The Bear Flag Revolt, was from June to July in 1846. American settlers in California rebelled against the Mexican government and proclaimed California an independent republic.  After the Bear Flag  was…

‘Mad Mike’ Hoare believed you get more out of life by living dangerously. And yet about 35 family and friends gathered in Durban, South Africa, on 17 March, St Patrick’s Day, to honour Mike as he turned 100 years old. Among them were five of the Wild Geese who fought with him in the Congo in the…

John Colter’s leg muscles were burning and his lungs were aching, but he kept his legs moving. As he glanced over his shoulder he could see that most of the Blackfoot warriors chasing him were far behind now, but there was one far ahead of the others, and he was closing the distance. Blood was spotting the grass…

A quiet thread of melancholy hovered over me as I made my way to breakfast on the last morning of my Clare-Conemara-Galway tour. And even though I’m glad to be home and see my family again, I’ve left a…

The final day of my Wild West Clare-Connemara-Galway Tour was a quiet wrap-up to a week of history, myth, legend, song and breathtaking sights.

But quiet doesn’t mean dull! Far from it, in fact. It was a perfect day for anyone who,…

I have discovered Heaven.

Another beautiful, sunny day on the …

A heat wave has hit Ireland this week, and I’ve managed to acquire a bit of a sunburn…and I’m having the time of my life!

Today I realized a long-held dream. I took a journey to the top of the world, the edge of the earth, with the hot sun beating down…

A scorcher in the Wild West of Ireland today, as the country enters a heat wave and I headed out upon a journey of spirituality and self-discovery.

Stony outcrop of the Burren, stones in every fertile place. ~ John Betjeman

The…

Another fabulous day in the Wild West of Ireland that brought out the romantic in me!

Our first stop was the “Quiet Man Bridge,” where John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara played out the loves scenes in the movie. What an incredibly lovely place, full of sparkling…

A lovely day for a cruise…and that’s exactly what we did!

We left our B&B early and drove through gently-rolling, sheep-dotted hills, while the clouds chased the sun and the sun chased back in a wind-blown game of “Catch me if you can.” There is no sky quite like an Irish sky!

And as we drove…

The sun shone brightly on the second day of my Clare-Connemara-Galway tour.

We got an early start and headed to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, and it turned out to be a treasure trove of history of the best kind—the way…

But according to our alumni “Wild Westies”; or people who travel with us on a Wild West Irish Tour, nothing is more surprising than these top three [technically four] things:

1. The Fairy Glen…

As of today, you now have the opportunity to virtually visit The Wild West of Ireland.

The Heart of the Wild West!

Wild West Irish Tours…

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…

Pete Hamill, a prolific writer residing in New York City, was born and raised by parents who had emigrated from Belfast, Ireland. Writing about his first trip to Ireland – a journey not taken till he was a grown man -- he talks about boarding the plane as “a newspaperman, trained by vigorous masters to…

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…

It's not easy to follow your passion. It's a terrifying thing to take that step, to put yourself out there, to make yourself vulnerable. But it's liberating too.

For my whole life, my first love has been Ireland- her history, her culture. I've traveled there and filled my bookshelves with books that take me back to a place I…

So you think you know Rudy?

You know he went to Notre Dame, and through sheer perseverance he won a spot on the football squad. Because everyone admired his grit so much, he got to suit up for the last game of his senior year, and he was put in the game for the last two plays. On the last play of the game, he broke through the line and sacked the quarterback. The team lifted him up and carried him off the…

Now I am in the public-house and lean upon the wall,

So come in rags or come in silk, in cloak or country shawl,

And come with learned lovers or with what men you may,

For I can put the whole lot down, and all I have to say

Is fol de rol de rolly O. – Yeats.

                It’s probably a wince-worthy cliché to begin with a Yeats, but I feel that I must. The songs of Ireland have long since compelled me to dance to their rhythm; the fluting of Yeats and…