Irish Heritage & History

Irish sayings are short pieces of folk wisdom, blessings and toasts passed down for centuries. The most famous is “May the road rise up to meet you”. Below are 125 …

This week in my weekly top Irish poem it is number 81 called “A Cradle Song” by Padraic Colum.  O men from the fields,Come gently within. “A Cradle Song” first …

TG Lurgan’s Irish-language take on Avicii’s Wake Me Up, sung by Stiofán Ó Fearail and Coláiste Lurgan students in 2013. Here’s the video, the story behind it and how it took off.

25 Irish Christmas facts and traditions: pubs closed on Christmas Day, the candle in the window, a pint for Santa, the Christmas swim, Wren Day and Women’s Christmas.

Sláinte is how you say cheers in Irish. Here’s how to pronounce it in Munster, Connacht and Ulster, what it means, what to say back, the Scottish slàinte mhath, Irish pub toasting etiquette and eight more toasts in Irish with plain pronunciations.

A Celtic knot is a continuous, interlaced pattern with no beginning or end. That endless line is why it stands for eternity: eternal love, loyalty, faith, or the cycle of …

Where the name Ireland comes from: Éire, the goddess Ériu, Hibernia, Erin, the Emerald Isle and the official name of the State.

Yes, Wallabies in Ireland! Not just in a Zoo but living wild. I somehow had no idea that wallabies were living in Ireland.  At first, I thought it was a …

Many of you know just how big an Irish wolfhound can get. But these lovely people have shared just how big they can get on Instagram. I have included a …

Mac, Ó and Fitz explained, plus the Gaelic, Viking, Norman and Scottish roots of Irish surnames, the 20 most common names with meanings, the top 100 from the 1901 census, the top name in every county, and free ways to trace your own.

Have you kept the idea of doing one of these Irish road trips on the sideline? This article will give you some of our personal best insights into what you …

Now you might be saying “ahh sure St Patrick’s day is ages away!” But it comes around fast: check how many days until St Patrick’s Day.  You could argue that …

Let’s face it; these Irish phrases seem quite apparent to most of you reading. But have you ever been to a foreign country and asked: “where’s the JAX!?” and been …

Leap Castle’s Elemental, the Devil at the Loftus Hall card table, Kilkenny’s 1324 witch trial and the Hellfire Club above Dublin. Here are 15 haunted places in Ireland, each with its ghost story, its real history and a plain note on whether you can visit this Halloween.

The hidden symbols at a glance The Celtic cross at Killea, Co. Donegal: about 100 metres long, planted by forester Liam Emery and first spotted by pilots and passengers flying …