On our vacation in Ireland in June 2015 we took the boat trip out to Spike Island in Cobh harbor in Co. Cork. Cobh is famous as last port of call of the Titanic. Spike Island is most often mentioned in Irish history as a place where many Irish political prisoners were held over the years. Cobh was a major port…

Now that it’s officially summer, access to fresh vegetables is limitless. Zucchini, peas, and carrots are some of the most popular and, coincidentally, some of the best ingredients for summer soups, both hot and cold. This zucchini soup is not only colorful and delicious, it’s also very trendy served chilled in…

Toby is a beautiful chestnut Bavarian warmblood gelding.  He came into our lives four years ago. His previous owner thought he had kissing spine, a terminal condition, and he was going to the factory. My daughter…

LUAIN -- On June 20, 1763, one of the most famous revolutionary leaders in Irish history, Theobald Wolfe Tone, was born at 44 Stafford St., now called Wolfe Tone St., in Dublin. Tone was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and called to the bar, but he never practiced law. Entering politics instead, Tone, along with Napper…

James Connolly said of "Big" Jim Larkin, his colleague in the labour movement: "We have amongst us a man of genius, of splendid vitality, great in his conceptions, magnificent in his courage." George Bernard Shaw described him as "the greatest Irishman since Parnell."

In 1913, Constance…

Grilling season is officially here, and when it comes to cooking up something special for Dad, a juicy steak, some delicious potato cakes, and an Irish-inspired steak sauce are just the ticket. A full-bodied red wine or a glass of cold beer complete the picture! You’ll find more delicious recipes like this in my “Flavors of…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 12, 1844, Januarius A. MacGahan , war correspondent, was born near New Lexington, Ohio. MacGahon's father was a native of County Derry. Januarius was an excellent student and became a teacher and then moved…

This Irish vignette has stayed with me throughout the years, the way poignant moments tend to do. It was only a moment, really, yet even at the time I could have told you of its impact; there was something about sitting in Seamus O’Flaherty’s porch on the coast road in Inverin that made me think I’d truly arrived in…

While I traveled through Ireland a few weeks ago, I noticed the first signs of strawberry season emerge, with roadside stands popping up in places like Kilkenny and east Cork (transported, no doubt, from Wexford, where strawberries grow in great abundance). The “season” is officially here in the U.S., too, with the…

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 5, 1868, James Connolly was born of Irish immigrant parents in the Cowgate, an Edinburgh, Scotland, slum. He served in the British army but deserted to marry an Irish girl and returned to Edinburgh. Under the influence of Scottish socialist John…

By John Yacobian

Special to TheWildGeese.com

(First published in 2004)

When people tell me they are headed for Ireland, I always encourage them to go north, to see Derry, Donegal, and Antrim, and…

When it came to the grand plan of how the Irish, with their meager resources, could defeat the forces of the greatest empire on earth in the Irish War of Independence, Michael Collins was the great architect who drew up the “flying column” blue print. But no matter how great the architect, other men have to take that…

Totally Irish Gifts is delighted to be shortlisted for the 2016 OPTIMISE Fund!

We here at Totally Irish Gifts are asking the Irish Diaspora worldwide to vote for our small Irish company.

“Securing this opportunity would help our company improve our digital…

Roger Cohen recently wrote in The New York Times about a Savoy Hotel located in Germany which, for him, is the perfect place in that he sees this hotel as untouched by time. For an example of what he is talking about, he explains that the lobby has the lingering scent of a good cigar. Cohen also describes walking into…

Patrick Gallagher was born in Derrintogher, County Mayo, Ireland on February 2, 1944. At the age of 18, Patrick immigrated to the United States for the promise of a new life, one filled with opportunity. He quickly started on the immigrant dream: studying law while working in real estate, even getting involved in local politics…

There are two routes I can take to my office when I leave the train station to go to work. They both pass a large 18^th century building of Palladian, neoclassical design, which I used to admire as a child, long before I knew of its connection to my own family.

Now, as I pass it by, I…

Noel Brady was standing with his father at the hall  door of their family home on St. Ignatius Road in Dublin’s North Strand area when they heard the drone of a Nazi Luftwaffe bomber flying overhead.

“I saw flashes in the sky. My father shoved me onto the…

Writing about the country she loves, Susan Boland delivers a love letter to the ancestral homeland she triumphantly returned to: Ireland. This gifted storyteller, scripting one of the world's most beautiful coastlines, the Coast Road of Clew Bay, with her perceptive cultural insights and warm sense of humor, has delivered a landmark in travel writing.…

Winfield Scott is well known as the hero of the Mexican War and as the over all commander of Federal forces during the beginning of the Civil War. Few have heard much about his experiences in the War of 1812, however. One…