When at 18 or 20, or in my case 24, you fly away on the adventure of a lifetime, you aren't thinking of your future self. When I first winged my way to Australia, I had no inkling where it would lead. Or all the losses it would lead to. For me. For my…

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…

Because I once lived in a small town in Connemara, at the gateway of the Irish-speaking area called the Gaeltacht, I look for those novels that depict the region as it is, for once one has spent significant time there, its ways and means register in the…

In April 2004 I was launching my first novel at the Irish cultural centre in Hammersmith, London, when a lady came over to me and shook my hand.

“I think I may be your cousin,” she said. “My name is Ethna Herron.…

NOW RANKED #1 NEW RELEASE ON AMAZON’S IRISH MEMOIRS!!

REVIEW RATING OF 5-STARS!!

LAUGHTER, TEARS &…

I’ve spent a lot of time this past year talking about guilt, about exile and return, and about mammies, and about the guilt mammies can instil in their offspring when said offspring return from self-imposed exile, which was usually to escape said mammy’s…

A clean “Memory Slate,” brought to this earth,

Shining and new on the day of our birth.

A special place to chronicle and store,

Experiences formative, new and enticing.

Many of them significant…

Because I once lived on the western coast of Ireland, and because author Lisa Carey moved to the island of Inishbofin, off Ireland's west coast to research her first book, I've been following her career for many years. I've loved each of her four Irish-themed novels, and eagerly awaited the February 7th release of her latest, "The…

Ships, Real and Imaginary

It’s a piece of rock with a wonderful beginning.

A cause for marvelling in a right of its own.

Formed deep in the magma of earth.

Mainly composed of…

IRISH SOCIETY WRITING CONTEST

The Irish Cultural Society announces its annual writing contest for students in the 9^th through 12^th grades in the Nassau County high schools. …

'Christmas is coming; the goose is…

Anna Margaret Ross (née McKittrick; 8 December 1860–2 February 1939), was an Irish writer,  who used the nom de plume Amanda McKittrick Ros. She was born in Drumaness, County Down, on December 8, 1860.  She holds the…

For Part 2 in my series on research sites for my book, The Prince of Glencurragh, I find that my content does not show up well in this application. I invite readers to view the latest instalment by following the link below:…

My new blog series covers sites in Ireland I researched for my latest novel, The Prince of Glencurragh, starting with Kanturk Castle.

September Update: Making a Difference

Our book signings at the Landmark Tavern, and Kilkenny's went well as a whole. We just received a Matching Gift from Marion O'Neill our newest Patron @ PSEG. See www.fracturedatlas.org

Mark your calendar's for a William Carlos Williams event In Rutherford, NJ on 9/17/16. WCW Poetry Symposium event…

And there are among them composers of verses whom they call Bards; these singing to instruments similar to a lyre, applaud some, while they vituperate others. -- Diodorus Siculus, 8 BCE

All poets have the uncanny…

Seamus Heaney, considered by many to be the greatest Irish poet since William B. Yeats, texted his wife Marie a few hours before his death: “Do not be afraid!” How comforting these words were to her I do not know. They seem, however, appropriate words for a…

Within the written she resides 

in quiet assurance of her place. 

Lithe and languid, with regal mien, 

she glides from the page bearing gifts.

The mantle, flowing through the…

On a July day nearly 130 years ago, an unknown and homesick young Irish writer trudged along a busy London street. He stopped suddenly and stood still, for he thought he could hear the tinkling of water in the midst of the bustling thoroughfare.…

In Louisiana, they use the phonetically pleasing word lagniappe to denote a little something extra. Typically, a lagniappe is a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or for good measure as a way of saying thank you. I’ve…