My Tír na nÓg

To Patricia A. McLaughlin from Dan,

her husband, February 14, 2022

Though this poem may…

Each year around March 17, the name of St. Patrick appears in every major publication in the civilized world, sometimes with honor and sometimes with scorn due to the conduct of those who celebrate at affairs that bear his name. Many things are written about this holy man; some are true, some misleading,…

March is traditionally known as Irish Heritage month and this is highlighted on March 17th. with large parades in many towns and cities around the world. The parades are held in honor of a unique individual named Patricius, a Roman Briton, taken with his two sisters as hostages to Ireland by one…

DOMHNAIGH - On February 27, 1735, Thomas Conway, a soldier in French and U.S. armies, was born in Cloghane, County Kerry. Conway was taken to France at the age of six to be educated and, in 1749, he joined the …

On this day, February 24, 1841, we remember with pride the birth of a unique Irishman, a man whose fertile mind far surpassed the greatest minds…

DOMHNAIGH -- On February 20, 1942, Lt. Edward "Butch" O'Hare became the first U.S. Navy ace of the war when…

If you love a bowl of oatmeal topped with fruit for breakfast, you’ll love this crumble that puts the fruit on the bottom and the oats on top. A warm fruity crumble is always a welcome dessert, and this one comes with a little kick from crystallized ginger. You’ll find recipes like this in my…

DOMHNAIGH -- On February 13, 1782, Dillon's regiment of the Irish Brigade of France helped capture St. Kitts from the British during the American Revolution. Earlier, Dillon's…

Saint Valentine

Born: 226 AD, Terni, Italy

Died: February 14, 269 AD, Rome, Italy

Full name: Valentine of Terni 

Valentine was a Christian priest who had also worked as a doctor and ministered to persecuted Christians and Romans alike. He lived in Italy during the third century AD and served as a priest in Rome. Historians don’t…

Brendan Francis Aidan Behan, born on February 9 1923 was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both English and Irish. He was named by Irish Central as one of the greatest Irish writers of all time. He was an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army, and was born in Dublin into a staunchly…

Softly, gently, "Comrade", he cried

"No longer on earth can I stay

I will never more roam through my own native home

Tipperary so far away"…

LUAIN -- On February 7, 1877, John O'Mahony (left: from the 'Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland), founder of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, died in New York. O'Mahony was a member of the Young Ireland party in the 1840s; he escaped to France after…

Praise the Lord in all his glory.

A tremendous ray of sunshine burst forth fully adorned in the natural splendor of its Creator’s heat, light and energy. It hurtled forward in perfect obedience to the sun from which it came and landed on earth, leaving in its wake the…

Back in the mists of time, long before the Milesians arrived from Egypt, and even longer before the Celtic tribes came and settled, another ancient tribe inhabited the island of Ireland. The ‘Tuatha De Dannan,’ translated as ‘people of the Goddess Danu,’ were a supernatural race who came to Ireland with the intention of…

DOMHNAIGH -- On January 30, 1879, Edme Patrice de MacMahon (right) retired as president of France. MacMahon's ancestors had immigrated to France from Torrodile, County Limerick, in 1691, after the family's support of King James. His father, Maurice Francis, was…

Photos courtesy of Independent.ie

Eighty-three years ago, on this date, January 28, 1939, one of the foremost voices in Irish Literature, William Butler Yeats, drew his last breath at the Hôtel Idéal Séjour, in Menton on the French…

'Paddy and Paddy'

Pleased to see my book "Turn Out the Light' was chosen as a finalist in the Eric Hoffer 2018 Book Awards.

"If music be the food of love, play on,

give me excess of it that surfeiting, the

appetite may sicken, and so die.”

                       …

On February 7, 1854, America lost one of her greatest adopted sons; his name was Thomas ‘Broken Hand’ Fitzpatrick. Born in 1799 in Killeshandra, County Cavan, into a Catholic family of eight, he had some education which he later showed as a skilled writer. However, at 17 he left home to seek his fortune in…

In A.D. 406 during a particularly harsh winter, the river Rhine froze over. Across this temporary land bridge poured hordes of Germanic tribes led by the charismatic Aleric, King of the…