on ever through the night.

A moonbeam beckons to a hidden place,

where once they did dwell.

Fasted now! Maybe she lays there

and love again might they share.

But no earthly sign now, only pain.

Mute and no sound…

There was no punctuation until the 15th century. This explains A LOT!

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 6 August, 2014, our own Ryan O'Rourke had the opportunity to visit the site of the old White O'Morn Cottage in Tiernakill, Maumm, County Galway.  This old site, which now lies in ruins, is better known to the world as "The Quiet Man Cottage."  The…

Kate Nash and Vincent Coyle Interviewed On Radio Free Eireann

Sandy Boyer (SB) and John McDonagh (JM) interview via telephone from Doire (Derry) Kate Nash (KN), the sister of William Nash who was killed by the British Army on Bloody Sunday, and Vincent Coyle (VC), who…

The Enchantress is the last poem in a trilogy. "The Hill" is the first one followed by "The Solstice."

The Enchantress

They used to…

The Annual Connemara Pony Festival takes place in Clifden, County Galway from Sunday the 27th through Sunday the 24th of August. The highlight of the festival is the Connemara Pony Show on Thursday and Friday. To mark this important annual event, I'd like to offer this brief primer…

Iveagh Gardens

Clonmel Street, Dublin 2, Ireland



The Iveagh Gardens are amoung the finest and least known of Dublin's parks and gardens. They were designed by Ninian Niven, in 1865, as an intermediate design between the 'French Formal' and the 'English Landscape' styles. They demonstrated the artisitc skills of the landscape architect of the mid 19th century and display…

Irish composer Patrick Cassidy wrote a magnificent choral/orchestral work based on the Celtic legend - The Children of Lir.  It is available on iTunes and beyond.  The first North American tour (1995) of…

Stone Journey

What is it, Anu?

This water pouring across the plain

 Of Desmond to the sea.

Down the limestone steps of karsted hills.

Through furrowed fields and into the wild Atlantic’s…

Professor James J. Ryan II was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1903.  In a most literal sense, Professor James Ryan earned his nickname. A professor in the University of Minnesota’s mechanical engineering department from…

Ultonia Regiment of the Spanish army, toy soldiers by "The Warrior Irish."

LUAIN -- On August 11, 1744, during the…

Atop the mystical hill of Tara stands the stone of Fal, one of four treasures brought to Ireland by the Tuatha de Dannan. It is otherwise known as the ‘stone of destiny.’ There, through the ages, all ard ri (high kings) were crowned. Marriage ceremonies took place there also. These rites were always blessed by the Druid, the holy man of the Celtic peoples. The Brehons, the…

Reviewers have already begun to weigh in on "Calvary," the new John Michael McDonagh film (in U.S. theaters now).

Dark, depressing, soulless, derivative, quirky, devout,…

The  following is a transcript from the LIVE Community Chat held here at TheWildGeese.com on Friday, August 8, 2014 with with Annette…

In his book "Ireland – A History," Robert Kee describes Collins thus:

Of all the many rebel leaders to shine out of Irish history only one stands out as a really effective revolutionary: Michael Collins --- He took hold of a potentially revolutionary situation in Ireland and made it work.’

Born in 1890 in County Cork, he…

My writing has always been deeply influenced by the Irish writers whose inspiration prompted me to pick up the quill and follow in their footsteps.  This is my humble tribute to William Butler Yeats ...

I went down to the cool, dark woods,

when night owls were on the wing.

On earthly ghosts and raging floods

embraced my lonely…

I set up my blog here with the intention of telling the real, deeper story of the land of our collective birth -- Ireland.  Mise Eire. Not the watered-down, errant Hollywood version. Not the version beaten into us by harsh invaders. The real deal, if you like. Anyone reading it…

Duffy Square as it was in 1904

Duffy Square…

Do you want to help drive the dramatic growth of The Wild Geese, our 17-month-old network of devotees of Irish…

"A writer is not interested in explaining reality. He’s only interested in capturing it.” ~ Brendan Kennelly.

 Inside my father's bones lie a million secrets.

 Secrets passed down the long chain from…