Philadelphia native James Francis Smith, a graduate of LaSalle University, has an MBA from Pacific Lutheran University, an unlikely pedigree for a historical novelist. The credential served him well in his first career, in industry and finance. Putting those aside, Jim, who recently won WG's Tell Your Irish Story contest,  turned to his first love—historical novels.…

Happy Trails, Doolin to Victorville

By Catherine Lilbit Devine © August 18, 2006

On the West Coast of Ireland, in the picture perfect village of Doolin, there is a Bodhran player with a passion for something other than his music. Though the passion for his traditional Bodhran playing is plainly evident, it is his passion for one of America's iconic Cowboys that brought Lester, Chris, Casey & I together at McGann's Pub on a rainy Saturday July evening.

"Are ya real…

How hot is genealogy DNA testing these days?  The largest DNA testing laboratory, Family Tree DNA, posted that, as of Wednesday, they had a total of 361,933 records.  According to biotechnologist Tyrone Bowes, "It is the size of this database that facilitates the pinpointing of one’s ancestor, as many of the surnames associated with Ireland are well represented." In…

DOMHNAIGH -- On April 7, 1865, Brig. Gen. Tom Smyth was mortally wounded at the battle of Farmville, Virginia. Born in County Cork,…

New York -- Today I once again had the pleasure of communing with several dozen gathered at the Irish Consulate’s monthly and public “First Friday Business Breakfast.” Imbibing orange…

At the encouragement of some fellow members of TheWildGeese.com, I'd like to introduce myself to everyone here with whom I have not had the privilege of interacting (yet).  I've recently made the decision to combine two of my most ardent passions -- Irishness and photography -- into a new business venture.  That business is called Irish Homeland Photography.   I'm thrilled to be one of the very first…

We conducted this interview in September 2011 for our Newsletter readers but because of the importance of the issues represented to the practice of oral history in this country, we have chosen to share this interview here in its entirety. To sign up for exclusive content through our newsletters,…

I wish to invite you to our service of remembrance for all deceased Dublin…

Aine MacAodha is Irish for Ann Keys, who was born in 1963 in the small town of Omagh, Tyrone County, in Northern Ireland. Aine is a writer, a poet, a photographer and artist, and has been published widely in Ireland, United Kingdom and the United…

The Book of Names is an Internet-based project to recognize the women in our past who have migrated from Ireland. By adding the names of your Irish mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and so on, you will have the chance to ‘light a candle’ in their memory.



The effort is…

HOME TO IRELAND

(Frank McCaughey and his sisters Mary Beth and Anne brought their father’s remains home to Ireland last year.

Frank wrote about the experience and it is reprinted here with his permission.)

The…

I had to go down to the hospital very early today. On the way back, I was exhausted and stopped in a coffee shop. And what do you know? My whole day was transformed. Somebody had left a copy of The New York Times behind, and there staring up at me from the front page was the man himself, wee Joyce. with his head and hat cocked…

By Gerry Regan / The Wild Geese

Mineola, N.Y. -- Fifty years after JFK’s visit to Ireland and his…

Growing up Mexican and Irish, as well as Sicilian had its moments of light and shade. All three are a family-based culture so there was a great emphasis placed on family, loyalty, culture and history. Growing up in the Desert Southwest within a 45 minute drive of the Mexican border also brought about an acute…

My 'Irish' GGrandfather was not Irish at all!  I just discovered that my hunch that he deliberately hid his childhood turned out to be true and he did it by inventing an Irish background to camouflage everything about his parents poor Liverpool linage, but why did he choose to become Irish?  

I received my package from Bernardos Children's home on Thursday so I had time over the Easter Weekend to comb through the information and insert it all into my family tree. I couldn't pull my…