I just recently came across these lovely colourised photos from circa 1930 which depict life as it was for most folks in Connemara and in the Claddagh area of Galway Town.  What's striking, to me, is that the lifestyle shown would not have been much different even 100 years (or more) earlier!  The conditions of rural Ireland all the…

Linen Hall Library Lord Charles Cornwallis had already lost one colony, and his reputation wouldn't survive the loss of another.

LUAIN -- On September 8, 1798,…

An article on the Ogham Alphabet appears in the current issue of the Hedgemaster, the newsletter of the Irish Cultural Society.  The article can be found on the Society's web site under Archives: irish-society.org. 

The Celtic nations consist of:

Wales (Brythonic)

Cornwall (Brythonic)

Brittany (Brythonic)



Ireland (Gaelic)

Scotland (Gaelic)

Isle of Man (Gaelic)

In the beginning, the Celts were divided into different subsects who lived on the European mainland. One group made their way to Ireland whilst another group settled in…

In June of 2013, Chetham's LIbrary in Manchester, England published an album, containing about 120 excellent prints of coastal scenes of rural Galway. Many of them were dated to 1879.  Founded in 1653, Chetham’s Library in Long Millgate, Manchester, is the oldest public library in…

The image above on the left is a detail from Richard Bartlett's A.D. 1602 map of Ulster showing the inauguration of the O'Neill chief/king at Tullyhogue, County Tyrone. Bartlett has been called, "…

NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE IT: RFE INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD O'RAWE

(First published 2/23/12) …

Ultonia Regiment of the Spanish army, toy soldiers by "The Warrior Irish."

DOMHNAIGH -- On August 11, 1744, during the…

(First published on 2/10/12) Seattle-based author James Francis Smith, 78, found his current calling after he retired from a career in industry and finance.  He has been writing historical fiction for the past 10 years, starting with “Western…

The following is a transcript of the LIVE members' chat hosted here at TheWildGeese.com on Monday with Producer and Director Valerie Lapin Ganley.  Some editing has been applied for clarity.…

Linen Hall Library Daniel O'Connell

MÁIRT -- On August 6,…

The National Gallery of Ireland Patrick Sarsfield, by William Mossop

LUAIN -- On July 29, 1693, units…

By Joe Gannon

On our recent trip to Ireland my wife and I visited a small museum in Killasser, Swinford, County Mayo, which should be on the itinerary of anyone who is ever in the area and is interested in Irish history and culture. The greatest treasure at Hennigan's Heritage…

As a writer I often find that inspiration comes from the strangest of places. But none so odd as that for my ebook, "…

Linen Hall Library Mary McCracken's ill-fated United Irishman brother, Henry Joy.

MÁIRT -- On July 8,…

We Irish have many 400th anniversaries, but few that can celebrate a happy event, given the state of our nation back in 1613. Leading Gaelic nobles had been exiled, their lands, especially in Ulster,  planted with foreigners, their people destitute, dispersed to the forests and hills of Donegal, or  emigrants, camped…

Galway City has historically been among the "most Irish" of all Irish towns/cities -- some would even argue that it would top that list.  For evidence of this, one need look no further than Galway's unofficial slogan, Croí Cultúrtha na hÉireann,…