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Cork the Real Ireland

Posted on Aug 24, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on Cork the Real Ireland

In West Cork one of the great advantages we have is the “Real Capital” of Ireland in Cork City on our doorstep. Since moving to West Cork I have got to know and love Cork City. Love it for its human scale, dynamic youth culture, independent retailers, great bars, theatre and music. Situated on islands […]

George Stokes, Irish physicist and mathematician

Posted on Aug 13, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on George Stokes, Irish physicist and mathematician

George Stokes was born on this day in Sligo in 1819. The Irish physicist and mathematician was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University from 1849 until his death in 1903. George Gabriel Stokes is one of three great mathematicians associated with Ireland in the 19th century. If Boole translated classical logic into algebra, while […]

Dan Breen: The shadowy Gunman

Posted on Aug 11, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on Dan Breen: The shadowy Gunman

One of the most famous fighters in the fight for Irish freedom, Dan Breen was born on this day in Grange, Donohill, Co Tipperary. He was an iconic IRA figure in both the War of Independence and also the Civil War. On 21st January 1919 under the leadership of Séamus Robinson his unit launched an […]

GAA needs to up its Game

Posted on Jul 19, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on GAA needs to up its Game

Organisers of the Liam Miller charity match have been refused permission to host the game at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. A host of former Manchester United, Celtic, and Republic of Ireland stars are set to play the tribute match in aid of the family of the late Corkman at Turner’s Cross on Tuesday, September 25. The […]

Bastille Day and the revolting Irish

Posted on Jul 14, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on Bastille Day and the revolting Irish

Today, Bastille Day 14th July 2018, is the 229th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille Prison in France. It is hard to recall the French Revolution without thinking of the response of the Chinese Premier Chou En Lai, who when asked what he thought was its impact answered “It is too early to tell!” When […]

Bloomsday 2018

Posted on Jun 15, 2018 in Dublin | Comments Off on Bloomsday 2018

Bloomsday, the day named after Leopold Bloom, the dapper central character in Ulysses, is being celebrated in James Joyce’s hometown of Dublin on Saturday 16th June 2018. That is the day in which Bloom took his meandering stroll through Dublin city in the literary classic, which is set on one day, June 16, 1904. […]

Ireland of the Skinny Dippers

Posted on Jun 11, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on Ireland of the Skinny Dippers

Women gathered in the glorious Wicklow sunshine yesterday afternoon and managed to raise hundreds of thousands of euro for charity and set a new Guinness World Record for a skinny dip in the process. Over 2,500 women have stripped off and broken the world record for the largest mass skinny dip. A total of 2,505 […]

Those rowing O’Donovan Brothers from Skibbereen

Posted on May 12, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on Those rowing O’Donovan Brothers from Skibbereen

It is well known that Skibbereen is the biggest small town not just in West Cork but in the whole wide world, and not just because it is the home of the famous Skibbereen Eagle! Set on the River Illin in West Cork “Sweet Skibbereen” is a place tinged with tragedy and joy. It was […]

Big Tom and his Mammy

Posted on Apr 20, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on Big Tom and his Mammy

Irish Country Music Legend “Big Tom” McBride died this week at the age of 81. I always loved the fact that Big Tom McBride’s group was the “Mainliners” – More innocent times which his nostalgic music spoke to in the great Irish Showband tradition. Tom McBride was no musical genius but his nostalgic easy listening […]

The Skibbereen Eagle and the Czar of Russia

Posted on Mar 20, 2018 in Ireland | Comments Off on The Skibbereen Eagle and the Czar of Russia

The Skibbereen Eagle was a small paper from a very small town in West Cork, Ireland. Once it warned the Czar of Russia who ignored it. Some years later he was out of a job. The rest, as they say, is history! The legendary Skibbereen Eagle newspaper was founded in 1857 in the small town […]