On a cold, stark night in August 1588, as a fierce gale subsided and the clouds slowly parted, light from a full autumn moon revealed a horrific scene strewn along the shoreline of Streedagh Strand in County Sligo, Ireland. The drowned corpses of 800 doomed sailors, washed up by the raging Atlantic Ocean waves, lay…

I seem to be always thinking, dreaming, planning my next trip to Ireland.  Born and brought up in an Irish/American family, Irish references, jokes, songs and the inevitable quote have always been a part of me.  The neighborhood where I spent the first 20 years of my life was full of "comeovers", the Sugrues', Hogans, McElroys', Costigans', O'Grady's of my childhood told many a story that always fascinated me, creating a yearning that was finally satisfied in 2007.  A grand trip with my…

Tell us why YOU want to experience the ‘Wild West’ of Ireland, and you might win a free 9-day trip there, courtesy of Wild West Irish Tours and WOW Air. Get the details!…

Every couple of years this man would come to Loughrea, County Galway and set up shop on the footpath outside Molloy's Harp Bar on Main Street. He was an itinerant blade grinder, or knife sharpener.

Folks would get wind he was in town and quickly a queue would…

When visiting the West of Ireland, consider making time to explore County Leitrim.  This lesser-known gem is the homeland of my ancestors, and I first traveled there in 2008.  In addition to the beautiful countryside, lakes, and waterfalls, County Leitrim is home to …

There are many surprises to be found in Ireland's "Wild West," and one for me that was completely unexpected was to see eagles and other birds of prey flying above the countryside in County Sligo.

I happened upon Ireland's Raptor Research Centre after visiting the monument…

County Sligo (from the Irish Sligeach, meaning "a shelly place")  has a long history. First that can be recalled is the existence of middens along the coastline by Balisodare Bay (noted as the place that inspired William Butler Yeats's poem 'Down by the Sally Gardens' where he heard an old woman sing the opening lines).

The Culleenamore Middens are part of the earliest…

Trish O'Donnell-Jenkins and Michael Regan-Waugh operate Wild West Irish Tours, based in Richmond. Photo taken Wed. Feb. 18, 2015.

BY RANDY HALLMAN Richmond Times-Dispatch

Richmond husband and wife Michael Regan-Waugh and Trish O’Donnell-Jenkins want to introduce you to some of their dear friends — their dear, talented friends — in Ireland.  …

You can imagine my surprise when I saw a large piece of wood washed up on Streedagh Strand recently. (For more information on the ongoing discoveries at Streedagh Strand go to Grange Armada Development Association …

Wild West Irish Tours on Irish radio, TV and newspapers!

Michael Regan-Waugh on Irish TV

We are grateful to IrishTV.ie, Clare FM radio, The Clare Champion, and  Raidio Corca Baiscinn –…

Mary Kate Neill was born on June 11th, 1900 in the tiny township of Graiguenaspiddoge in County Carlow. The 1901 census shows her ten months old. Her mother was Catherine or Kate Neill (née Cullen) aged 38, and her father Michael Neill aged 51. Born in 1850 just after the potato famine of 1845-7, he was a blacksmith. Graiguenaspiddoge was a row of 28 houses beside a main road in the countryside,…

On a Picture of a Black Centaur by Edmund Dulac

by W.B. Yeats

Your hooves have stamped at the black margins of the wood,

Even where horrible green parrots call and swing.

My works are all stamped down in the sultry mud.

I knew that horse-play, knew it for a murderous thing.

What wholesome sun has ripened is wholesome…

There are more than just Christmas lights illuminating the darkness as the sun rises on the Winter Solstice in Ireland. On December 21, a marvelous event occurs at Bru na Boinne. On a hill in the Boyne Valley of County Meath stands a complex of three monuments to the early…

Innismurray Island is, perhaps, the gem of the Wild Atlantic Way and is certainly a place where Wild West Irish Tours loves to bring visitors. Steve Hogan was one such visitor this…

Ken and Antonette Kaufman came on a Wild West Irish Tours special "Emigrant Trail Ancestry Tour" to find his family roots. Here is his story:

As long as I can remember, I have had a desire…

The murder had made a big stir from the start, despite the  mayhem in Dublin a few years earlier. The police photo in situ shows a large crowd gathering to stare, and according to reporters they flocked to see the body in the back shed of Lamb Doyle’s public house outside…

Well, we did it. It was hard, but overall I conducted myself with class and rehearsed for hours with an array of talented, crazy people. It was so challenging as a first-time producer and director but what I got was a tight show that told the story. The story has always been my…