A true Irish spot, the small Neo-Gothic Church on the grounds of Kylemore Abbey, in Connemara.

You have to look hard for this special gem on the grounds of Kylemore Abbey in County Galway. Kylemore Abbey, home of the Benedictine Nuns since the 1920’s, is nestled at the base of Duchruach Mountain on…

My great 'Irish Spot' is Reginald's Tower in Waterford City! I remember being blown away by the history of the Tower on my trip to Ireland after winning the Waterford Gathering competition! It was my first trip off the North American continent and although my ancestry…

Italian culture is strong -- endearingly strong.  I wouldn't want it any other way, because Italians do many things right.  Food, coffee, art, family ... the list could be a rather lengthy one.  So when a small bit of authentic Ireland creeps in and takes a foothold in the centre…

A $100 gift card from world-class retailer TheIrishStore.com or one of five gifts from our 'locker'…

by Karen Campbell

Two years ago, I was captivated by an…

On Saturday, February 22, the Center for Irish music celebrated 10 years of handing down the tradition at its annual Éigse: A Gaela Event at the Celtic Junction in St. Paul, MN. This celebration is the yearly benefit for the center when the music instructors perform for the local…

We are pleased to announce the debut of the latest members' group here in The Wild Geese community.  The "Irish Ancestry" group is open to all members of The Wild Geese, and will become the hub for all things relating to ancestry and genealogical research.  Within this…

In 1875, St. Patrick's Day in Pennsylvania's Mahanoy City broke cold and clear. But conflict gripped the hard coal region. Festivities that honored Ireland’s patron saint would highlight a longstanding war between Irish priests under the authority of Archbishop James Frederick Wood and Irish Catholic men who marched under society banners

Long-buried accounts of those…

A Life-Long Fascination with Gaeilge

by Crystailín Narayana, for The Irish Gift

Ever since I was a…

  In  the light of all the abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church in…

For generations, the sacred remains of Saint Patrick, the great Apostle of Ireland; Saint Brigid, the renowned Virgin; and Saint Columcille, the illustrious missionary, lay far distant from each other. When St Patrick died at Saul in 493, a question arose over where to bury him.…

How I am Finding (and Strengthening) My Irish Roots

by Kristin Waggoner, for The Irish Gift

I couldn't tell you when it…

Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Language Week) is an international Irish language festival and one of the biggest celebrations of our native language and culture that takes place each year in Ireland and in many other countries. 

This year’s festival is running from 1 –…

I am amazed at how often the descendants of Limerick emigrants come back to Limerick and are shocked that we do not look like the photo above, with barefooted children an women in shawls:

It has been said to me "Oh! I thought you all lived in the…

Welcome to The Irish Gift, an Irish organization that provides online classes in the East Galway music tradition and the music of Eddie Kelly. We also offer classes in the Irish language, sean nós singing and sean nós dancing. Online classes in bodhrán and uilleann pipes are also…

Colaiste Lurgan, the creative and ever-blossoming Irish language school in Connemara, is preparing for the March 3rd launch of their massive initiative to help people who would like to learn the Irish language.

Here's Lurgan's description of the initiative they're calling “Sé Seachtaini” (six…

Seventy million Irish diaspora know they have something intense and unexplainable coursing through their DNA. Perhaps, more than any other country in the world, Ire-land has left an extremely strong emotional connection to it's land through the DNA of it's people.   While we were…

Let's take a look back to the late 1800s and early 1900s at old pictures of the rural countryside and city life throughout various parts of Ireland. (Top image: Donkey cart…