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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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Poll: How Many Maureen O’Hara Films Have You Seen?

Click Here to Help Us Wish Maureen O’Hara a Happy 90th Birthday this Tuesday!

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Home Grown in Ireland

Keeping Irish Traditions Alive

Creamy Irish butter churned from fresh milk using wooden paddles and flavored with salt from the sea. Brilliant craftspeople finding a contemporary place for old-school blacksmithing. Native Irish cows standing only 38 inches tall, yet bred as milk producers and beef cattle. And… at last, a closer look at what really goes into making fresh blood pudding. These are a few topics covered by Ella McSweeney in the Home Grown project.

Home Grown brings traditions in Irish food and farming to radio, online video and social media. The concept centers around a weekly feature on RTE Radio 1′s Pat Kenny Show, but between the episodes, fans are invited to extend the experience on Facebook and Twitter where Ella and the Home Grown community post photos, videos and share their thoughts about a variety of traditional skills.

Building a Home Grown Ireland Community

Since I’m someone interested in “real” Irish traditions in contemporary Ireland, I find the radio segments fascinating and superbly produced. Meanwhile, the casual nature of the videos and photos on Facebook are doing their part to connect people and celebrate the individuals who are keeping traditions alive. Fans are also invited to contribute by sharing their stories in nostalgic food and farming from around Ireland.

Get in touch with Ella by email homegrown@ireland.com or join the HomeGrownIreland Facebook page to share your memories, recipes, photographs and stories. Be sure to scroll through the history on the Facebook page to see all the content (links, audio, video, discussions), and if you enjoy it, click the “LIKE” button at the top of the page.

TWITTER: www.twitter.com/rtehomegrown
AUDIOBOO: www.audioboo.com/homegrown
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/pages/Home-Grown-Ireland/104399489615609?v=wall&ref=ts

Photo credit: Dex Info – www.dex-info.net/origart-wilson1918_106.htm

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Two New Blogs Covering Ireland Travel

Two new Irish travel blogs have popped up recently, and we’re enjoying the extra dose of Ireland travel information. And even better… although the blogs are new, they come from reliable sources: Discover Ireland and Engaging Ireland.

Discover Ireland – http://blog.discoverireland.com
The Discover Ireland blog shows that the Irish tourism body has embraced the blogosphere (better late than never, right?), and they’re doing a nice job with it. At the moment, Lisa G posts link-rich posts covering events, sites and places in Ireland.

Engaging Ireland – http://dailyblog.engagingireland.com/
Meanwhile, Travis and Kathy from the Engaging Ireland podcast have created a new area on their site for travel news and information. They’re keeping them short, sweet and useful.

So, here’s two more sites to add to your regular blog-reading. Enjoy.

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A Day in Kilkenny City

We made a quick stop in Kilkenny and caught Sunday mass in Irish (10:30 at the Capuchin Friary Church on Friar Street).

Here’s a peek at a few of the sites in town… St Canice’s Cathedral, St Francis Abbey Brewery, St Mary’s Cathedral, St John’s Cemetery, Kilkenny Castle, Grace’s Castle/Courthouse, the Parade, the Hole in the Wall, the medieval gate and wall and Rothe House.

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