At the Ould Lammas Fair boys were you ever there

Were you ever…

Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame! -- W.B.…

The oldest harp on which the ‘official’ national emblem of  Ireland is based is housed in the Long Room at Trinity College, Dublin. Two other medieval harps that have also been preserved from that era, are housed in The Museum of Scotland: The Queen Mary Harp 15th century - and the Lamont Harp [date being…

The shamrock is thought by many Irish people globally, to be grown exclusively in Ireland, in…

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…

Who was Molly Malone? . . . That is a very good question, a question that has had many historians baffled, and continues to be debated by experts in this field for many a decade. Stranger than fiction, an inspiration to many millions of people all over the…

Irish Fashion

Customs & Traditions…

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…

'You look like the wreck of the Hesperus' was a much-used phrase in our house in Loughrea, 20 miles from the sea at Galway Bay. Boys, well you know boys, they never comb their hair, never wash their hands, wear the same clothes forever. . . . You know the…

Like their economy, which was based on planting, growing and harvesting, the Celtic calendar was centered around the Sun and agriculture and determined by a lunar calendar. The four major feasts were…

In the early evening they would gather in the grove, beneath the sheltering embrace of the sacred white oak tree. The Master had carefully dowsed the area, and had chosen it for the serene beauty and…

Both of my parents were from County Donegal here in Ireland, and there can’t be many areas more deprived and remote…

I am Gullion, old as time itself, older than the pre-dawn of life, forged in the crucible of a ring of fire, before man existed. Up here the air is pure and fresh and crisp as the frost of winter’s breath. I’ve seen it all from up here, here by the…

Growing up on Long Island with two Irish-American parents was not a particularly Irish experience. Carmel Quinn records played on our stereo and were appreciated by all. My father regularly annoyed my mother by listening to bagpipe music. The truth…

Tinteán Tréigthe no.19, oil on canvas, 2016

Now if you’re searching for your great grandmother’s cottage in the country, you can follow the map to a certain extent, but, in the end, you just have to ask someone. So, after driving a crooked mile up a crooked mucky roadeen, searching for the dot beside the ‘S’ of…

Dont miss your classic Official Irish Harp Pin™ at:

Buy your classic official Irish Harp Pin under this link…

On the first day of February, somewhere in Ireland, a ewe is born and peacefully nestles…

New Year's Eve (Oíche Chinn Bliana)

These days, when we think of New Year, parties, champagne and celebration spring to mind. Once upon a time however, it was more about getting through a quiet night. The New…

Cuireadh do Mhuire was composed by Máirtín Ó Direáin (1910 – 1988), the great Irish language poet from the village of Sruthán, on Inis Mór (Inishmore), the largest of the Aran Islands, in Galway Bay.

Ó Direáin penned this beautiful and delicate…