Imbolc (or Imbolg); the first day of spring in Ireland! Imbolc also marks the publication of this wonderful new memoir In Ordinary Time by Carmel McMahon. While this is the first year we have a public holiday to mark it, this day has long been associated with Saint Brigid, one of the three Patron Saints of Ireland. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. Many of us who grew up in Ireland …
Category: Irish History
Our Bad Bridget book emerged from our research over many years in many different archives and libraries in North America. It tells the story of the Irish migration experience through …
Small Things Like These by Irish author Claire Keegan is one of the six-strong shortlisted books for the Booker Prize 2022. There are various reasons as to why this belongs …
A few years ago, I was researching an article about mother-and-baby institutions in Ireland for my job at the BBC and had gotten stuck. The assignment felt like wading through …
How different are we from the people who lived a thousand years ago or more? We all experience certain fundamental, universal emotions: grief, love, joy, despair. Sometimes we have to …
The Winter Guest is set in early 1921, at the height of The War of Independence- a messy, brutal war with no front lines, that often placed Irishman against Irishman. …
It all started, as many stories do, when I was looking for something else. While writing a previous book, I consulted the genealogy section of Clare County Library’s website for …
Serendipity is a wonderful thing. Without it, I would never have written A Little History of the Future of Dublin. Trevor White, director of the wonderful Little Museum of Dublin, …
Jo Kerrigan tells us how her latest book came about. Over the past twenty years or so, Richard and I have been exploring Ireland’s scenery and history for our books. …
Unconsecrated Ground If you want to find a cillín, you have to know what you are looking for. There will, in all likelihood, be no signpost or gate. It’s best …
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