The Cúirt Literature Festival in Galway thrilled bibliophiles again this year.  Here is a recap of a few events that I was able to enjoy:

'Noir by Noir West'



This event was the launch of a collection of short fiction by 30 Irish authors.  The book’s…

John Millington Synge was one the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival towards the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century.

Like Lady Gregory, Synge was also a dramatist portraying the Irish on stage as a means of reviving interest in Irish heritage and…

I recently sat down with the Director of the Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Dani Gill (picture above).  The Cúirt festival is in its 29th year here in Galway, and they have gone from strength to strength as one of the premier literature festivals in all the world.  Writers and…

Brooklyn, 1925 - On Christmas night just south of the Gowanus Canal at 154 20th Street, the bodies of three young men were found at a ramshackle saloon known as The Adonis Social Club. One of them had been dragged outside, evidenced by the long blood streaks on the sidewalk, and left in the gutter.…

Enjoying its final year as a 20-something-year-old (the festival was founded in 1985), the 2014 Cúirt International Festival of Literature is back and ready to satiate the appetites of literature enthusiasts from all over the world.  Running from Tuesday, April 8th…

 The Wild Swans at Coole

by William Butler Yeats

The trees are in their autumn beauty,

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight the water

Mirrors a still sky;

Upon the brimming water among the stones

Are…

Following on from the Belleek video in our series of Meet the Makers Videos here on The Irish Store is our trip to Ogham Wishes Workshop in the remote village of Knockcroghery in County Roscommon in March 2014.

Ogham writing is Ireland’s ancient script. It can still be…

When the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) marched up Fifth Avenue in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade it should have been crystal clear, if it wasn't already, that this parade is incompatible with any serious effort to support Irish freedom. The PSNI is the…

Instead of playing to the tired, old, and clichéd stereotype of St. Patrick's Day being all about how much green beer one can drink, let's…

Light of the Diddicoy

A Novel by Eamon Loingsigh

Published by Three Rooms Press Trade Paperbacks

Release Date:…

John Montague is one of Ireland’s best known contemporary poets. He is the author of many books of poetry, stories, memoirs and essays. In his work Ireland is a recurring theme and in many of his poems he draws on his experiences as a young boy in Tyrone (for example, in The…

It's funny, but when I mentioned to a close friend that I was going to be reviewing this book, she said "Oh, I found all of that on Ancestory.com". Fair enough. Some people visit one website and are satisfied with the history they come away with. For my friend (being third…

Granda had a 'thing' about the church — he was excommunicated during the Irish War of Independence for carrying a gun, and that turned his head. Even though Bishop Harty took him back to the fold afterwards and blessed him and everything, Granda never went back spiritually. He just…

The tale of Tristan and Isolde was one of the most influential romances in the medieval period. It predated and influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Originally, the Tristan legend had nothing to do with King Arthur, but shortly…

From Easter 1916 until the bitter end of the Civil War, County Kerry was embroiled in bloody conflict. Now, for the first time in…

It's time for the next offering in our popular Irish-themed interactive crossword puzzles feature, "Crosswords at the Crossroads."   

This time around, we focus on Valentine's Day.  We've pieced together the most Irish Valentine's Day crossword puzzle you'll ever come…

Love In a Time of Turmoil

It could rightfully be considered in an inauspicious start to a great love story, when years later one half of the storied couple reflects on the day of their…

Typically, anyone who is familiar with Irish literature is acquainted with James Joyce. Most have read Dubliners and some brave souls have even managed to plow though Finnegans Wake and actually got something out of it.  He, like most well-known writers, are known…