On this day January 7, 1841, John "Red" Kelly, the father of the infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, was sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing two pigs in an effort to feed his starving family. The judge handed down the harsh sentence at the Cashel quarter sessions in County Tipperary. He…

It was thirty-three years ago this week that I made my first trip to Ireland. I planned it to coincide with the Puck Fair, one of the largest fairs in Ireland that takes place annually August 10-12 in…

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…

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 world, not only for her singing of "Cockles and Mussels" as she plied…

It was well past sundown in a village named Bethlehem, just beyond Jerusalem, in the hills of Judea, on a surprisingly mild winter’s night.

Now the Roman occupiers of the kingdom of Israel required that all men go to their own towns…

Fionn mac Cumhaill is a main character from ancient Irish legend from the 3^rd century AD. He was a warrior, a chieftain, a poet and seer. Often referred to as Finn McColl, Finn MacCoul, Finn Mac Cool, Finn McCul, Fin McCool or Fionn…

I hope that my examination of the stories in this series show that Irish myths and legends are not museum pieces to be taken out once in a while, dusted down, admired and then put back in a glass case. These stories are the living companions to our daily lives. They…

Lir is known to many as the father of the boys and girls turned into swans by their wicked step mother Aoife in "The Children of Lir." This is the story I only tell on very rare…

Whether ancient legends or modern family tales, the stories of Ireland and Scotland have all played an important role in my life. They give me great pleasure and they help provide the…

In days long gone, at a time that is long past, there was a king of Wales called Bran, the Raven.  It was a time of war, and Bran the King sought the strength of an alliance with Ireland.  So a marriage…

Given the history of Scotland and Ireland - two sibling nations with fierce and loyal ties to each other but also marred (and often scarred) by bloody disagreement, rivalry and the power politics of these islands - it…

I am a very lucky man. I live on a hill in Galway surrounded by a landscape and seascape filled with myths and legends, and make a living doing what I love - telling stories and writing books, mostly about (or influenced by) the older tales of Ireland and Scotland. Yet, I would be…

Ger, a chara...Just for you:

Long ago when the Tuatha De Danaan lived in Ireland there was a great King called Lir. He had four children--Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiacra, and Conn. Fionnuala was the eldest and she was as beautiful as sunshine in blossomed branches;…