Kissing a wife or lover under the mistletoe at Christmas is derived from an old Roman custom that honored the god Saturn. The Romans associated mistletoe with peace, love, and understanding and hung it over doorways to protect the household, as well as protection from witches and demons. Hanging…

In July 2013, I was honoured to give an oration at the graveside of Fr. John Bannon. The following, though long, is the text of my speech. Regards, Liam. (This post is part of a week-long series I've titled, 'Their Stories, Our Heritage, Not Forgotten', in honor of Irish Heritage Week 2020.) 

Commemoration…

This month we remember Irishman Oliver Plunkett, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, who was hung, drawn and quartered, on July 1, 1681 at Tyburn Gallows, London. That barbaric act made him the last Catholic victim martyred as a direct result of the devious ‘Popish Plot’ instigated…

Reverend Peter Cooney, CSC

Praise to the Lord in all His glory.

Last week, owing to the confluence of three events -- a massive head cold (no fever), our COVID-19 pandemic quarantine and the Lenten season -- I determined…

Born in Dublin in 1856, Laurence Carroll worked his way across the Atlantic, hoboed across the States from New York to Chicago via Montana to San Francisco, worked as a sailor on the Pacific Mail to Yokohama and wound up in Asia, where he became an…

 Youtube VIew my Video : http://youtu.be/oT0oOa0jx28  

Ireland has a centuries-old, rich and proud history defending its people and attempting to take back control of the Island for the native population (predominantly Roman Catholics)…

I see his blood upon the rose

And in the stars the glory of his eyes,

His body gleams amid eternal snows,

His tears fall from the skies.…

When Fr. Sylvester Malone died Dec. 29, 1899, almost at the very end of the century, it signaled the end of an era not only for the Catholic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn but also for the entire neighborhood. A beloved and respected figure among all local residents, Fr. Malone (pictured…

Does human nature translate divinely?

Have you ever had lunch with a Jewish mother? “Have I mentioned my son David graduated valedictorian from high school and is now on full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University? (About 14…

26 Common Irish Sayings

The following is a compiled list of 26 common Irish sayings with their translations below written by The Irish Store.

You may find these useful to save confusion & hassle when crossing paths with an Irish person.…

What comes to mind for you when you hear the words “St. Patrick’s Day”? Green, I’d imagine; probably spirits, soda bread, and so on – but have you ever thought about…teeth?

Most people associate the loss of teeth with things like aging, nightmares, or even tooth faeries – but what if instead of a…

"In eighteen hundred and forty-four

I landed on the Liverpool shore

Me belly was empty me hands were raw

With working on the railway, the railway

I'm weary of the railway

Poor paddy works on the railway"

(from Poor Paddy on the Railway by The Dubliners…

I've managed to get myself to a country where there is no St. Patrick's Day Parade -- not even an Irish embassy, just an honorary consulate. I suspect March 17 will be a little quieter than I'm used to. 

I am alive and well and enjoying Amman -- and so far, Amman seems to be enjoying me.

I'm settling in --…

Ships, Real and Imaginary

It’s a piece of rock with a wonderful beginning.

A cause for marvelling in a right of its own.

Formed deep in the magma of earth.

Mainly composed of quartz, the colour of light

And feldspar carrying the…

When St. Brendan got back from his travels discovering America in a small wooden and leather boat around 564 AD, he wrote a book in Latin, 'Navigatio Brendani' or 'The Voyage of Brendan', which, some 900 years later (1477) convinced Christopher Columbus that there might just be something out there beyond the western…

We're celebrating St. Brigid's Day with a special offer for Wild Geese members on bronze St Brigid's Crosses made in Ireland, in time for world-wide shipping before 1st February 2017.

Order deadline for shipping in time for St. Brigid's Day (1st February)

World-wide = 18th January 2017

U.K. = Thursday…

In the centuries after Christianity came to Ireland, when the only Christian Church was the Roman Catholic Church, it thrived there. In the Dark Ages it was monks from Ireland, "the island of saints and scholars," studying in Ireland and then moving out around Europe that helped preserve European civilization. But from…

This story took place between 1920, when the Benedict Nuns arrived at Kylemore, and 1922, when the Black and Tans left Galway after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty in December 1921.

Patrick Carney, my father, was born in Cornamona, County Galway, in 1900. He was one of several young men in the area who championed the cause of Irish…