From the Wild Westie’s owners a message was conveyed,

Win a free trip back with airfare paid!

You need to tell us why you want to return and have it posted,

On the Wild Irish Geese website where the contest is hosted.

So tell us why in a video, picture, or blog on their site,

And wait for a decision as they pick the one that’s just right.

So here is my entry, a story to tell,

Of a magical journey as I drop my poem…

Arise in the morning with a day anew

What new adventures are waiting for you

Chatter and laughter filling the air

Full Irish breakfast is the fare

We spy the blue beastie driving up from the drive

Quickly we get ready like bees in a hive

We board our blue stallion not knowing which way

We are headed towards cloudy…

Photographer Darren McLoughlin has lived in fair Dublin for 15 years and says walking, and more walking, is how he’s really gotten to know his city.…

Endless shades of green everywhere you look

Sounds of water from a babbling brook

Fresh smells the air after a summer shower

As we walk the woods you can feel the power

Of a land whose people love so dear

And with each step taken dwindles our troubles and fears

Soon we gather and board into the Blue Beast

And with steady driver at the helm we head to a pub for a feast

Soon voices, music, and laughter fill the air

And we celebrate…

Ireland's "Wild Atlantic Way" usually refers to the rugged conflux of seacoast and mountains to be found in the western counties. But in the city of Galway, "The Wild West" takes on a different connotation.

Galway, known throughout history as a trading center, has…

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!…

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 …

Last summer my daughter was wearing a shirt she got in Ireland at the local pool.  Another kid asked, “Did you go to Ireland?”  She said yes, she had just returned from vacation there.  He exclaimed, “Wow! What kind of…

Lovely Loophead ~ ©2011 C.E. Devine

Ten years! My how the time has flown, it seems like that was just a few months ago.

It all started quite unexpectedly. In autumn of 2005, I was approached by friends who…

I often tell my friends that the only way I'll ever make it to Ireland is to win the Lottery or to write the great Irish-American Novel. I am disabled, and on a limited income, so there's very little chance to save up for something like this. If I go to Ireland I would like to take my 78 y.o. Mother for the mother/daughter trip of a lifetime. I would like to give her the trip that she and my Grandmother had always hoped to make to my Great-Grandmother’s home. I remember my Great-Grandmother.…

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…

Why in the world would I want to go to Ireland? There are so many reasons why I can barely focus to write a coherent response.

Ireland has always been a place of great intrigue to me for as long as I can remember. I was born with red hair. No one else in my classes in elementary school had red hair. I felt like a pariah. I didn't fit in at school, and even though my father had red hair as well, I didn't fit in there either.

For most of the people in my small class, matters of…

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…

Wild West of Ireland

It seems funny to be visiting the “Wild West of Ireland” and staying in four star B&B’s but there are things in life that when received, you just have to suffer through like soft rain that ends with a lovely rainbow. Give me the open arms and pints of the people of the west, their music, conversation & Sean Nos dance and I will be resting on solid ground no matter…

In September 2013 my partner and I visited Ireland for 23 days, we traveled all around the coastline starting in Dublin, then onto Belfast, Derry, Sligo, Galway, Dingle Cork and back to Dublin. This was a life changing event for me. First it was the realization of a dream, coming from a large Irish-American family, Ireland has always been my dream vacation and I was lucky enough to pool all my time off from work to be there…

On our trip to County Waterford that we won back in 2013, my husband Bill and I  decided to take some extra days and trek northwest while in Ireland, to see the Knock Cathedral in County Mayo. After passing through Waterford we headed up through Tipperary and Offaly before heading into the beautiful Counties of Galway and Mayo, which of course are part of the Wild West of…

Can a person feel connected to some place he or she has never been? Can the place of one's ancestors "call out" to a person from across the world...so that whenever you close your eyes, you feel swept away to those distant shores? Do I have entirely too much imagination? Probably. However, vivid imaginings aside, I DO feel connected very intimately to Ireland.…

In 2011 my wife, Lindy, and I spent two weeks in Donegal, staying in a cottage near Killybegs. One of our most enjoyable days during that two weeks included a boat trip to see the cliffs at…

105 days till you fly to Ireland and spend 8 days of bliss having a devil of a time castles connemara kylemore the cliffs the burren aran islands  dancing  matchmaking  take a look  …