(Scroll down to read the English translation of this post.)

Bhuel, bhí sé go h-iontach a bheith i láthair i Ros Muc i mbliana le hÉirí amach na Cásca a chomóradh, céad bhliain níos déanaí.  Bhí brat na hÉireann ag foluain i ngach gáirdín agus cuma álainn ar an cheantar ar fad.  Bhí gach sórt…

Speech by John Bruton, former Taoiseach, at 11 a.m., Monday 28^th March, in Iveagh House, Dublin, as part of RTE's “Reflecting the Rising” series.

President John Kennedy once said that a “nation reveals itself “ by the events and people it chooses to commemorate.

This state is a rule of law based, parliamentary democracy, which has…

My friends kid me about one of the websites I frequent, a place called Banjo Hangout (dot Org). It’s a place where banjo geeks like me go and talk about strings and rings, and pots and picks, and necks and woods and, well, banjo makers! And occasionally I receive messages from those fellow Banjo geeks – so I wasn’t too…

The GPO, Mount Street Bridge, The South Dublin Union -- these are names that resonate when it comes to Easter 1916 as the battlegrounds for what became Padraig Pearse’s ‘glorious failure.’ However, for some quirk of history, the success that took place in the sleepy town of Ashbourne, County Meath, during the Rising has…

Mayo born singer songwriter Seamus Ruttledge has recorded a new version of 'James Connolly' to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter rising.

Ruttledge has adapted, arranged, and written new verses for this 2016 interpretation of the famous…

Although the first census of the United Kingdom was held in 1801, it was not until the 1841 census that respondents were asked to state their country of birth, thereby enabling us to see the size of the Irish population in Britain. We cannot, therefore, accurately judge how many Irish refugees had flooded into England, Scotland…

Invite a seanchaí into your home . . . you will be glad that you did. With Jim Hawkins new CD, My Own Native Land: Stories and Songs of Ireland, that has never been easier. Hawkins’ debut album will carry you across the miles, over the waters and back in time.

When a colleague suggested that I review “My Own…

Irishmen everywhere celebrate the

1916 Easter Risings 100-Year Anniversary

Where was Irish Patriot Tom Barry during the Easter…

Even on the best of days, when the weather is temperate and the sky soft and cloudless, Galway City has a worn, secondhand feel to it: an historic, pensive, erudite quality everywhere you roam down its serpentine streets. But there’s also an energetic undercurrent to Galway that seems to thrive on the idea of opposites,…

Photo of window at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, courtesy of George R. Doyle, 2014

I bind to myself today

The strong virtue of the…

In the next few hours a large chunk of the world will go green – not out of a love for the environment, but because that’s what you do on March 17.

Forget about any sense of style, every shade of green you can envisage will be flown, painted, worn and waved on St Patrick’s Day. All those inner Irishmen and women will…

When the Tuatha system of rule was replaced by Gaelic rule the areas of Ireland were known as 'cúige',  which in Irish means 'portion' or 'fifth', indicating the original division of the five areas:

Mide * Ulster * Munster *…

In days gone by, there was a popular Irish…

Saint Patrick’s Day as been celebrated on March 17th since the early seventeenth century. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as the celebration of all things Irish; culture and heritage. It is widely celebrated all around the…

I am NOT advocating revolution or organization in any manner but I do have something I would like all of us to consider if you will.

Do you not find it to be a bit insulting to have the Irish alway characterized as brawling stiffs and drunkards?

Why, everywhere I travel I find novelty shops selling items show…

"Brother Pleads Guilt to Free Jailed 'Twin' " reads the headline in the July 30, 1931, edition of The New York Times.

The story refers to two of my grandmother’s first cousins, Tom and John Irwin. Tom stood accused with two other men -- and all were later convicted -- in the rape of a woman and the armed robbery of the…

I know that many of you have been to Galway (or intend visiting) and I…

In this silent land

Say nothing

And keep saying it

In this silent land.

Men draped in cassocks

Possess a Nation’s secrets

To barter for souls over open graves

And we stay silent

In…

Our esteemed Irish Heritage Partner Wild West Irish Tours has kindly supplied us with some new photos of last year's successful ‘Wild West of Ireland: You Won’t Forget Your First Time’ tour giveaway competition!…

Unfortunately Thomas’ new employer, like so many of chiefs in the region, was dishonorable and motivated by greed and little else. Still, as had been the case with The Begum, Thomas was an honorable man in a dishonorable world. He served his new employer well, refusing several chances to…