Wayne Rooney is tiny. Really tiny. I stood less than ten feet away from him on Sunday, on the pitch in the Aviva, and I reckoned I was taller than him. When I got home I checked and so I am. But then I reckoned I was taller than most of the Irish and English football…

Well, you just have to listen to Davy Spillane's music before you answer my question. Here's a short video that I created of my recent solo exhibition in Áras Éanna on…

Book Review                                 

The true nature of poetry is to first give us an insight into the heart and consciousness of the poet, then the collective consciousness of the society…

Ireland’s Protestant Unionists 1800 - 1923:

A Persecuted Minority

or Strident Anti-Assimilationists?

As the centenary of Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising approaches, many questions as to how to proceed with the …

What price freedom? Some people could answer that better than others. When it comes to Irish freedom that price was paid in 1916 in the stonebreakers’ yard of Kilmainham Gaol, where the leaders of the insurrection were executed. It was also paid throughout the War of…

June 18th will mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. There are hundreds of books which examine the battle in fascinating detail, but for those unfamiliar with the basics: on June 18, 1815, the French army under Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by the Anglo-Allied…

There’s a case to be argued for genetic memory, the Jungian theory, that certain memories and proclivities are bequeathed to us at birth from our forbearers. As a Scots-Irish descendant on every branch of my family tree, it…

With the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo taking place this Thursday (18th June), members may be interested in reading Peter Molloy's MA thesis, "Ireland and the Waterloo Campaign of 1815" which provides much valuable information about the involvement of Irish soldiers in that decisive battle. The full text thesis can be found at:…

What does it take to be considered a genius? Is a genius a remarkable musician who moves our spirits, an artist who creates beautiful paintings, a student who scores off the charts on an IQ test or the employee working the Genius Bar at your local Apple store? OK, maybe the last example is pushing it, but consider the other varieties of geniuses -- those with amazing musical, artistic, athletic and intellectual talents. Were the Mozarts and Monets of the world born with their genius? Or did…

Linen Hall Library William of Orange

DOMHNAIGH -- On June 14, 1690, William of Orange,…

I'm in Ireland for the launch of book  Doolin. The book was published on June 1 and was on Amazon before copies were delivered to Irish outlets. On Thursday last I read that Doolin was # 1 bestseller on Amazon's Irish Travel and Guidebook list...a pleasant surprise. Later I noted that it was # 1 on Amazon's Folk and Traditional Music list...a book on Bob Dylan was # 3. My publisher told me yesterday that the book has sold out in Ireland and has gone back to press.…

            Now that the contest's entry deadline has come and gone, I wanted to post this special thank you to every participant and to the sponsors who have given one of us, along with a friend or family member, the opportunity to experience (for the first time or once again) the spectacular wild west of Ireland.…

Gougane%20Barra%20Forest%20Park%2C%20West%20Cork%20-Ireland.jpg

Have you ever had a place strike at the core of you, even though you've never been there?  It's a sort of remembering....like something calling to you that you don't really understand yet.   Like fog rolling off of hills as the landscape reveals itself, or a walk through a wood so covered in moss and foliage you feel…

Visiting Ireland is a dream... one so far unrealized. But it isn't like I've never been there... only that I haven't been there in this lifetime.  I have desperately wanted to go to Ireland since I first heard of it as a young child. It is still as though the places I lived throughout my life have never really been home. Forever my heart has been in exile... because that green island that was…

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”—Saint Augustine

I am not really sure when our sons love for pretty much anything and everything Irish began. His passion runs deep and has continued to grow stronger over the years. His obsession for the music, history, food and culture is indescribable. When he was around four…

"Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey."

John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom



For me, a trip to Ireland through Wild West Irish Tours would be not only the vacation dream of a lifetime, but also the "spiritual…

Beyond the Blue  Door ~ Dreams & Memories of the Wild West of Ireland

Nothing like a wee bit o' procrastination! When I first read about the Wild West of Ireland contest I knew that it was something I wanted to do. I had ideas of an album of photos of my travels to Ireland with captions about the many wonderful memories I have of travelling in Ireland. However, I have so many photos and…

Have you ever had a feeling of déjà vu and known it was something you can’t possibly have experienced in your own lifetime? I get this feeling often, a heartfelt pining for a time period I’ve never lived through and a place that I’ve never even visited. Many of these feelings are tied directly to Ireland in the early 20th century and onward. I’ve never been to Ireland and although I’m not about to disclose my age, suffice it to say that while I may not be a spring chicken anymore I certainly…