By John Bruton

In 1963, when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited Ireland, I was 15 years of age.

To understand the impact of President Kennedy, one has to understand that the Ireland of 1960 was a very different place, even to the…

France has its Eiffel Tower, the U.S. its Statue of Liberty, but arguably the most iconic attraction in Ireland is that cathedral of conviviality, the Irish pub. The unique thing that this Irish institution has is that, unlike the others, it’s exportable, if you don’t count plaster-of- Paris imitations of Lady Liberty and the Eiffel Tower,that really don’t do it for…

The government of Ireland has pledged aid of more than 3 million euro to the disaster-stricken Philippines, and Irish missionaries are in the forefront of providing assistance to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, according to Irish news reports. Tipperary-born…

November 22^nd. Strikes a sullen chord. Any year -- and yet this year, it is the 50^th year. Striking a crescendo of deep and bitter sadness.

Maybe it’s because I was raised in a house where John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s picture (clipped from the Sunday Daily News…

Have a read and see what you think, but I think Colm O'Regan has captured the essence of of Irish Mammys. Don't some of these phrases ring bells? 

It’s impossible to…

The following is a transcript taken from the LIVE Community Chat chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Monday, November 15, 2013 with three of the "leading lights" in contemporary Celtic Art and fellow Wild…

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35^th President of the United States

It was early Friday afternoon, November 22, 1963. I was a student at the Catholic University of America in northeast…

”They could take our land, starve our poor, destroy our homes and plunder our institutions; they could deny us education, but they could not destroy our music and song” No truer words were ever spoken. These are by Derek Warfield himself.

Derek Warfield is a singer, songwriter, mandolin player and a founding member of…

Ireland's worldwide invitation to the Irish diaspora to come home in the very ambitious and controversial countrywide event "The Gathering" has exceeded all expectations.  A resounding success, especially for Irish tourism, the central statistics…

I made several trips back into the devastation after that initial writing. The work never got easier. In fact it got much harder. Age on a man is often internal and aches and pains are the wrinkles.

Above, Cross Bay Blvd and a ship washed into the median. See more pictures below. Photos by Kevin Gleeson

One friend in particular deserves a mention here – a year later. Living in east Rockaway on…

John Ridge Presents on Lost Irish Colonies of New York

John Ridge, premier researcher of Irish life in the New York metropolitan area, spoke about the discoveries he has made about Irish neighborhoods in New York at the Irish Cultural Society…

One of the joys of my early childhood was going with my family to the beaches of New York City, particularly Rockaway and Jacob Riis. Getting there was at least half the fun. We’d go over the George Washington Bridge, then…

The following is a transcript taken from the LIVE members' chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Monday, November 11, 2013 with fellow Wild Geese member, Jim Goulding.  Jim…

A chairde (chara), we could use your help getting to the next stage of a competition for a $250,000 grant, offered by Chase Bank's Mission MainStreet. We need to garner 250 'votes,' and fast (by the Nov. 15th deadline).

This infusion of cash would help us…

The regiment that Robert E. Lee christened is going strong at 150

PART 1 IN A TWO-PART SERIES

By Lt. Col. Kenneth H. Powers, NYARNG (Ret.)…

By Joseph Gannon

Perhaps the most famous — or infamous — Irishman ever to trod south of the equator was the outlaw Ned Kelly, whose legend gave birth to "…

I wrote about my novel, Ghost of Gallipoli, in a previous blog. However, given the significance of Sunday, 10^th November, I’d like to dedicate this article to all those men of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, including my great-uncles, who died during the Gallipoli Campaign, in 1915.

A…

By Jean Tubridy

When I agreed to write about the poet Francis Ledwidge (right), I completely underestimated the impact that this exploration of his life, poetry and influence would have on me. Above all, it has made me all the more aware of the…

THE BOY AT THE GATE (A Memoir)

Danny Ellis

Arcade Publishing,…

Originally posted at artofneed, Blog for the Auld Irishtown trilogy here: http://artofneed.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/the-brooklyn-irish/

Although Irishtown had been known as Brooklyn’s most recognizable, infamous waterfront neighborhood for…