I am surely not the first Irish emigrant to have heard these words from their heartbroken mother. Guilt at the impact of my decision to leave Ireland and grief at the loss of my beloved mother are central themes in my poetry collection…

Hello everyone! 

Please allow us to introduce ourselves: we are The Irish Workshop, an online marketplace for authentic Irish gifts made by craftspeople and artists from all over Ireland. …

Why in the world would I want to go to Ireland? There are so many reasons why I can barely focus to write a coherent response.

Ireland has always been a place of great intrigue to me for as long as I can remember. I was born with red hair. No one else in my classes in elementary school had red hair. I felt like a pariah. I didn't fit in at school, and even though my father had red hair as well, I didn't fit in there either.

For most of the people in my small class, matters of…

Ken and Antonette Kaufman came on a Wild West Irish Tours special "Emigrant Trail Ancestry Tour" to find his family roots. Here is his story:

As long as I can remember, I have had a desire…

Those of us who are involved in long term genealogical research note that ages recorded on census returns and, indeed, on death records are frequently found to be quite inaccurate. There may be many reasons for such inaccuracies, not least because some individuals may not have known…

This is part four in a series of articles on "Searching for Your Irish Ancestors" written by Ireland-based professional genealogist Nicola Morris of Timeline Genealogy. You can find the other installments of this series…

The scarcity of 19th century census returns for Ireland means that we genealogists place a huge emphasis on census substitutes. What is a census substitute ? My colleague, John Grenham explains it very well when he states, "Almost any document which records more than a single name can…

From ancient archeological treasures and industrial history to notable personalities, transportation and sporting memorabilia; Carlow County Museum is a treasure trove for the history buff, genealogical researcher and tourist alike. Read…

In our genealogy classes, we often investigate the origin of the surname.  In one case, this led to an interesting historical fact about the phrase “The Real McCoy.”

McCoy: “A common surname of Scottish origin in…

The mention of Irish land and property records causes many people to switch off and say that their people never owned property in Ireland. Indeed, it is true to say that very few people in 18th and 19th century Ireland owned their own property!

However, a wonderful…

We in The Wild Geese social network, now 13 months old, are experiencing a swell of interest and passion in exploring Irish ancestry among our growing membership. No surprise, considering that we as a community have already produced thousands of pages of content -- articles,…

We are pleased to announce the debut of the latest members' group here in The Wild Geese community.  The "Irish Ancestry" group is open to all members of The Wild Geese, and will become the hub for all things relating to ancestry and genealogical research.  Within this…

The Inspiration

Without doubt, it was my grandmother who first inspired me to set up shop. Her name was Kitty O Shea (not the Kitty O Shea I hasten to add but just as memorable!) and she was born in Macroom, County Cork in 1900. The…

The following is a transcript taken from the LIVE Community Chat chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Tuesday, December 10, 2013.  The focus for the discussion was The Certificate of Irish Heritage.  We were joined by…

Congratulations to the winners of the three gift vouchers each redeemable for a Certificate of Irish Heritage:

Mark…

Beltane (“Bealtaine” in Irish) is a festival with ancient origins traditionally celebrated on May 1st, a spring time festival of optimism.  Most commonly it is held on the first day of May, or about halfway…

By Gerry Regan / The Wild Geese

Mineola, N.Y. -- Fifty years after JFK’s visit to Ireland and his…