Forty-five years ago, on January 4th, 1976, wanton acts of savage brutality shook the world to its foundations with mindless murder. The first to feel the wrath of the killers on that fateful night, was the Reavey family, who lived in a small cottage near the village of Whitecross, Co. Armagh.

I…

One warm evening in August 1903 a large crowd gathered outside the Custom House in Dublin, Ireland. Nearby, the river Liffey, flowing slowly toward the sea, carried the sounds of the bustling city with it, on its never ending journey, as it had done for millennia. An imposing, well-dressed woman…

A widely respected, much admired, modest, unassuming Irishman played a major role in the development of Atomic Energy. It could be argued that this man’s role in the development of Nuclear physics was so groundbreaking and historic, that several years later, it led directly to the invention of the first Atomic bomb.…

Much has been written about the period of upheaval, sectarian hatred and relentless bloodshed that occurred in the province of Ulster in the north of Ireland in the 30 years between 1968 and 1998. Unless you were there and lived through the madness, it's likely that you have trouble actually…

Irish Volunteer Seán Hogan gazed out the window of the train toward the distant Galtee Mountains to the south. It was early evening on May 13, 1919. The train had just pulled out of Emly, County Tipperary, headed toward the small town of…

I'm a musician by trade but have also worked a good bit in documentary film over the last few years. Hy Brasil, as well as being the title of my new album, is an island from Irish mythology. "That shadowy isle" appeared on maps until the 1860's until they realised that it wasn't there at all, as…

Father Felix Varela became the advocate for the Irish immigrants in New York from the 1830s to 1850s. including the famine period.  There will be a celebration of his life at the Church of the…

This poem was penned after the death of King Charles I, who was beheaded outside Whitehall Palace in London on the afternoon of January 30th, 1649, exactly 368 years ago, today. 

"He nothing common did or mean

Upon that memorable scene:

But with his keener eye

The axe’s…

On June 28, 1844 John Boyle O’Reilly, author, poet, and republican was born in Dowth Castle, Co. Meath. Ireland

On October 12, 1867, after picking up cargo from Sheerness and Plymouth harbors, a fully rigged, 875-ton frigate, cast off from her moorings at Portsmouth on the south coast…

When one writer encounters another that blindsides them with staggering awe, the inclination is to rush out and spread the joy with those who love the written word. I feel this way about Billy O'Callaghan and extend deepest gratitude to Gerry Regan and Joe Gannon for allowing me to share this…

When I was asked to write a series of poems for an art exhibition in Australia earlier this year, I embarked on a dark voyage of discovery into the lives of Irish immigrant children 150 years ago.

Image: 'Image Above: Falling' by Jane Theau (2017)

There is a special brand of human misery so steeped…

At the Ould Lammas Fair boys were you ever there

Were you ever at the Fair In Ballycastle-O?

Did you treat your Mary Ann

To some Dulse and Yellow Man

At the…

The next time you visit the East Village in New York City, and if time is on your side, walk to St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery churchyard and give a nod to an Irishman who was initially interred there. The man, a well-known lawyer, also held the prestigious position of New York State Attorney General for a short period of…

I’ve been following author Billy O’Callaghan’s career with rapt enthusiasm, since I fortuitously came across him online, last year. That he is Irish caught my attention, and as I delved further, I discovered he is the author of three short story collections, all of which I’ve read, all of which, to me, are in their own…

Tullaun Castle now has one room up and running: airbnb link read more on it's preservation journey from the below article in 2013.

In Love, Again, with an Irish Historic…

Irish Fashion

Customs & Traditions

 Capes, Shawls and The…

Margaretta Alexandra Eagar (1863 — 1936), was a Limerick woman who served as a nanny

 to the four daughters of Emperor and Empress Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia,

that is, the Grand…

Rainy days, she says, are especially good for business. They make people homesick. (The little cottage you see behind her left shoulder is a little incense burner for peat -- which makes the store smell like Ireland.)…

Nagle Forge and Foundry

Wild West Irish Tours…

The Irish Christmas Wreath

Have an Irish Christmas Dinner…