To say that truth is always the first casualty of war may be a cliché, but it never was more apt than when applied to the thirty years of Ireland’s most recent, painful and pointless ‘Troubles’ [1968-98]. Many…

I was at a wedding in Co Cork recently, it was truly a lovely ceremony and was made extra special with this ancient Celtic custom of handfasting. I had heard of handfasting before, but this was the first wedding ceremony I was at that this custom was actually performed and I was intrigued to learn that the phrase 'tying the knot' came from…

Thoughts of labor this holiday, however modest in its aspirations, invite me to contemplate the role of work in both defining and coloring the lives of my family.



My grandfather Ray Regan was born in Harlem, in upper…

His name was Eoghan, and I never did catch his last name. A solid year spent with the desultory coming and going of this enigmatic man through the door of The Galway Music Center, and I came to accept him as Kieran’s friend from Derry. Kieran rarely explained himself, much less anyone attendant, and because he was the…

Seamus Heaney, considered by many to be the greatest Irish poet since William B. Yeats, texted his wife Marie a few hours before his death: “Do not be afraid!” How comforting these words were to her I do not know. They seem, however, appropriate words for a man who faced so many crises in his life, dealt with them with…

Okay, it’s not the Super Bowl, but for fans of Ireland, the Aer Lingus College Football Classic pitting Boston College against Georgia Tech in Dublin on Saturday was nothing short of “super!” Regrettably, I didn't attend the big game at Aviva Stadium, won by Georgia Tech 17-14, but I’m delighted to count myself among…

I was lying on the couch one lazy Sunday evening ‘channel surfing,and doing my utmost to avoid the news channels. I find that watching the news these days only deepens my brooding sense of melancholia and re-awakens the primal urge to run away, wrap myself in animal skins and take up…

DOMHNAIGH -- September 4, 1607, (Julian calendar) was a crucial day in Irish history. On that day Hugh O'Neill, Ruari O'Donnell and many other chiefs of their families departed from Lough Swilly for the continent. It is known in Irish history as the 'Flight of…

On a July day nearly 130 years ago, an unknown and homesick young Irish writer trudged along a busy London street. He stopped suddenly and stood still, for he thought he could hear the tinkling of water in the midst of the bustling thoroughfare. He followed the sound and found he was looking in a shop window. There…

BLACKBERRY TIME

Late August, given heavy rain and sun

For a full week, the blackberries would ripen,

At first, just one, a glossy purple clot

Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.

You ate that first one and its flesh was…

Within the written she resides 

in quiet assurance of her place. 

Lithe and languid, with regal mien, 

she glides from the page bearing gifts.

The mantle, flowing through the ages,

envelops her in verity profound.

Gently musing all the while, 

in soft tones of…

My Grandfather was John Joseph Scollan, Commandant, Hibernian Rifles.

He was at The GPO in Easter 1916 with James Connolly and Michael Collins and the seven signatories to the 1916 proclamation of The Irish Republic. I am presently researching his life, having just returned from Dublin.

Photo: The General…

Racing fruitlessly after a tram that was speeding away from him, a young British soldier spotted a shy young woman, out for a stroll in Dublin City, on her day off from working as a governess in Merrion Square. Lillie Reynolds, a softly spoken young woman who had been raised in the Protestant faith, did not usually flirt…

Three of Ireland’s well-loved 18^th century Gaelic poets lie at rest in the graveyard of Creggan Church, near to my hometown of Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The poets, Filid Art Mc Cooey, Padraig MacAliondain and the rapparee poet Seamus mor MacMurphy sleep under the oaks and elms in the company…

In my last post, I confessed to my love of cheese and my nearly non-stop indulgence in it while traveling through Ireland in May. On quite a few occasions, I found cheese, especially goat’s cheese, paired with beets in a sweet-tangy combination that is — no pun intended — unbeatable! At Reg’s in Waterford, a…

On August 19, 1876, 140 years ago , the whaling ship Catalpa  was given a tumultuous welcome as it sailed into New York harbor. She had no whales…

David Goodall was born in 1931. One side of his family had Wexford ancestors who were on both sides of the 1798 Rising. Though he had no professional involvement in Anglo-Irish relations until 1982, Goodall had a lifelong scholarly interest in Irish and, especially, Wexford history. He was president of…

My mother (God rest her) must have taken this photo. It was in Connemara and they were on their honeymoon… It was a long time ago, but we still had a copy in a dusty old photo album at home in Ranelagh. It was lovely to see it projected onto the gable end of Pearse’s Cottage in Ros Muc last weekend.

It’s a long story. But maybe today, I’ll just tell you about the short film that I produced as part of my artist’s…

I really love cheese, and ever since I was introduced to Irish-made cheese — from the great selection of Kerrygold cheeses like Dubliner, Blarney Castle, and Swiss to harder-to-find ones like Cashel Blue, Ardrahan, or St. Tola — I enjoy it as often as I can. When I go to Ireland, as I did in May, I order it whenever I see it on…

Photo of Gullion courtesy of Colin Boyle.

I am Gullion, old as time itself, older than the pre-dawn of life, forged in the crucible of a ring of fire, before man existed. Up here the air is pure and fresh and crisp as the frost of winter’s breath. I’ve seen it all from up here, here by the bottomless lake, here beside…