Posted by Liam | 5 Comments

Maureen O’Hara’s Birthday Interview with RTE

Earlier this month, film legend Maureen O’Hara celebrated her 90th birthday. Especially for the occassion, Irish television featured an interview with her and have posted it on their website.

Watch the interview at www.rte.ie/news/2010/0816/nationwide_av.html

You are also welcome to send her your belated birthday wishes via the Irish Fireside Birthday Greeting.

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Posted by Corey | 1 Comment

Where Are All the Irish?

I recently penned a Letter to the Editor to select Irish newspapers. Since there’s no guarantee they’ll post it, I thought I’d post it here as well. Have a read…

Dear Editor,

Last weekend I attended Irish Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was surprised and disappointed by the almost nonexistent representation of Irish regional tourism at the 30th anniversary of the largest festival of Irish culture in North America.

Aside from Tourism Ireland, only County Clare was present to promote the Republic. In contrast, Northern Ireland sent representatives from Belfast, Newry and Mourne, Down, Banbridge and the Causeway Coast and Glens.

Gone are the days when

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Posted by Corey | 0 Comments

The Story of Barack Obama’s Irish Roots

While much attention has been placed on President Barack Obama’s African ancestry, he also claims family ties to Ireland. Through the lineage of his mother Ann Dunham, Obama’s family history can be traced back to 18th Century Ireland and the Kearney family of County Offaly, then Kings County.

One part of the family had relocated to Dublin and prospered in the wig industry. Meanwhile, the family members in Offaly had been successful enough to purchase property rights in Moneygall and Shinrone around 1800.

By the time wigs fell out of fashion, the Dublin Kearney’s had already taken on other established professions. The most notable Kearney of

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Posted by Corey | 0 Comments

U.S. Presidents with Irish Roots

My visit this summer to Barack Obama’s ancestral town of Moneygall in County Offaly got me thinking about other presidents with ties to the Emerald Isle. With just bit of basic research, I spotted Irish ancestry among half the U.S. Presidents, and I’m sure that with a bit more digging, one could make a few more connections as well.

This collection of U.S. Presidents claim ties to

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Posted by Corey | 0 Comments

Arizona Rose Votes Cliffs of Moher & Grand Canyon for New 7 Wonders of the World

Danielle McBurnett is doing her part to promote her home state of Arizona AND the country of her ancestry by voting for the Cliffs of Moher and the Grand Canyon for the New 7 Wonders of the World.

Danielle is among 32 finalist vying for this year’s Rose of Tralee title which will be awarded this Tuesday in Tralee, County Kerry. While representing Arizona, she made not one but two visits to the Cliffs of Moher. Danielle said, “I’m delighted to have the chance to see such a spectacular work of nature as the Cliffs of Moher. Both the Cliffs and the Grand Canyon, back home, truly deserve the description of ‘Natural Wonder’. I hope voters for the Grand Canyon also vote for the Cliffs and vice versa.”

Links between the Cliffs of Moher and Arizona are strong. Clare’s County town of Ennis has been a Sister City to Phoenix for 22 years. A further connection lies in the fact that the First Aid facility at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience named “Nicolas Room” has benefited from substantial fundraising by Phoenix couple Delia Garcia-Stokes & Kelly Stokes in memory of their newborn son Nicolas, whose brief life ended at the Cliffs of Moher in 2006.

Danielle, who works as a registered nurse at the Arizona State University Center for

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