It is New York City and the Civil War is brewing. Norah McCabe, an Irish immigrant who escaped the Famine as a child, is now a young widow with a daughter. A milliner, struggling to survive in tumultuous times, Norah meets Abraham Lincoln, befriends the extraordinary African-American woman Elizabeth…

The first time I fell in love was in the children’s section of Brooke Park library. I was 11 and she was 10, and her name was Josephine and she had so many freckles on her face that she was a haze of delight.

It didn’t take long for me to work out that she changed…

Valentine’s Day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of poet Geoffrey Chaucer, when the tradition of courtly love was very much in vogue. The day evolved into an occasion where lovers expressed their feelings for each other by giving flowers, sending cards, and offering confectionery, especially…

They sought to wipe the column out,

From east to west, from north to south,

“Till at Crossbarry’s bloody rout

They woke from their day dreaming

Though ten to one they were that day

Our boys were victors in the fray,

And over the hills we marched…

Love In a Time of Turmoil

It could rightfully be considered in an inauspicious start to a great love story, when years later one half of the storied couple reflects on the day of their…

Looking to land an Irish lad or lassie like they do in the movies? Planning a trip for your honeymoon in Ireland?  Researching…

Today the iconic claddagh ring is, along with the harp and shamrock, one of the most widely recognized and most iconically “Irish” symbols in America. The commercial value of the claddagh ring design is enormous -- and probably impossible to…

 I usually try to post a recipe that’s tied to a holiday or a seasonal ingredient but, frankly, since we’re between Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day, I’m just going to suggest a simple midwinter pork chop dish that I think you’ll enjoy. The pork is flavored with the ancient honey wine known as mead…

Dia daoibh a chaidre! (Hello friends!) 

If you are planning a trip to Ireland, make sure you keep your eyes peeled for coddle.  Sometimes referred to as Dublin…

Who was Molly Malone? . . . That is a very good question, a question that has had many historians baffled, and continues to be debated by experts in this field for many a decade. Stranger than fiction, an inspiration to many millions of people all over the world, not only for her singing of "Cockles and Mussels" as she plied…

Save as much as $1200 and come see Cherish the Ladies!…

“Be my valentine” = “A bheith ar mo vailintín”

We're getting ready for Valentine's Day with a special 10% discount on our website on all things Hearts & Claddagh.

PLUS a further 15% discount off ALL our sale items for Wild Geese…

A ploughman’s lunch is a traditional salad made with sliced meats — most often chicken, turkey, ham, or roast beef — and cheddar cheese, coleslaw, or chutney. Popular in the United Kingdom as well as in Ireland, the salad is open to wide interpretation but always includes a good piece of cheese and sometimes even slices…

Ships, Real and Imaginary

It’s a piece of rock with a wonderful beginning.

A cause for marvelling in a right of its own.

Formed deep in the magma of earth.

Mainly composed of quartz, the colour of light

And feldspar carrying the…

Compiling family history can be a fascinating pursuit, particularly when a living descendant bequeaths a story as colorful and riveting as that of brothers Tom and John Irwin. The young men, among my grandmother’s numerous first cousins, shared a cold-water flat in Manhattan’s gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. That was, until…

One of the many events held during 2016 to honour those who took part in the Easter Rising 100 years before was a stage play From the Backbone Out, which told the story of Richard O’Carroll, a labour leader and a member of the Irish Volunteers.

O’Carroll…

When the wind whips, as is often the case in January and February, a bowl of soup is a welcome offering at lunch or dinner. When it’s creamy, rich, seafood-laden chowder, it’s even better! This recipe, which originally appeared in my Irish Pub Cookbook and makes another appearance in Favorite Flavors of…

When St. Brendan got back from his travels discovering America in a small wooden and leather boat around 564 AD, he wrote a book in Latin, 'Navigatio Brendani' or 'The Voyage of Brendan', which, some 900 years later (1477) convinced Christopher Columbus that there might just be something out there beyond the western…

IRISH SOCIETY WRITING CONTEST

The Irish Cultural Society announces its annual writing contest for students in the 9^th through 12^th grades in the Nassau County high schools.  The materials describing the contest, named the Martin J. Kelly…

LUAIN -- 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…