DOMHNAIGH -- On February 7, 1877, John O'Mahony (left: from the 'Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland), founder of the Fenian Brotherhood in the United States, died in New York. O'Mahony was a member of the Young Ireland party in the 1840s; he escaped to France after the failed…

DEARDAOIN -- On January 24, 1862, Miles Byrne, United Irishman and officer in Napoleon's Irish Legion, died in Paris. He was active in the 1798 Rising in Wexford and fought all its major battles, right through the rebels' climactic defeat at Vinegar…

Himself: A Civil War Veteran's Struggles with Rebels, Brits and Devils.  By William J. Donohue 319 pp., 2014 Buffalo Heritage Press www.BuffaloHeritage.com, softcover $19.99…

“Nollaig na mBan,” or “Little Women’s Christmas,” is an old custom that’s still celebrated by women all over Ireland. It goes back to the days when large families were the norm. Men never lifted a finger in the house to help, and were never expected to. If a man washed the dishes, he would be called an “auld…

LUAIN -- On January 4, 1781, Irish-born Revolutionary War Gen. James Hogan died in British captivity at Haddrel Point, South Carolina. Hogan (sometimes spelled Hogun) was born in Ireland about 1721, and emigrated to North Carolina about 30 years later. In May 1776, Hogan was appointed a major in the…

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If you're reading this, you're probably proud of your Irish Heritage and rightly so. Honoring your family's roots is nothing to laugh at. There are several ways to do this, of course. Varying from studying the Irish language, playing Irish music, listening to Irish music, and other creative…

DOMHNAIGH -- On November 29, 1895, Denny Lane (right), author and poet, and member of the revolutionary Young Ireland party, died in Cork. Lane was born in Riverstown, near Glanmire in County Cork, in 1818. Denny attended Trinity College, Dublin. While a student there, he met fellow student Thomas Davis, a…

Where dear Sandusky’s waters glide

From storied falls, through meadows wide,

By verdant hills on either side

To seek Lake Eiries’s famous tide:

On proud Fort Stephenson

 --- From the poem “Fort Stephenson,”

by Captain Andrew…

Bernardo O'Higgins

LUAIN -- On August 17, 1778,…

While hiking with my American-born kids I found myself repeating the words “hay foot, straw foot” trying to motivate them to keep going as they were getting tired. I reflected on how I first learned the phrase from my West Cork granny, and decided to investigate the term a little further.  I grew intrigued to learn this phrase is shared between Ireland and America.



“Hay-foot, straw-foot” was a term my late granny…

From the Team That Brought the World “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” ...

‘Jimmy’s Hall’: Where Anything Goes and Everyone Belongs

Directed by Ken Loach, Screenplay by Paul Laverty, Produced by Rebecca…

Linen Hall Library Baron Godert de Ginkel, commander of the Williamite forces at Aughrim.

DOMHNAIGH -- On…

Each week through Sept. 15, TheWildGeese.Irish will be giving away an official “Jimmy’s Hall” movie poster, courtesy of Sixteen Films and Sony Pictures Classics. (For the U.S. market, not a French edition as pictured here.)

To be eligible for the drawing, you need…

What's in a name? For me it meant finding a deep connection to my Irish roots.  I have an uncommon name, Honora, which elicits questions such as what kind of name it is, how to pronounce it and where does it come from.  My mother named me for her mother, who was also named for her mother.  Although Honora is Latin for "honor" the "H" is not silent.  It rhymes with Lenora.  Last year my mother's sister asked me to research our family tree and I found that my name went back even further than…

Tipperary native among the earliest heroes of the FDNY…

Nonprofit Pieta House's 'Darkness Into Light' walk / run takes place each May in scores of locations in Ireland, in New York City and a growing number of other venues outside Ireland. The mission: to highlight depression among the Irish, wherever they are residing. See …

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…

Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was the son of William McKean from County Antrim who came to Pennsylvania via the city of…