How did a boy from Kildare end up shooting a Sultan and his bodyguards in an Arabian palace?

Above, an Irishman (the author) in Dhofar.

The answer shows that, like a wildfire breaking out and dying down, The Wild Geese spirit lives, to surface now and again not to die but to smoulder until the next adventure beckons. (Remember ‘Mad’ Mike Hoare, Africa’s most famous mercenary?)…

Sgt. Henry Gallagher of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24^th (2^nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, who was from Thurles, County Tipperary, paced up and down behind the red-clad soldiers looking over the mealie bag fortifications at Rorke’s Drift. He lifted…

DOMHNAIGH -- On July 5, 1812, Frederick Maning (left), who would become beloved in New Zealand by its native Māori people, was born in Johnville, County Dublin. Maning immigrated to Australia with his…

As the July 4th holiday approaches, sadly as with many of our other holidays, the true meaning of the day is lost a midst ballgames, cookouts, and fireworks. We forget that on that hot July of 1776 fifty six men came together to pledge…

At the dawn of what was to become an age of rebellion, Thomas Jefferson said, Rebellion is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government. The American revolution of 1775 to 1781 was the inspiration for rebellions across the world from France in 1789 to Ireland in 1798, again…

Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (or P.S. Gilmore), from Ballygar, County Galway, was an emigrant like a million others fleeing the famine in 1849. By 1872, Gilmore was Ireland's best-known face in America. Musician, Conductor and Bandmaster; he was a household name to Americans across the young country.  He led the most famous…

Downloadable below is a document I drew up back in 2011 in relation to the Irish that served in June 1876 with George Armstrong Custer.

Illustration by Charles Marion Russell, Wikimedia Commons…

Long before gluten free was a food phenomenon, a friend gave me this recipe for an unusual, flourless — thus gluten free — cornmeal cake that became my go-to summer dessert. The original recipe suggested a fruity wine syrup topping, but I also love it as an…

Was it the IRA who created the bomb that killed two detectives outside the New York World Fair's British Pavilion 75 years ago today?

Or was it a German agent or Nazi…

As February’s Black History Month fades into memory and March’s Irish History Month begins its ascendancy, there’s a brief moment where the black takes on a tinge of green.

Few realize that these two ethnic groups, African-Americans and Irish-Americans, who together make up one-quarter of…

And then when we got to Miami, the Gesu Church, which is a beautiful Catholic church, an old church in the heart of Miami, they had big signs posted as you entered, ‘Colored seat from the rear.’…

By Joseph Gannon

• Patrick Cleburne: Confederate 'Meteor Shining Brightly'
• Cleburne's Incendiary Proposal:…

Wild garlic season is just finishing up in Ireland, and as a farewell to Erin's green shore it blossoms profusely in white flowerings throughout the land. Thanks to this wonderful plant I've eaten a lot of beautiful wild garlic pesto and wild garlic soup the last couple of months, as well as going on some lovely walks in the woods! On one…

This week we remember an Irishman whose efforts and foresight changed the world forever. Colmcille also known as Saint Columba died on June 9, 597 in the monastery he founded on the Island of Iona, where he had lived in exile for many years. He is known among other things, as the Patron Saint of the city of…

It’s strawberry season in Ireland, especially in County Wicklow, where the luscious berries are grown in great number at places like Green’s Berry Farm in Gorey.  Delicious in shortcakes, jams, and quick beads, of course, but for a change of pace toss them in a salad with cheese and…

To our readers and fellow members of TheWildGeese.irish community:

We are as a community startled, enraged and greatly saddened by the death May 25 of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a Minnesota police officer. As we reexamine race…

TheWildGeese.irish published the following interview with beleaguered and much-respected Irish immigrant Malachy McAllister in 2006, and we are astounded at how relevant -- and urgent -- the concerns the Irish-American community expressed about his plight then remain today. The account we reprise here dramatically underscores how precarious Malachy's hold on the American dream has remained for the past…

(Above: "The Army Forge" by Edwin Forbes, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.)

Patrick Callaghan of the 1^st Vermont Cavalry felt the warm northern Virginia summer sun on his face as the blacksmith…

A friend of mine, an archeologist, …

When friends and families get together these days to (responsibly) celebrate, you might want to add this rich pound cake to the menu. Grand Marnier and citrus are the perfect aromatics to flavor it, and olive oil makes it moist and delicious. It’s a perfect recipe for summer entertaining,…