Two hearts, a dot for each child and one unbroken line. Here’s what the Celtic motherhood knot means, how to show your children in it, and the honest story of…

What the Celtic love knot and Serch Bythol mean, how old they really are, the documented love knots of Chaucer, sailors, Welsh lovespoons and Scottish brooches, and how to choose…

The Celtic shield knot is sold as the Celtic symbol for protection. The four-cornered shape really is carved on early Irish and British stones, but the name and meaning are…

The Dara knot is named after the Irish oak and stands for strength. The knotwork method is early medieval, but I found no Dara knot before the internet age. Here…

Two hands, a heart and a crown. Here’s what the Claddagh ring means, which hand and which way to wear it, and the real Galway story behind it, with the…

Thinking of spending Christmas in Ireland, or coming home for it? Here’s the season week by week, 2026 market dates checked with the organisers, what’s open on the 24th, 25th…

On 26 December, masked figures in straw once knocked on Irish doors with a rhyme about a tiny bird. Here’s the story of Wren Day: how to say Lá an…

Spiced beef is Ireland’s Christmas cold cut, and Cork’s above all. Here’s what it is, why Cork claims it, how long to simmer a bought joint by weight, and a…

The classic Irish Christmas cake, made weeks ahead and fed with Irish whiskey. One reliable recipe in grams and US cups, every oven setting, a countdown from baking to icing,…

Merry Christmas in Irish is Nollaig Shona duit to one person and Nollaig Shona daoibh to a group. Here’s how to say it, how to reply and what to write…

Lough Tay in the Wicklow Mountains looks like a pint of Guinness from above, and the Guinness family owned the land around it for 82 years. Here’s the real story…

On 17 November 1953, the last community on the Great Blasket left for the mainland. Here’s why the Kerry island was evacuated, the books its people wrote, who owns it…

The clurichaun is the solitary Irish fairy who drinks your best wine and moves house with you. Here is what Croker, Yeats and the Irish dictionary actually say about him,…

Galore, shamrock, whiskey, banshee and Tory all came into English from Irish or Gaelic. Here are 27 words with the Irish behind each one, how to say it and when…

From the aos sí and the banshee to the dobhar-chú and Balor of the Evil Eye: 23 Irish mythological creatures, grouped by type, with their Irish names, a plain way…

A changeling in Irish folklore was a fairy left in place of a stolen child or young wife. Here are the signs people looked for and the harsh “cures” they…

Ireland’s vampire, Abhartach, was first printed in full in 1869, and he never drank a drop of blood. Here’s what the old sources really say about him and the Dearg…

An easy Irish tea brack for Halloween, with metric and US cups, every oven setting and a safe way to hide the ring. Then what the ring and tokens meant,…

How to say Happy Halloween in Irish to one person or a crowd, how Samhain is really pronounced, what trick or treat is in Irish, plus 35 dictionary-checked Halloween words…

Here are 90 Irish Halloween jokes, from the banshee, the púca and the ring in the barmbrack. There are clean jokes for kids too, plus knock-knocks, one-liners and riddles recorded…