Wicklow town has a cute celeb who we discovered on a walk-about in the town during our trip last week - Sammy is a young male seal who has been visiting the south quay of Wicklow town harbour since June 2013. Initially Sammy followed the local fishing boats into the harbour so he could feast on the throw offs from…

Lola Montez

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl… so far, so true (and with thanks to Barry Manilow), but this particular Lola  also happened to be one of Europe’s most beautiful and talked-about women, who married several times and who…

Throughout Ireland's lovely and storied countryside, visitors can find magnificent religious sites that are a testament to Ireland's glorious and tragic history. Some of the best known include the Rock of Cashel, St. Kevin's Monastery at Glendalough, and the ancient university of Clonmacnoise.

But in addition to these…

Elizabeth O’Farrell was born in 1884 at 33 City Quay, Dublin, to Christopher and Margaret O’Farrell [nee Kenneah]. Her father died when she was a small child, so this left her family not only bereft but financially insecure. Not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, nor having the comfort of working father’s wage…

Songs of the Snowy Mountains: The Settlers (Editor: Shannon O’Boyle)

Reviewer: J.A. O’Brien

Summary: Songs of the Snowy Mountains: The Settlers represents an important new contribution to the history of Australian folk music and to Australian folklore. The new…

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa was born Jeremiah O'Donovan in Reenascreena, County Cork, on 10 September 1831. While he was the son of tenant farmers, the family could trace their ancestry back to nobler days when, before the English confiscation of Irish land, they had held the parish of Kilmeen. (The honorary title "Rossa" came…

We have no doubt that the word "Irish" in anyone's domain name, particularly as a TLD (top level domain, that is, 'behind' the dot) helps a marketer (and any devotee of the Irish experience) tap the passion that underscores the Irish experience…

Suppose you could go to the movie theater and see a film about working people, struggling against great odds to enrich the quality of their lives. And suppose that instead of relying on a great individual leader, they made their own decisions and fought their own battles.

While hiking with my American-born kids I found myself repeating the words “hay foot, straw foot” trying to motivate them to keep going as they were getting tired. I reflected on how I first learned the phrase from my West Cork granny, and decided to investigate the term a little further.  I grew intrigued to learn this phrase is shared between Ireland and America.



“Hay-foot, straw-foot” was a term my late granny…

Once upon a time, I spent a year living on the western coast of Ireland. From my American frame of reference, it took a bit of adjustment to become accustom to the Gaeltacht of Connemara’s shores. My acclimation to the culture came in curious increments comprised of chance encounters in unexpected places, but they gave me…

During the Great Hunger in Ireland the Ottoman Empire sent £1,000 sterling (about $1,500,000 today) and three shiploads of food to Drogheda, Ireland.

The Ottoman ruler at that time -- Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid – wanted to send £10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested…

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 26, 1739, George Clinton (right), soldier, first governor of New York, and vice president of the United States, was born in Little Britain, N.Y., of Irish Protestant parents. Clinton served in his father's New York state militia unit during the French and Indian War before being elected to the New York…

A sculpture of nine eagle feathers by Alex Pentek has been installed in Midleton, County Cork, to thank the Choctaw Indians for their …

In the following three-part series, Sixteen Films' screenwriter Paul Laverty writes about the genesis of "Jimmy's Hall." His observations were first published in Sixteen Films' Production Notes, and are reproduced here with permission. Production Photos see here are by Joss…

Michael Collins sat hunched over the small office desk, studying the papers before…

The region of Connemara is the very edge of Europe on the west coast of Ireland, spanning the majestic Twelve Bens mountains, embracing lakes and pre-historic bogs, bounded on the west, south and north by the Atlantic Ocean. This beautiful region is the essence of Ireland, with unspoilt and ever changing invigorating…

“A nice thing to find in one of the largest bookshops in the city. And in one of the main streets of Dublin, no less.”

Dan slammed the book on the manager’s desk.

Mr. Molloy looked at the book. “My good man, there is no way we would have that book for sale,” he said.

“It was with the Greek literature.  Any young student could have…

The real Jimmy Gralton in 1944

By Donal Ó Drisceoil

Jimmy Gralton returned to Leitrim from New York in June 1921, just as the Anglo-Irish war was coming to a close. That conflict between…

Gracie Allen was born to George Allen and Molly Darragh, who were of Irish Catholic extraction. The Darraghs are listed as being from County Antrim with Gracie’s father, Patrick, born in 1833 and married Margaret Peggy McKillip from Ballymoney, County Antrim. The Darraghs were from County Antrim. Gracie’s father, Patrick, born in…