I am surely not the first Irish emigrant to have heard these words from their heartbroken mother. Guilt at the impact of my decision to leave Ireland and grief at the loss of my beloved mother are central themes in my poetry collection…

Irish loyalties in the Rebellion of 1641 were intertwined between religion and the destabilization of English politics. "The Catholic  landowners desire to recover their lost land was one main reason for the rebellion. The rebellion started eleven years of war between 1641-52 in Ireland and was…

LUAIN - On February 27, 1735, Thomas Conway, a soldier in French and U.S. armies, was born in Cloghane, County Kerry. Conway was taken to France at the age of six to be educated and, in 1749, he joined the Irish Brigade of…

National Pilgrim Paths Day is a new Easter Festival based on Ireland’s dense network of medieval pilgrim walking routes. This new heritage themed event is organised by the local communities adjacent to each of our principal penitential routes and is aimed at raising…

On March 21 1879, 143 years ago, the worlds first working guided missile was successfully tested in Hobsons bay, Melbourne, Australia by Irish inventor Louis Brennan from Co. Mayo, Ireland.…

The whole day that I spent in Belfast and the evenings on either side really need more than one blog post. That day we went to so many places and I was shown so many things. It was mind-blowing and at times very emotional. Belfast is a lovely place and I was certainly shown a good time.  We started with breakfast, as…

Songs of the Snowy Mountains: The Settlers (Editor: Shannon O’Boyle)

Reviewer: J.A. O’Brien

Summary: Songs of the Snowy Mountains: The Settlers represents an important new contribution to the history of Australian folk music and to Australian folklore. The new…

George Arthur French was born at Roscommon, Ireland in 1841. He was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1860. 

In 1871, at the request of the Canadian government, he was sent…

Fidelma McCorry Breen is seeking out participants for a survey she is doing on the Irish Experience in Australia. Please read the following post to see if you can help her out.

Thank you so much for your…

You can imagine my surprise when I saw a large piece of wood washed up on Streedagh Strand recently. (For more information on the ongoing discoveries at Streedagh Strand go to Grange Armada Development Association …

Clonmel: July 16^th, 1843

"My dear Wife, I have received your kind and welcome letter of the 20^th of March which is the greatest happiness I have enjoted ever…

Book Review

"Against the Wind", by J.A. O'Brien

 Reviewer: Michael Halpenny

The full title of this book is "Against the Wind: Memoir of a Dissident Dubliner." However, this is not the diary of someone strenuously opposed to the Good Friday Agreement,…

Well, we did it. It was hard, but overall I conducted myself with class and rehearsed for hours with an array of talented, crazy people. It was so challenging as a first-time producer and director but what I got was a tight show that told the story. The story has always been my…

It's the stuff great films and spellbinding stage performances are made of.  In the case of "The Last Torch," though, the story is plucked right from the history books.  To be more specific, in this case, the story is taken from the personal journey of 16th century…

Most weekends, I get up at ungodly hours and go to the local flea market to look for interesting books. I usually arrive at 7:00 a.m. or so when they are still unpacking. The dealers there bid on storage units and end up with all sorts of miscellaneous stock, among which are the books I…

Come meet the cast of "The Last Torch"!  

"The Last Torch" is set in 16th century Ireland, where survivors of a shipwreck from the Spanish Armada have washed ashore,…

The Great Shame: And the Triumph of the Irish In the English-Speaking World

By Thomas Keneally (of "Schindler’s List" fame)

Reviewed by John Edward (Ed) Murphy

Overall a good book and a very scholarly work. Great Shame covers significant historical events in 19th century Ireland,…