One May afternoon a few years ago my wife asked me to come for a walk in the woodland just outside Carndonagh, the Donegal town where she was born. She wanted to show me where she and her friends had played when they were children. By the time we reached the wood, the dull day had brightened and everything around us…

By John Yacobian

Special to TheWildGeese.com

John Yacobian, producer for Grace Pictures' documentary, "An Unreliable Witness," offered tips on travel to Ireland's spectacular north country—Derry, Donegal, and Antrim for us back in 2004.

(Right: The author at Donegal's Horn…

Gustavus Conyngham is known to history as the “Dunkirk Pirate,” but that was the name the British gave him. It was not a name that he ever would have given himself. He thought of himself only as, Gustavus Conyngham, USN (United States Navy). He was never, in fact, a pirate. He was a commissioned officer in the new U.S…

By John Yacobian

Special to TheWildGeese.com

(First published in 2004)

When people tell me they are headed for Ireland, I always encourage them to go north, to see Derry, Donegal, and Antrim, and…

Steeped in mythology and folklore, Tory Island stands roughly 9 miles off the coast of Donegal in the Wild Atlantic Way's north west. Arriving there by boat, you might be lucky enough to be met by the charismatic figure of Patsy Dan Rogers, the locally elected King of the island. …

Tell us why YOU want to experience the ‘Wild West’ of Ireland, and you might win a free 9-day trip there, courtesy of Wild West Irish Tours and WOW Air. Get the details!…

In 2011 my wife, Lindy, and I spent two weeks in Donegal, staying in a cottage near Killybegs. One of our most enjoyable days during that two weeks included a boat trip to see the cliffs at…

The wildest county in Ireland's "Wild West" is little known to a lot of  visitors to Ireland, because it's not on the well- worn, u-shaped trail that many tourist take between Shannon and Dublin. That's a reason why Donegal's blend of mountains, lakes and seacoast have…

Ancient Ireland had many forested areas and when felled the roots remained.  Those sites are mainly the boglands of today.

The bogwood was easiest detected in these bogs in the early morning as it was known that the morning dew didn’t rest on the section of the…

Check out our past quizzes here.

Between the years of 1845 and 1852, Ireland’s population was reduced by about 20% due to the impacts of the Potato Famine, also known as The Great Famine or in our native language ‘An Gorta Mór.’  It is…

"Burying the Child" by Lilian Lucy Davidson

by …

Garden City, N.Y. -- “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” is the opening verse of a song sung by Tara O’Grady at the Irish Cultural Society meeting on December 10,…

In 1587, the English inside the Pale (a fortified district around Dublin) were concerned about the Irish whom they had not yet brought under their control – especially in Ulster. The Ulster clans were an independent lot, and something had to be done to insure their non-interference…

In keeping with the Tory Island theme ...

This is a video on the Musical culture of Tory.  It's part of a series of programmes released in 2009 exploring the rich musical culture of Ireland's islands.

Found in the seas off the coast of Donegal, Ireland's most northern county, Tory…

Earlier this year Fáilte Ireland has launched a new tourism initiative called the Wild Atlantic Way.  It is geared both for international tourists and the domestic tourist and you may have seen the sign posts – a jagged line representing waves on a blue background which are dotted along the western coast of the country. The Wild Atlantic Way is the longest signposted coastal…

When I first heard the phrase "boutique hostel," I figured it was a bit of marketing gimmickry at work. I mean, hostels were bottom-of-the-barrel, right? I suspected the word "boutique" was in line to replace "charming" and "lots of character" for describing accommodation that wasn't quite up to par.

Well, this summer I got a taste of modern hosteling,…

The  following is a transcript from the LIVE Community Chat held here at TheWildGeese.com on Friday, June 13, 2014 with with Michael Regan-Waugh of…