A 700-year-old Irish hereditary title ended in recent years with the death of the last Knight of Glin. The 29th Knight of Glin, Desmond FitzGerald, died from cancer on September 14, 2011, in County Limerick, at the age of 74. He had no son to inherit his title. The ancient Irish noble title was handed down by chieftains and has been recognized by successive Irish governments.

Glin in west Limerick has been home to the FitzGerald family since the 1300s. FitzGerald was forced to close Glin Castle in 2009 due to ill health. The castle had operated as a hotel in recent years. FitzGerald, who inherited the title in 1949 when he was just 12-years-old, said he was not troubled about the title dying with him.

"The Knight of Glin is a romantic title, it's not much use except for the romance of the story," he said.

FitzGerald was educated at Trinity College and Harvard University and was regarded as a leading figure in Irish architecture and represented art auctioneers Christies in Ireland. He is survived by his wife Olda and his three daughters Catherine, Nesta and Honor. Catherine is married to Dominic West, who starred in the television show 'The Wire.'

Dr Terence Dooley, Director of the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates, said the title of the Knight of Glin was "certainly one of the oldest in the country."

"I cannot think of one that survived for more than 29 generations. His ancestors arrived here with the first wave of the Anglo-Normans in 1169. He was the quintessential scholar and was extremely generous with his knowledge," added Dooley.

The Knight of Kerry -- also known as the Green Knight -- is now the last hereditary knight in Ireland.

Read more: “Wire” star Dominic West and family to convert Glin Castle into boutique hotel

* Originally published in 2011.

Ogham, the ancient Irish alphabet composed of 25 unique symbols, dates back to the 1st century yet traces of it can still be found across the county. Here's all you need to know to understand Irish ancient mysterious code. 

1. The ancient Irish alphabet composed of 25 unique symbols dates back to the 1st century.

2. Originally carved in rocks, it is to be read from bottom to top.

3. The Ogham is inspired by the ancient Irish God of Ogham or “God of Eloquence.”

4. Another interpretation of the word is from the Irish og-úaim or “point seam,” referring to the seam made by a sharp weapon.

5. There are only 400 stone monuments inscribed with the Ancient Ogham (carved from left to right) in Ireland and Britain with the majority of the Irish ones to be found in Counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford.

6. Nicknamed the “Celtic Alphabet Tree,” the main twenty letters of the text are of tree names sacred to the druids including birch, willow, oak, hazel, and apple.

7. The stone-based languages are known as “primitive Irish.”

8. The Ogham is confirmed in the 15th-century book "The Book of Ballymoote" to be a secret ritualistic language.

* Originally published in 2013. 

British Pathé news footage gives the world a glimpse into the relatively recent (but often forgotten) past of Ireland and the world.

Several clips feature extraordinary footage of Michael Collins, campaigning and as Chief of Staff of the new Irish Army and speaking at a mass meeting.

One of the oldest newsreel film companies in the world, Pathé’s stylized clips were often shown in cinemas, right up until the 1970s. 90,000 historic clips, including the 1937 Hindenburg airship disaster and Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 are free to view online.

Dozens of Irish-related clips are included in the collection, with footage of Irish sporting highlights and many events from the country’s first years of independence from Great Britain.

Here are just some of the snapshots of Ireland’s history this amazing news archive has provided:

No One Can Insult Our Flag (1920):



Description: “Dungarvan, Waterford, Southern Ireland (Eire, Republic of Ireland).

“Intertitle: "NO ONE CAN INSULT OUR FLAG. Sinn Feiners – who had on Armistice Day, of all days, – torn down the Union Jack – were made to parade the village and re-hoist it."

“L/S of an empty town square, armed 'black and tans' escort two men carrying a large Union Jack.”

Great Cork Treaty (1922):



Described as "Great Cork Treaty Meeting. Mr. Michael Collins receives enthusiastic reception from the huge gathering despite salvoes of shots from a few malcontents."

In Memory Of Michael Collins (1922):



Description: “Full titles read: "IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL COLLINS – SOLDIER STATESMAN – AND A MAN."

“Intertitle reads: "The genial personality of Michael Collins made him loved." L/S of Michael Collins amongst crowds of people, he pats small boy on head as he walks past. M/S of group of men standing next to Sinn Fein poster with Michael Collins' name on it. M/S of Collins standing in the ruins of his house. M/S of Collins with older gentleman (possibly his dad ?)”

Ireland's President In America (1928):



Description: “Full titles read: "Ireland's President in America – President Cosgrave... well guarded on all sides... has cordial reception on arrival in New York."”

Ireland 1; England 1 (1956):



Description: “Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

“Start of the international football [soccer] game between Ireland and England…

“Lucky England. Final score – England 1, Ireland 1.”

The New Cork (1927):



Description: “The New Cork. A trip through Patrick Street with its many fine buildings.”

This footage was record by camera fixed to a truck driving along St. Patrick’s Street, in Cork.

Seven years before this footage was taken many of these “fine buildings,” including the City Hall and Carnegie Library, had been burnt by the Black and Tans during Ireland’s revolution. During those seven years Ireland had won independence, descended into civil war, and was beginning to recover.

Road bowling (1957):



The script is pretty laughable but this two-minute piece on road bowling is actually worth enduring. The clip shows Bill Desmond (21) and Joe Ahern (22) playing the traditional sport.

Dublin (1970-1979):



This is a compilation of footage of Dublin streets, shots of vintage neon signs.

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* Originally published in April 2014. 

Some celebrities are obviously Irish - think Conan O'Brien, Denis Leary and Maureen Dowd - while others, like President Obama, are a little harder to spot.

These undercover Irishmen and women may not “look the part,” but that doesn’t mean they’re any less Irish than a pale redhead with freckles.

We present to you the IrishCentral top 10 list of the incognito Irish:

1. Chuck Norris

The world famous Chuck Norris is usually thought of as an American badass who delivers a mean roundhouse kick to people’s faces. The Texas Ranger is the son of Wilma (née Scarberry) and Ray Norris, both of whom are of Irish and Cherokee Native American descent. In fact, Norris’ paternal grandfather was an emigrant from Ireland.

2. Christina Aguilera

This genie in a bottle got lots of attention for her Latin name. According to her Irish American mother: "A lot of people get all in a fuss about Christina wanting to explore her Latin side and not mentioning her Irish side much, but that's only logical," Shelly Kearns told Irish America magazine. "She has no need to go exploring her Irish heritage because she has always known it."

3. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp has enthused about his Irish heritage to Irish newspapers in the past. Depp’s Irish roots come from his mother, Betty Sue Palmer. He is very curious about his Irish side, and once said: “I’d really like to [trace Irish roots], because there’s a part of me that says, hey, I might be related to Phil Lynott or someone great like that.”

4. Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia's name doesn’t sound too Irish, but his ancestry his actually composed of Spanish, Irish and Swedish. The Grateful Dead legend was born August 1, 1942 to Jose Ramon "Joe" Garcia and Ruth Marie "Bobbie" (née Clifford) Garcia.

5. Rosario Dawson

Can’t quite nail down Rosario Dawson’s ethnicity? The gorgeous actress has a mix of heritages to her name: her mother is of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent, while her father is of Native American and Irish descent.

6. Muhammed Ali

One of the greatest boxers of our time, the late Muhammed Ali, born Cassius Clay, Jr., was born on January 17, 1942 to an African-English-American father and an African-Irish-American mother.

7. Alicia Keys

At first glance, this R&B star may not look Irish, but Alicia Keys is the daughter of an Irish-Italian mother and a Jamaican father.

8. Iggy Pop

Add another icon to the Irish list! Iggy Pop, born James Newell Österberg, is the son of Louella (née Christensen) and James Newell Österberg, Sr.  Though Österberg is in no way an Irish name, the punk rocker’s Irish roots come from his father’s side: James Sr. is of Irish and English descent, but was adopted by a Swedish-American family (hence the Swedish surname).

9. Robert De Niro

The man who gave Robert De Niro his name is surprisingly not just Italian – he’s also half Irish. Robert’s paternal great-great-grandfather, Edward O'Reilly, was an emigrant from Ireland.

10. Sofia Coppola

Sofia Coppola is the daughter of famed director Francis Ford Coppola, and a renowned director herself. While she’s done films such as “Lost in Translation” and “The Virgin Suicides,” her family’s legacy is her Francis Ford’s Italian mob classic “The Godfather.” But Sofia’s mother, artist Eleanor Coppola, was born a Neil, and comes from an Irish American family.

* Originally published in 2013. 

On this day, May 12, in 1916, Easter Rising leaders Seán MacDiarmada and James Connolly were executed for their role in the rebellion. 

Last year marked the historic centenary of the Easter Rising, which took place over the course of five days in Dublin in 1916 and forever changed the course of Irish history. To commemorate this anniversary, writer and historian Dermot McEvoy produced 16 profiles of the Irish Rebel leaders who were executed one hundred and one years ago and who, gradually, have come to be seen as heroes.

Between May 3 and 14, 1916 fifteen leaders of the Rising were court-martialed by the British Army under General John Maxwell and convicted. Over two weeks IrishCentral will look at the leaders from James Connolly to Joseph Mary Plunkett and share their stories.

101 years ago yesterday, May 11, there were no executions, but there were two significant developments. In Dublin, according to the Irish Times, “The following results of trials, by Field General Court-martial, were announced at the Headquarters, Irish Command, Dublin: Sentenced to death, and sentence commuted to penal servitude by the General Officer, Commander-in-Chief, Edward de Valera, penal servitude for life.”

Across the Irish Sea, there were fireworks in the House of Commons, courtesy of John Dillon, MP of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who stood up to lambast the British over their secret court-martials and executions:

“I say I am proud of their courage, and, if you were not so dense and so stupid, as some of you English people are, you would have had these men fighting for you, and they are men worth having. ... ours is a fighting race ... The fact of the matter is that what is poisoning the mind of Ireland, and rapidly poisoning it, is the secrecy of these trials and the continuance of these executions ... enthusiasm and leadership.

“[The rebels showed] conduct beyond reproach as fighting men. I admit they were wrong; I know they were wrong, but they fought a clean fight, and they fought with superb bravery and skill, and no act of savagery or act against the usual customs of war that I know of has been brought home to any leader or any organized body of insurgents.

“[...] I do most earnestly appeal to the Prime Minister to stop these executions ... it is not murderers who are being executed; it is insurgents who have fought a clean fight, a brave fight, however misguided, and it would be a damned good thing for you if your soldiers were able to put up as good a fight as did these men in Dublin—three thousand men against twenty thousand with machine-guns and artillery [Heckled and responds] ... we have attempted to bring the masses of the Irish people into harmony with you, in this great effort at reconciliation—I say, we are entitled to every assistance from the Members of this House and this Government.”

The Last Two

Although Dillon’s words may have saved the lives of some rebels sentenced to death, they were too late for two of the most prominent leaders, James Connolly and Seán MacDiarmada. Their fates had been already determined because both had been signatories of the Proclamation and Prime Minister Asquith had already signed off on their shootings: “There are two other persons who are under sentence of death—a sentence which has been confirmed by the General [Maxwell]—both of whom signed the Proclamation and took an active part…in the actual rebellion in Dublin…in these two cases, the extreme penalty must be paid.”

Read more stories on the 1916 centenary here

The executions of Connolly and MacDiarmada would constitute a clean-sweep of those who had put their names to Ireland’s Declaration of Independence.

The Court-martials of James Connolly (Prisoner #90) and Seán MacDiarmada (Prisoner #91) at Richmond Barracks, May 9, 1916 – the two faced the same charges:

CHARGE: 1. Did an act to wit did take part in an armed rebellion and in the waging of war against His Majesty the King, such act being of such a nature as to be calculated to be prejudicial to the Defence to the Realm and being done with the intention and for the purpose of assisting the enemy”

2. “Did attempt to cause dissatisfaction among the civilian population of His Majesty”

PLEA: Not Guilty (both charges)

(The members of the court and witnesses were duly sworn in)

VERDICT: Guilty. Death (first charge): Not guilty (second charge)

Seán MacDiarmada

James Connolly

Epilogue

May 12 marked the last day, for now, of the execution of rebel leaders. In the space of nine days, the British had shot 15 insurgents—but they were not done yet. They still had one more to go—Sir Roger Casement, who would be hanged in London on August 3.

After the execution of the seven signatories of the Proclamation, the theme of “blood seeping from under a closed door” becomes prevalent among the Irish people. The British, in making their point that they would not stand for any more insurrection in Ireland, woke up the deep nationalism that dwells in every Irishman’s heart. The shootings guaranteed that Ireland would be a bloodbath for the next six years.

The only clear reason that can be given for any of the remaining non-signatory executions is revenge. Willie Pearse had basically nothing to do with the planning of the Rising and only held the rank of Staff Captain in the Irish Volunteers (the same rank as Michael Collins). The only reason he was shot was because he was the brother of Padraig.

John MacBride was also a revenge killing. He was shot because he had been a consistent thorn in the side of the British for over 20 years, going all the way back to the Boer War. He only joined the battle on Easter Monday when he accidentally ran into the Volunteers assembling on St. Stephen’s Green when he was on his way to his brother’s wedding reception. Also, the garrison at Jacob’s Biscuit Factory saw less action than almost any other outpost, so the order of execution had nothing to do with British casualties.

The execution of Seán Heuston was certainly a revenge shooting. It seemed that the British were embarrassed that he had out-soldiered them at the Mendicity Institution.

Con Colbert’s death is one of the oddest in that he wasn’t even in charge of the garrison at Marrowbone Lane.

Ned Daly, by all accounts, both Irish and English, did a brilliant military job at the Four Courts and environs. He caused many casualties among the British, but he and his men fought a clean fight. His biggest sin may have been that he was Thomas Clarke’s brother-in-law.

Micheál O’Hanrahan was the titular second-in-command at Jacob’s, but Major John MacBride was really in charge militarily. Also, this was one of the quietest outposts during Easter Week.

Thomas Kent in Cork was defending himself and his family from an onslaught by the RIC in Cork. He was not even active on Easter Monday as Cork remained quiet.

Michael Mallin was in charge of a small force at the College of Surgeons and St. Stephen’s Green but was not spectacularly successful as a military commander.

Roger Casement’s execution by rope was also a revenge killing because of what he symbolized—the utter hypocrisy of the British Empire. He had revealed them for what they were—exploiters of other people’s treasures.

What most of these men had in common is that they were known by the Special Branch detectives of the G-Division, the Intelligence Division, of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. All were picked out because they were known for their activities in the Irish Volunteers. This fact was not lost on Michael Collins. When Collins returned to Dublin from imprisonment in Wales, he made two things his top priorities: 1) Intelligence gathering; and 2) putting together an Active Service Unit—the Squad, AKA, “The Twelve Apostles”—to take care of Intelligence matters. This eventually led to Bloody Sunday 1920 when Collins’ Squad executed 14 British Secret Service agents in one morning. In the end, Collins’ intelligence-gathering was superior to that of the British Empire.

General Maxwell’s brag—“I am going to ensure that there will be no treason whispered for 100 years”—had turned into a match and with that match, he would light the fuse which would blast Britain out of most of Ireland after 700 years.

* Dermot McEvoy is the author of the The 13th Apostle: A Novel of a Dublin Family, Michael Collins, and the Irish Uprising and Irish Miscellany (Skyhorse Publishing). He may be reached at dermotmcevoy50@gmail.com. Follow him at www.dermotmcevoy.com. Follow The 13th Apostle on Facebook here.

He is almost forgotten now, but James Shields, a Tyrone-born Irishman, represented three different states in the US Senate, which is a record. He also almost fought a duel against Abraham Lincoln.

In a year when elections and politics are foremost in peoples' minds, it is worth remembering the amazing career of Shields (May 10, 1810 – June 1, 1879), an American politician and United States Army officer, who was born in Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland.

Shields, a Democrat, is the only person in United States history to serve as a U.S. Senator for three different states.

Shields represented Illinois from 1849 to 1855, Minnesota from 1858 to 1859 and Missouri in 1879.

The Tyrone-born Shields was the nephew of another James Shields, also born in Ireland, who was a congressman from Ohio. The younger Shields came to the United States around 1826 and settled in Illinois where he studied and later practiced law. In 1839 he was named Illinois State Auditor. He was not the most popular auditor, especially with a Republican rising star, one Abraham Lincoln.

Shields almost fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1842. Wikipedia noted that Lincoln had published an inflammatory letter in a Springfield, Illinois, newspaper, the Sangamon Journal, that poked fun at Shields, the State Auditor. Lincoln's future wife and her close friend, continued writing letters about Shields without his knowledge. Offended by the articles, Shields demanded "satisfaction" and the incident escalated to the two parties meeting on a Missouri island called Sunflower Island, near Alton, IL to participate in a duel (as dueling was illegal in Illinois).

Lincoln took responsibility for the articles and accepted the duel. Lincoln had the opportunity to choose the weapon for the duel and he selected the cavalry broadsword, as Shields was an excellent marksman. Just prior to engaging in combat, Lincoln made it a point to demonstrate his advantage (because of his long arm reach) by easily cutting a branch just above Shields' head. The two participants' seconds intervened and were able to convince the two men to cease hostilities, on the grounds that Lincoln had not written the letters.

On July 1, 1846, Shields was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers to fight in the Mexican–American War. He served under Zachary Taylor along the Rio Grande.

Following the war in 1848, he ran for the Senate from Illinois. His election was voided by the Senate on the grounds that he had not been a United States citizen for the nine years required by the United States Constitution: having been naturalized October 21, 1840. He returned to Illinois and campaigned for re-election, and won the special election to replace himself, and was then seated.

In 1855, he was defeated for re-election, so he moved to Minnesota. He was elected as one of the two first Senators from that state, but his term was only from 1858 to 1859, and he was not re-elected.

Shields then moved to California and served as a brigadier general of volunteers from that state during the American Civil War. He commanded the 2nd Division of the V Corps, Army of the Potomac and was wounded at the Battle of Kernstown on March 22, 1862, but his troops inflicted the only tactical defeat of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson during the campaign. In 1866 Shields moved to Missouri, and in 1879, he was elected to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Senator Lewis V. Bogy. He served only three months and declined to run for re-election.

Shields died in Ottumwa, Iowa on June 1, 1879. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Carrollton, Missouri.

* Originally published in 2015.

There is a timeless quality to Ireland that attracts visitors from all over the world. In every county, history is literally all around you, from the ancient stone circles in Drombeg, County Cork, to Reginald's Tower in Waterford City, which dates from the 13th century.

The Irish Archaeology website features a collection of vintage photos of Ireland's Heritage Sites that were taken between 1890 and 1900. The photos have been hand-tinted, which lends them a fascinating, contemporary look. Except for the old-fashioned autos and clothing styles visible in some of the scenes, the photos could have been taken yesterday.

The photos are part of the Library of Congress collection.



01. Glendalough, Co. Wicklow: Founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century AD, this was one of Ireland’s most important early monasteries.



02. Ross Castle, Killarney, Co. Kerry. Built in the late 15th century, this castle consists of a square tower house, with bartizans on two of its corners.


03. The Quays, Waterford.



04. O’Connell Street, Dublin. This street is Dublin’s main thoroughfare and prior to 1924, it was known as Sackville Street.



05. Patrick Street, Cork City: Cork’s main shopping street.



06. Devenish Island, Co. Fermanagh. One of the finest monastic sites in Northern Ireland, Devenish island contains at least three early churches.



07 Reginald’s Tower, Waterford City. Built in the beginning of the 13th century this circular defensive tower is the only surviving building in Ireland that retains its original Viking name.



08 Blackrock Castle, Cork. Located on the outskirts of Cork city this ‘modern’ castle was designed by James and G.R. Pain and built between 1827-29.



09. Carrick-a-Reid Rope Bridge, Co. Antrim. This narrow rope suspension bridge connects the tiny island of Carrick to the mainland.



10. The Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare. These iconic cliffs are located on the southwestern edge of the Burren region.

*Originally published in 2013. 

In January 2014, the US Census Bureau released its annual findings on the state of Irish America. IrishCentral sifted through the data to find you the top ten facts about Irish Americans 


1. Nine signatories of the Declaration of Independence were Irish.

Nine signatories of the Declaration of Independence were Irish, as were over 20 of Washington’s generals, and the first man to hold a commission in the United States Navy. 

Over 190,000 Irish-born Americans fought in the Civil War.

2. Two hundred and fifty-three Irish-born men received a Medal of Honor.

253 Irish-born men have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest honor. That's more than the number of awardees from any other nation.

A monument to these Irish-born Medal of Honor winners is located at Valley Forge's Medal of Honor Grove. The first Irish American to receive the Medal was Michael Madden who was honored for his actions in the American Civil War.

Read more:Numbers of Irish Americans not going down - here’s the proof

3. Over 34 million Americans claim Irish ancestry.

The number of US residents claiming Irish ancestry in 2012 was 34.1 million, seven times the population of Ireland.

The highest percentage of the population in America to claim Irish ancestry was found to be in – where else? – Massachusetts. The 34.1 million does not include the 5 million or so who claim Northern Irish roots.

4. 153,248 people living in the US are Irish-born.

This is the number of people who indicated they were Irish-born on the 2012 census. It is a clear indication that as emigration from Ireland slows, the number of Irish-born continues to shrink. Green card holders and others here on employment visas are not counted within this.

A decade ago. that number was 250,000.

5. Almost 69% are homeowners.

As usual, Irish Americans feel home ownership is very important to them. 68.9 % of those surveyed owned the home in which they lived, the highest for any ethnic group

6. Almost a quarter of Bostonians has Irish heritage.



The percentage of the Boston metropolitan area population that claims Irish ancestry is 24.1%, one of the highest percentages for the top 50 metro areas by population.

Boston is home to the Celtics of the National Basketball Association.

7. Over a third completed higher education.



The percentage of people of Irish ancestry and 25 or older who have earned a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.2 percent.

In addition, 93.4 percent of Irish-Americans in this age group had at least a high school diploma. For the nation as a whole, the corresponding rates were 29.1 percent and 86.4 percent, respectively.

8.  Median income of almost $60.



The median income for households headed by an Irish-American came in at $59,220, higher than the national median of $51,371. In addition, 7.4 percent of family households of Irish ancestry were in poverty, lower than the rate of 11.8 percent for all Americans.

9. There are 16 Dublins in the USA.



There are sixteen places in the United States that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin.

The most recent population figure for Dublin, CA was 47,156.

10. Responsible for the first St. Patrick’s Day in the World!



The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York City, featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English army.

This parade became an annual event, with President Truman attending in 1948. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995 and the President issues a proclamation marking the occasion each year.

 * Originally published January 2014.

The Celtic calendar was based on sacred trees and compatibility between the different tree groupings. The Celts believed trees had sacred properties. Which tree are you?

Birch:

People born from December 24 to January 21.

In old Celtic culture, the New Year started with the defeat of the old year or old king. Compatibility with Willow, Vine and Ivy.

Rowan:

People born from January 22 to February 18.

They are compatible with Ivy and with Hawthorn.

Ash:

Born from February 19 to March 17.

Your best relations will be with Oak and Willow.

Alder:

Born from March 18 to April 14.

Try to know Hazel and Elder. They are perfect for you if you are under Alder protection … A strong protection!

Willow:

From April 15 to May 12.

They are friendly people and get along well with Hazel, Vine, Birch, Oak and Ash.

Hawthorn:

From May 13 to June 9.

Rowan and Ivy are your best friends.

Oak:

From May 13 to July 7.

They are the kings. Oak people have a similar personality to Leo people. They were born to lead.

Holly:

From July 8 to August 4.

Compatibility with Ash and Elder.

Hazel:

From August 5 to September 1.

Compatibility with Oak, Vine, Reed, Willow and Alder. Really nice people!

Vine:

From September 2 to September 29.

Vine represents joy and they get on well with Willow and Birch.

Ivy:

From September 30 to October 27.

A problematic personality similar to Scorpio. People can love them but in fact, they don’t trust anyone.

Reed:

From October 28 to November 24.

Compatibility with Oak and Ash.

Elder:

From November 25 to December 23.

A really conservative personality. Compatibility with Holly and Alder.

* Originally published in February 2014. 

A large pilgrimage route was been discovered in 2014 on the County Mayo island of Caher. The discovery of the medieval pilgrimage “round,” or circuit, shed light on 1,000-year-old religious rituals, say archaeologists.

The rocky island, which lies between the southern tip of Clew Bay and Inishturk, was the site of a 6th and 7th century early Christian monastic settlement. St. Patrick is said to have visited the island after he had visited nearby Croagh Patrick.

The island marks the sea end of Bóthair na Naomh, the so-called saint’s road, up to the summit of Croagh Patrick and down towards the Atlantic. Sailors are said to lower their sails in esteem on passing.

Today, a pilgrimage comprising a circuit of the island takes place every year two weeks after Reek Sunday, the last Sunday in July when pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick.

Pilgrim Mick Cullen, from Co Kildare, told the Irish Examiner: “Some people go to Knock, some more go to Lourdes, some go to exotic places, but I come to Caher.”

However, fieldwork unearthed an outer arc of altars or “leachts,” marking a second, larger pilgrimage circuit on the south and west sides of the island.

The island was abandoned in 1838, archaeologist Michael Gibbons told the Irish Times, and many of these altars are barely visible now.

Gibbons said he matched his field work and aerial photography with records collected in the 1940s by Brian McLoughlin of Cleggan, Connemara, housed in the archives of the Irish Folklore Commission, which describe some of these pilgrimage stations.

Portions of the circuit would have been in use “almost into living memory," he said, and the entire round “represents a now rare example of a form of religious devotion stretching back at least a millennium on Ireland’s Atlantic coast.”

Gibbons told the Irish Examiner that Caher is linked to nearby High Island and to Inismurray in Co Sligo, all outposts of Christendom beyond which the devil was said to reside and exercise a threat.

The island, which is also known as Oileáin na Cathrach, Cathair na Naomh and Cathair Pádraig, gets its name from a stone rampart, now all but disappeared, enclosing monastic remains above one of its two natural harbors at Portatemple.

The ecclesiastical complex, which according to Gibbons, developed over a number of phases, includes a chapel numerous stone crosses, and a holy well.

One of the more peculiar pieces is a 30-inch high slab, known as Slab A, which is embossed with a large Greek cross above two dolphins.

Gibbons said the late medieval landscape and built heritage of the island is “now among the most valuable in Ireland and is has remained untouched by conservers” and “a good deal of its archaeological heritage remains unmapped.”

Fr Pat Prendergast wrote these words about the island after saying Mass there in 1961: “Caher lies in its ocean home – serene, remote and aloof – a reminder of Ireland’s first fervor in the faith, a challenge, perhaps, to our modern materialistic mode of life; ever beckoning to, and inviting, those who would come aside a little while to rest and contemplate and pray.”

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With the return of some of the best Irish traditions such as Macnas and the growth of our Halloween (or Samhain) festivals, Ireland has become a great place to spend the "Night of the Living Dead". Yet, even if you don't manage to attend any of the organized events, there are plenty of places around the country that will offer a spooky day or night trip at any time of the year. 

With a long and bloody history, Ireland has amassed a massive amount of ghosts (or at least ghostly speculation). 

From specters to strange appearances, here are ten of some of Ireland's most recent encounters with ghosts and spirits:

Are you a believer or a skeptic? Let us know in the comments section, below. 

1. Virgin and Child on stump, Rathkeale

Legend has it that a female specter which haunted the churchyard in Rathkeale, Limerick was so terrifying that all who looked upon her died soon after. A local man banished the ghost by slicing off her arm with his sword and praying for the rest of the night. In an odd coincidence in 2009, the Limerick Newswire reported that a tree stump in the churchyard contains the image of the Virgin Mary and Child and that hundreds of visitors had come to the area to pray.

2. Short Green Men, Galway

Perhaps a leprechaun sighting? In 1992, a fifteen-year-old boy spied two figures, just over a meter tall, sea-fishing on the Aran Islands in Galway. The figures were each reportedly dressed in green and wearing brown shoes and were speaking to each other in Irish before they disappeared. One of the small figures left behind a pipe which the 15-year-old witness took possession of, although it curiously disappeared later despite being “safely” locked away.

3. Waiting Lady at Ardgillan Castle, Dublin

In a location known as The Lady’s Stairs at Ardgillan Castle in Dublin, there have been reports of a recurring apparition of a lady, known as the Waiting Lady. The phantom woman is said to be waiting for her husband, who had drowned one night, to return, leaving his wife waiting on the bridge for him. One version of the story says that whoever sees the Lady on Halloween night will be picked up and thrown into the ocean.

4. Lilac Balls of Light, Dublin

Reports are split as to what these apparent Balls of Light spotted in Glenasmole, Bohernabreena Dublin, actually are. Some locals believe that their lilac color lends themselves to be fairies, while others believe the lights are the manifestation of a lady who lost her way in a snowstorm in the middle ages and died. It’s said that she now manifests herself in these balls of light to guide others home safely.

5. Headless Horseman, Dublin

Roper’s Rest, off Blackpitts Road in Dublin, was the home of Thomas Roper who became Viscount Baltinglass. Local residents have accounted for a headless horseman riding by after nightfall. Although no specific connection has been established between Roper’s Rest and the horseman, it is rumored to be associated with a gruesome incident in which a member of the Roper family died and was unattended to for several days before burial.

Read more: How the Irish ward off evil spirits at Halloween

6. Screams of Spanish Soldiers at Dun an Oir, County Kerry

Over eight hundred Spanish soldiers landed in the area of Dun an Oir in 1580, overrunning an English garrison. Spanish reinforcements failed to come, however, and their victory was short lived when more English troops arrived forcing the Spaniards to surrender and meet their deaths. Their death throes echo around the area on October 1, the anniversary of their defeat.

7. Robed Figure at Kilbeggan Distillery, Kerry

Whiskey isn’t the only spirit at this Kerry distillery. In 2007, several people were reported to have seen a robed figure walking around the site which is the oldest distillery in the world, dating back to 1757. The Westmeath Examiner reports that Derek Acorah, the star of TV`s `Most Haunted` and `Ghost Towns,' said he felt ‘engulfed’ by spirits when he entered the distillery.

8.Weeping Statue in Dungloe at the Kerrytown shrine, Donegal

The Independent reports that on September 29, 2009, fourteen people claimed to witness crosses that formed in the sky above the shrine, before the statue became animated and began to weep. The shrine has become a popular site after producing a religious apparition seventy years ago.

9. War Staff Apparitions, City of Derry Airport

This Derry Airport, formerly known as Eglinton Air Base, was a thriving location in the 1940s as it served as a base during WWII. Staff there have reported seeing figures dressed in World War Two clothing around the airport.

10. Rocking Virgin Mary at Ballinspittle Grotto, Cork

Cathy O'Mahony and her mother observed the statue of the Virgin Mary rocking on its heels on July 22, 1985. The following night they returned with friends who observed the same event. Since this time, tens of thousands of people have visited the shrine in the hope of seeing something. The Independent reports more recently that O’Mahony stands by her observations, despite others ridiculing her.

Have you ever encountered a ghost? Tell us your story in the comments section. 

* Originally published in 2011.

The folks over at NameNerds compiled this handy list of saints’ feast days.

What patron saint’s feast day do you share your birthday with?

(Find your name by pressing control and F and searching for your name, the Irish version of your name or try for your last name.)

January

1 - Oisín, Comnait
2 - Ainfean, Scoithín
3 - Fintan
4 - Fionnait (Feenat), Mochuma
5 - ---------
6 - Muadhnait (Mona), Curnán, Tuilelath (Tallula), Osnait, Díoma
7 - Donnán, Eimhín (Evin), Sean (John)
8 - Fionán, Sárán, Cúach, Neachtan, Bron
9 - Faolán, Guaire, Suaibhseach
10 - Diarmaid (Dermot), Díomán, Tuaimmíne,
11 - Suibhne (Sweeney), Fáilbhe (Falvy), Anfudán,
12 - Conan, Laidgeann
13 - Aillil
14 - ---------
15 - Ide, Aithche, Breac, Darearca, Bláthmacc
16 - Mael Iosa, Dianach, Iarlugh, Líthghein
17 - Molaisse
18 - Aodhamair, Scoth, Bláth
19 - Fachtna, Suibhne (Sweeney), Faolán
20 - Fechín, Aonghas (Aengus), Aona, Sárán
21 - Fainche, Séighín, Brigid
22 - Lonan
23 - Lucan, Canice, Manchán
24 - Gúasacht
25 - --------
26 - Eirnín
27 - Flann, Lucan, Crón, Muirín, Nóe
28 - Meallán, Acobhrán, Cainnear, Eochaí, Bláth
29 - Bláth
30 - Ailbe, Énán
31 - Canice, Aobhnait, Lughaodh, Maolanaithe, Siollán, Adamnan

February

1 - Brigid
2 - Fionnach
3 - Caoilfhionn, Conna, Faoileann
4 - Loman
5 - Fínín (Fineen), Dufach, Liadhnán (Leannan), Ceara
6 - Macha, Mel, Ríofach
7 - Meallán, Loman, Lonan, Tressan
8 - Fiachra, Fáilbhe, Ceara
9 - Caíreach, Ríonach
10 - Dearlú, Siollán
11 - Fionán Gobnat Dubhán
12 - Siadhal, Fionán, Farannán, Lughaidh, Damhán
13 - Fionán, Cúachnait
14 - Manchín (Mannix), Manchán, Fínneachta
15 - Bearach
16 - Aengus
17 - ---------
18 - Aengus
19 - Feichín, Odhrán
20 - ---------
21 - ---------
22 - Feichín
23 - Eirnín
24 - ---------
25 - ---------
26 - Eithne, Becan, Aodhlugh
27 - Comgan
28 - Eirnín, Díocuill, Siollán

March

1 - Baodán
2 - Lughaidh, Conall, Cuan, Finnian, Sléibhín
3 - Conall, Fachtna
4 - -----
5 - Carthach
6 - Cairbre, Brigid, Odhrán, Muadhán
7 - -----
8 - Siadha, Beoaodh Mochonna
9 - Lughaidh, Proinnseas, Séadna
10 - Séadna, Fáilbhe, Kessog
11 - Aonghas
12 - Daghán
13 - Mochamhóg
14 - Caomhán
15 - ---------
16 - Fionán, Bairfhionn (Barrion), Abbán
17 - Patrick, Becan, Faoiltiarn, Tiarnach
18 - Maodhóg, Caomhán, Tommán
19 - Lachtín
20 - ---------
21 - Éanna
22 - Fáilbhe
23 - Mannix
24 - Lughaidh, Manchán, Mochta
25 - Caimín,
26 - Carthach, Garbhán
27 - Mochonna
28 - Cairneach
29 - Eithne
30 - Mochua, Tóla
31 - Faolán

April

1 - Ceallach (Kelly)
2 - Brónach
3 - ------
4 - Tiarnach, Corc
5 - Becan
6 - ------
7 - Sean / Senan / Seanach (John), Fionán, Ruisín, Ceallach
8 - Tiarnán, Cionnaola
9 - ---------
10 - Bercan
11 - Frossach
12 - Eirnín
13 - Riaghail
14 - Tassach
15 - Ruadhán (Rohan), Greallán, Molaisse
16 - Fáilbhe
17 - Donnán, Garbhán, Eochaidh, Lughaidh, Luachán
18 - Laisrean
19 - ------
20 - Donnán, Fáilbhe
21 - Bearach
22 - Ceallachán (Callahan), Tuama
23 - Rían (Ryan), Iobhar (Ivar)
24 - Éighneach
25 - MacCoille, Oilithír
26 - Becan, Donal, Cass
27 - Breacán
28 - Suibhne (Sweeney), Lúithearn, Coileán (Colin)
29 - Énán
30 - ---------

May

1 - Aodhlugh, Breacán, Díocuill
2 - Fiachra, Neachtán,
3 - Cairbre, Bairrfhionn (Barrion), Conlaodh
4 - ------
5 - Faolan
6 - ------
7 - Breacán (Brehan)
8 - Oran
9- Banbhán, Sanctán
10 - Comhghall, Cathal, Cúnla,
11 - Caoimhín (Kevin), Críodán, Laoire (Leary)
12 - Eirnín, Díoma, Oilithir
13 - Damhnait (Devnet), Abbán
14 - Carthach, Garbhán, Mochuda
15 - Muiríoch, Comán, Damhnait, Sárán
16 - Brendan, Oran, Caireach, Fionacha
17 - Finnén (Finian,) Críodán
18 - Bran, Breasal
19 - Richael
20 - ------
21 - Bairrfhionn (Barrion)
22 - Conall, , Baoithín, Luíseach
23 - Criofán, Faolchú
24 - Bercan, Séighín
25 - Dúnchadh
26 - Beccan
27 - Cillén
28 - Faolán, Eoghan, Maolóráin
29 - Briúnseach, Cumman
30 - -----
31 - Eoghan, Eirnín, Maolóráin

June

1 - Ronan, Laobhán
2 - ---------
3 - Caoimhín (Kevin), Maolmhuire
4 - Eirnín, Cassán
5 - Bearchán (Bercan),
6 - Iarfhlaith, Lonán, Faolán
7 - -----
8 - Braon, Murchú (Murphy)
9 - Colm, Amhalgaidh, Baoithín
10 - Bearach, Ainmire, Faircheallach (Farrelly), Feardomhnach
11 - Mactáil, Riaghail, Tochmura
12 - Giolla Easpaig (Gillespie) Tuammíne
13 - Damhnait (Davnit), Coireall, MacNisse
14 - ---------
15 - -----
16 - Séadna,Fursa
17 -Caomhán
18 - Ana, Ninnidh
19 - -----
20 - Cormac, Faolán
21 - Suibhne (Sweeney), Diarmaid (Dermot)
22 - Cronán, Suibhne (Sweeney)
23 - Faolán
24 - ---------
25 - -----
26 - -----
27 - ---------
28 - Eirnín, Cruimín
29 - -----
30 - Caolán (Kelan), Fáilbhe (Falvy)

July

1 - Eirnín,
2 - -----
3 - , Maolmhuire, Breacnait
4 - Fionnbharr (Finbar)
5 - Etain (Aideen)
6 - Blinne, Eithne
7 - Crón
8 - Cillén (Kilian), Tadhg (Teague),
9 - Garbhán (Garvan), Onchú
10 - Cuan
11 - Fáilbhe (Falvy), Lonán, Oliver Plunkett
12 - ---------
13 - Eirnín
14 - -----
15 - Rónán
16 - Scoth
17 - Craobhnait
18 - Fionntán, Fáilbhe, Ceallach,
19 - -----------
20 - Fáilbhe
21 - Curchach
22 - Oisín
23 - Cróinseach
24 - Deaglán (Declan), Comhghall (Cole), , Oilleóg
25 - Fionnbharr, Caolán, Fiachra, Neasán
26 - Tommán
27 - ---------
28 - ---------
29 - Caolán
30 - ------
31 - -----

August

1 - Fáilbhe (Falvy)
2 - Lonán, Feichín, Comgan
3 - Feidhlimid (Fidelma), Dairile
4 - Míonait, Molua
5 - Rathnait, Eirnín, Dúinseach
6 - Lughaidh, Cainnear, Mochua
7 - Cillén, Teimhnín
8 - Curchach, Dáire
9 - Feidhlimid, Laobhán, Naithí
10 - -----
11 - Attracta, Donnán
12 - Iomhar (Ivar), Bríd (Brigid), Laisrean
13 - Laisreán, Muiríoch (Murry), Íomhar
14 - Fachtna
15 - Mac Cáirthinn
16 - Lughán
17 - Beccán, Earnán Trimhnín
18 - Eirnín, Oran, Rónán, Daigh
19 - -----
20 - -----
21 - -----
22 - -----
23 - Eoghan, Giolla Easpaig (Gillespie)
24 - Faolán, Rodán
25 - ---------
26 - Faolán, Comhghall (Cole)
27 - ------
28 - Feidhlimid
29 - -----
30 - Fiachra, Muadhán
31 - Aidan, Aodh (Hugh),

September

1 - Fáilbhe (Falvy), Fiachra
2 - Maine
3 - MacNisse
4 - Comhghall, Fáilbhe
5 - Faithleann, Bricín
6 - MacCuillin, Sciath
7 - Ultan, Eláir
9 - Ciarán (Kieran), Fionnbharr (Finbar), Conall, Ceara, Darearca
10 - Fionnbharr (Finbar), Finnén (Finian, Odhrán (Oran)
11 - -----
12 - Ailbhe (Alby), Laisréan, Maclaisre, Molaisse
13 - Naomhán (Nevan), Daghán
14 - ---------
15 - -----
16 - Laisreán
17 - Feme, Brogan
18 - ------
19 - ---------
20 - ------
21 - ---------
22 - ------
23 - Adhamnán, Lonaing
24 - Ceallachán (Callahan)
25 - Caolán, Fionnbharr (Finbar), Iomchadh
26 - -----
27 - Finnén (Finian)
28 - Fiachra, Diarmaid (Dermot)
29 - Neasán, , Comhghall
30 - Faolán, Lughaidh, Bríd (Brigid), Daighre

October

1 - Glasán, Clothach
2 - Odhrán (Oran)
3 - Nuadha
4 - ---------
5 - ---------
6 - Lughaidh
7 - Comhghall (Cole), Ceallach
8 - Conúil, Corcrán (Corcoran)
9 - Dínertach
10 - Fiacc
11 - Loman, Cainneach (Canice/Kenneth ), Foirtchearn
12 - Fiachra, Faolán, Moibhí
13 - Comgan, Fionnseach
14 - -----
15 - Cuan 
16 - Caoimhín (Kevin), Eoghan, Riaghail
17 - -----
18 - -----
19 - Faolán
20 - MaolEoin
21 - Muna, Marcán, Tuda
22 - ---------
23 - Dalbhach
24 - Lonán
25 - Laisreán
26 - Odhrán (Oran), Béoán, Deirbhile (Dervila), Meallán
27 - Odhrán (Oran), Abán
28 - Suibhne (Sweeney), Abbán
29 - Cuan, Caolán, Cúrán
30 - Feidhlimid (Fidelma)
31 - Faolán

November

1 - Cairbre, Lonán
2 - Lughaidh, Caoimhe (Keeva), Earc
3 - Brughach
4 - -----
5 - Faolán
6 - ---------
7 - ---------
8 - Fionnchán
9 - Aodhnait, Beineón, Fionntán (), Sárnait
10 - Osnait, Aodhnait (Enat)
11 - Cairbre, Dubhán,
12 - Lonán, Eirnín
13 - Eirnín, Odharnait (Orna), Caillín, Faoileann
14 - Lorcan
15 - -----
16 - -------
17 - Aonghas (Aengas)
18 - Rónán, Beoeodh, Míonait
19 - -----
20 - Fraochán
21 - Garbhán (Garvan)
22 - Meadhbh (Maeve), Éimhín 
23 - -----
24 - -----
25 - Fionnchú
26 - -----
27 - -----
28 - -----
29 - -----
30 - Caoimhseach

December

1 - Nuadha, Neasán,
2 - Mainchín (Mannix)
3 - -----
4 - Bercan
5 - -----
6 - Cian, Beirchart, Neasán, Meallán
7 - Buite
8 - Fionán
9 - Feidhelm (Fidelma) Mughain Budoc
10 - Scannlach
11 - Eiltín
12 - Finnén (Finian), Dúinseach
13 - -----
14 - Eirnín
15 - Mughain
16 - Beoc
17 - Díochú, Díocuill
18 - lannán, Ríonach (Riona), Éimhín (Evin), Séanait
19 - Samhthann
20 - Eoghan, Fedhlimid (Felimy), Eoghanán
21 - -----
22 - Éimhín (Evin), Abban
23 - Eirnín, Rónán, Fedhlimid (Fidelma)
24 - Maolmhuire, Mochua
25 - ------
26 - Iarfhlaith (Iarla/Jarlath), Laisreán
27 - Fiach
28 - Feichín
29 - Maodhóg, Mainchín (Mannix),
30 - -----
31 - Éanna

* Originally published in 2013. 

One of Ireland's greatest songs, 'Danny Boy,' turned 100 in 2013. To mark the occasion, a BBC4 television documentary, 'Danny Boy: The Ballad That Bewitched The World,' explored this great, timeless anthem.

Although the song is most closely associated with the world's Irish communities, it was, in fact, written by Englishman Frederic Weatherly.

“I believe that for 'Danny Boy' to have had such a huge cultural impact, it has to have tapped into the fundamental stuff – emotions and experiences that affect us all. 'Danny Boy' is certainly about loss, departure, even death. But crucially, it’s also uplifting – offering us that tantalizing hope of a possible reunion with the departed," the film's director James Maycock told Mojo4Music.com.

“So there is definitely an emotional equilibrium, a yin and yang, at play. Indeed, in the film, musician Joe Jackson explains how the song itself shifts from major to minor keys. Just as the 'Danny Boy' lyrics flit between sadness and optimism, so its music is melancholic but also contains a hugely rousing, life-affirming chorus. Intriguingly, the highest note of that big chorus is reached on the line – ‘come ye back’ – exuberantly underscoring the chance of meeting again, accentuating the positive.

“Inevitably, the song has resonated most with those who have experienced loss – loss that includes ‘losing’ one’s own country – but who still believe in a bright new day. So 'Danny Boy' means a great deal to members of the Irish diaspora forced into exile, particularly in the States. Black Americans, too, have recognized the loss-hope dynamic in the tune. It’s cathartic, like the blues.

“What particularly intrigued me when I started making this film was the number of versions recorded by country artists. It didn’t feel like coincidence. I knew they weren’t covering 'Danny Boy' just because it was a standard. They had to be tapping into the heartbreak center of the song.

“In the film, I use Johnny Cash’s 1965 recording of 'Danny Boy' as the prism to investigate the appeal of the song to country artists. His daughter, Rosanne Cash, speaks of why it’s such a natural fit for poor white southerners and their tough, intense lives. While Larry Kirwan of the Irish-American band, Black 47, explains how 19th Century Irish immigrants brought their fiddles and music to the Appalachians. This subsequently influenced bluegrass – then country. With an ancient Irish tune, the 'Londonderry Air,' at the song’s musical heart, it was all beginning to make sense.

“Songs like 'Danny Boy' that last 100 years are rare. They appear simple, but are beautifully complicated. You need a bunch of keys to unlock the mysteries of 'Danny Boy,' but I believe one of its most essential elements is its emotional dialectic – loss and hope, joy and pain, sunshine and shadow – and these lie at the very center of all our lives.”

Here's Andy Williams singing the much loved tune:

And if you think you're already a pro and know all there is to know about Danny Boy, especially its lyrics, why not try out our "Danny Boy" quiz? Be sure to let us know how you do in the comments section.

The first known recording of JFK speaking has emerged from Harvard University.

The then-20-year-old future President was recorded giving his thoughts on the appointment of the Alabama Senator Hugo Black to the US Supreme court by President Franklin D Roosevelt.

JFK, in the same clear and confident voice that carried him to the White House, began by saying, “We all know the circumstances surrounding Mr. Black’s appointment to the Supreme Court.”

Continuing, “Whether Mr. Black’s appointment to the Court is the correct one is hard to say. It was evidently made in the heat of presidential anger at conservative elements who did not back Mr. Roosevelt’s [unintelligible] plan.”

Read More: First major exhibition marking the centenary of JFK's birth opens in DC

Strikingly, unlike today, courtesy titles such as ‘President’ or ‘Senator’ are not used. Instead, the two politicians are called ‘Mr’, a practice that has gone out of style.

He then takes the time to rubbish Black’s behavior, telling the crowd, “Mr. Black’s stand for the last few months, few weeks rather, that has been one of secrecy. Something that a Supreme Court Judge should not be expected to do.”

He then admonishes him for his membership of the Ku Klux Klan, saying that his membership of the organization was, “of the utmost importance to the United States [given] the path of the Supreme Court the last two years.”

Kennedy’s reservations about Black, however, were ultimately not shared by the Supreme Court, although his membership of the KKK led the usually genteel Senate to shake of precedent and debate his appointment. Whereas such a process is normal and expected in the modern era, for decades prior to that the Senate had confirmed Presidents’ nominees with minimal fuss.

Black was eventually confirmed 63-13 and took his seat on the Supreme Court, where he would remain for 34 year years.

Read More: JFK's only grandson on life, Obama, and Caroline Kennedy in government 

Once capped in the black gown of a justice he confounded many of his critics with his support for Civil Rights; he joined the unanimous ruling in Brown v Board of Education that deemed segregation in US schools unconstitutional.

However his judicial philosophy would be hard to characterize as that of a hardline liberal; he refused, for instance, to join with colleagues to rule the death penalty unconstitutional, noting that the fourteenth and fifth amendment to the Constitution made reference to the taking of “life”, thus rendering the practice constitutional.

What do you think of the earliest known recording of JFK? Share your thoughts on listening to it in the comment section. 

Almost a century on, Connemara will commemorate nine fishermen who were killed after unknowingly towing a British landline ashore.

Nearly 100 years ago, several south Connemara fisherman spotted a “strange object’ floating in Galway Bay. Thinking it was something that would bring them good fortune, they opted to tow the  “barrel-shaped” device with “handles on each side” to shore, resting it in shallow waters until low tide, the Irish Times reports.

People gathered around the curious object, which one witness described as “black” and “like a big pot” with “spikes sticking out.”

On June 23, 1917, the Galway Express reported that the object was rolled along the sand and one of the fisherman “undid something”, and saw “a long thing coming out like the tube of a bicycle.”

The explosion could be heard over 15 miles away in Galway city. It also wrecked houses in the nearby townland of An Lochán Beag, and almost four miles east in the village of An Spidéal, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barrack windows were shattered.

Nine men aged between 17 and 53 were killed in the blast.

Seventeen-year-old cousins Éamonn and Pádraig Ó Laoi came from Na hAille, as did 20-year old Mánus Ó Fatharta.

The other men killed were Éamonn Mac Diarmada (53), Tomás Hoibicín (30), Seosamh Ó Flaithearta (32), Tadhg Ó Céidigh (30) and Colm Ó Feinneadha (18), all of An Lochán Beag, and Peadar Ó Cualáin (17), of An Teach Mór.

One man, Joseph “Joe Hughie” Flaherty, who was bleeding badly and would suffer for years with shrapnel in his spine, was able to stagger from the shore, while another man who had left the site to feed a horse is also considered a survivor of the explosion.

The newspaper, at the time, wrote a graphic account of the scene, saying there was “hardly a trace of bodies.” The paper described how the boot of one of the men was discovered a mile away.

► VIDEO: Nine fishermen who were killed by a sea mine in Connemara have been honoured 100 years after their death https://t.co/adHz5PgXsjpic.twitter.com/DdP2wMfffH

— Irish Times Video (@irishtimesvideo) May 5, 2017

The next day an inquest was held in Thigh Mhaimí Costello – now An Poitín Stil – at An Lochán Beag, where authorities rushed to say the mine was of German origin.

The families of the deceased had no legal representation at the inquest.

“By stating that it was a German mine, there was no compensation available from the then British government, and a local collection raised a small amount of funds for the families,” says Pádraic Mac Diarmada, grandson of Éamonn Mac Diarmada, whose wife was left with eight children to raise alone.

Two of the men were buried locally in Cnoc cemetery in Indreabhán, the others were buried in the “paupers’ section” of the city cemetery at Bohermore.

The Irish Times reports that the mine was quickly removed from the scene, but one piece, found in the soil by a man digging potatoes, remains. Its number, 454, was recorded.

Six months after the blast that killed the nine men, another mine at sea near An Spidéal, destroyed the fishing vessel the Neptune. That incident too was said, without evidence, to have been caused by a German munition.

Members of the Cairde Chuimhneachán “An Mine” commemorative committee say that at the time of the explosion, Galway Bay was laced with British devices.

Brendán Ó Tuairisg, whose father was a juror at the inquest, said the coroner tried hard to establish this and even summoned a British navy officer to testify.

Fifty years later, a plaque, listing their names, was made to remember the nine men.

Over the years, access to the beach area became overgrown and flooded, and the tragic event was never discussed locally.

Today, the commemorative committee has worked to clear the shore and resurface the lane leading down to “An Mine” from the Cois Fharraige road, the Irish Times reports.

The plaque, which has been restored, will be reset in a boulder, which will have nine flagstones leading up to it.

The committee also hopes to mark the men’s grave in Bohermore cemetery, and a series of events have been planned June 15 -18 to mark the centenary.

Committee member Donncha Ó hÉallaithe says he has researched reports filed by the RIC on microfilm and has found no mention of the explosion in area documents for June and July 1917.

“Yet, curiously, in the RIC reports, there was mention of hurley matches at Na Forbacha several miles east,” he says.

“It suggests there was a deliberate policy to suppress the truth.”

H/T: The Irish Times

Editor's Note: Today (May 13) has been dubbed Leprechaun Day. Today of all days we thought it might be time to remember where the legend of the Leprechaun came from. Not Lucky Charms breakfast cereal or Darby O'Gill but rather the ancient Irish story of the little sprites and their appearance in the saga of Fergus mac Léti. Enjoy the tale from an expert.

I work in The National Leprechaun Museum here in Dublin. The museum is dedicated to Irish folklore and mythology and brings guests into these areas through traditional storytelling. I myself have a great passion for myths and legends from across the globe and am always happy to both hear and share stories from far and wide. That's why I'm delighted IrishCentral have asked me to share some of Ireland's greatest tales with you all each week.

Ireland has some of the greatest folks tales found anywhere in the globe. They have a special place in our hearts and these tales have helped shaped the country and its people through the years.

The leprechaun is easily the most famous of them all, and for better or for worse has become a symbol instantly associated with Ireland for people in almost every nation. The image of him sitting at the end of a rainbow, making shoes, and protecting his crock of gold is in all of our minds. But his beginnings didn't exactly match this.

The first time that a leprechaun was mentioned in our tales he was more of a supporting character. He appeared in "The Saga of Fergus mac Léti," which was recorded in the 8th century. The story focused on Fergus, The King of Ulster, and his many adventures.

The tale spoke about Fergus falling asleep on a beach after much traveling. While he slept, a group of water sprites called lúchorpáin emerged from the sea and attempted to drag the King into the sea with them.

Their name means “little bodies” and these creatures were the first versions of Leprechauns in our tales.

When the ice cold water hit Fergus, he woke up and snatched the tiny creatures in his hand. He had heard that they could grant wishes, so he made a deal with the lúchorpáín– in exchange for their freedom, Fergus would receive three wishes. They quickly agreed, and the three wishes were granted. One of these was to be able to breathe underwater. It was granted, but there was one thing Fergus had to remain aware of – the power would not work in Loch Rudraige.

Fergus was a headstrong character, so he doubted this and sure enough went swimming in Loch Rudraige. He was amazed to find that he could indeed still breathe while exploring the lake, but soon he realized that the lúchorpáin were just trying to protect Fergus, as the lake was home to a gigantic sea monster called the Muirdris. The Muirdris had a massive mouth that was so large he could touch between his shoulder blades with his upper lip.

The King was terrified of this beast, so much so that his face was permanently contorted in fear from that day. He escaped and made his way back home, but his men were stunned. Fergus had no idea of what had happened to his face nor that the impact it would have upon his life (disfigurement would prevent him from ever becoming the High King) would ultimately destroy him. They decided to keep the details a secret from him and ensured that every mirror in his kingdom was covered up, preventing him from seeing his face.

As Fergus grew older he became a cruel man and the servants in his home grew to resent him. One servant had had enough and after being whipped by mac Léiti she revealed the truth about his face to him. He was furious and realized he could never be a High King. He craved revenge and made his way back to Loch Rudraige to find and kill the Muirdris. He fought with the monster in the most epic of battles. It was so hard fought that it raged on non-stop for two days. When he killed the monster there was so much damage done that the lake itself was red with blood.

Fergus may have won, but he was so weak from fighting for so long that he did not have the energy to make his way back out of the lake and passed away shortly after the battle.

It's amazing to think that at the time of this story those little water sprites were viewed as merely minor characters, with the King being the main focus of the tale. Now most Irish people have no idea who King Fergus mac Léti is, but they know the Leprechaun very well!

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A geologist with the Burren& Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark has discovered a 320-million-year-old shark tooth fossil on the north Clare coastline at Doolin.

Dr. Eamon Doyle made the discovery of the tooth belonging to a shark that once hunted in the ancient seas of the Carboniferous period (that’s 358.9 million years ago) in the waters off Ireland at a time when Ireland was located close to the equator.

“Fossil sharks teeth of this age are very rare in Ireland and so it extends the known range of fossil sharks in Ireland,” said Doyle.

Previously Doyle had told IrishCentral “The underlying geology of the Burren holds many fascinating clues to conditions on Earth more than 300 million years ago. The oldest rocks visible on the Burren’s surface were formed during the Carboniferous period, approximately 299-359 million years ago. These limestone rocks formed in shallow, warm, tropical seas 10 degrees south of the equator. More recently, the last ice Age has sculpted those rocks and largely given the Burren its current shape. Research is active and scientists and students come from all over the world to see what we have here.”

Speaking about his most recent discovery, Doyle said what is “equally significant is the information it gives us about the biodiversity of these ancient seas. This shark tooth tells us that apex predators of up to 70cm were living here at the time. It is possible they were feeding on creatures known as nautiloids which are spiral-shelled creatures which grew to about 10cm where the tooth was found. These nautiloids were also predators and prior to this find would have been regarded as the apex predator. It is hoped that further finds will add more information.”

The fossil will be placed on public display on Thursday 25th May at an event, entitled There’s Life in the Old Rocks of Clare, in Ennistymon Public Library.

The event marks the start of the annual Burren Rocks program (Thursday 25 May – Monday 29 May 2017), which features a range of fun and educational events exploring how the history, culture, flora and fauna of the Burren have been shaped by the region’s geology.

Video:Unearthly footage of the Burren

Other events being held during the week include a bird call identification walk with staff of the Burren National Park, a guided walk through time with Geopark geologist and National Park Staff guides, a Bug hunt for children and a National Schools Burren Quiz.

On Monday 28th May meanwhile, archaeologists and students of NUI Galway’s Irish Fieldschool of Prehistoric Archaeology will turn the sod on a new excavation at Parkabinnia wedge tomb in the Burren, which is hoped will provide a better understanding of the burial rituals, beliefs and social structures of Ireland.

"This annual festival explores the underlying geology of the Burren and how it holds many fascinating clues to conditions on Earth during the past 330 million years, including the end of the last Ice Age 15,000 years ago which gave the Burren its current shape,” stated Doyle.

He continued, “Academic research throughout the Geopark is active and scientists and students come from all over the world to see what we have here. Our activities are designed to give people a taste of the geology and how it affects the landscape and also the culture of the Burren.

The Burren Rocks is part of European Geoparks Network Week - a week-long celebration across the 64 Geoparks spread across 22 European countries - and is supported by Clare County Council, the Burren National Park, Burren Outdoor Education Centre, Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) and the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI).  Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark is managed by Clare County Council and supported by the GSI. Visit www.burren.ie for further information.

Read more: Ancient Burren settlement offers fascinating glimpse into Ireland’s past

History tells us that The Great Famine in Ireland began in 1845 and ended in 1852. But though the hunger was eventually satiated, the effects of the famine lasted long into the minds and the disposition of those who survived it, and the generation thereafter – the sons and daughters of the Great Hunger.

When I was ten years old and growing up in West Limerick I began a one stop milk round. Every evening after school, until he died, I brought Mick Harrington a bottle. It was filled to the brim, stoppered by a wedge of newspaper and still wearing the logo of the whiskey company who first bottled it. 

Mick was old then, though it didn’t show in his bearing. He stood ramrod tall, a full head of wavy gray hair stood steadfast against the years, and the face, apart from the discoloring around his eyes, was alert and curious. Once he had worked for my grandfather and moved on, to a succession of other farmers, when grandfather’s son replaced him. He became what was called a ‘farmers boy’. A name that followed his likes until they had reached old age. When a plethora of work backed up on my father’s land, Mick was called in. No neater man, my father used to say. Maybe a bit slow but he left nothing of carelessness behind him.

He lived in a cottage mile and a half away from me. It was always spotlessly clean. I could see it from the rise in the hill field, standing alone in its splendor, the whitewashed walls sending filaments of light above the hedgerows. Before the front door there was a concrete pathway bordered on each side by low cut privet. He would convey me to the lattice gate when I left and, as he walked, scrutinized the shape of the little hedgerows. If a spring was amiss, a few centimeters above its fellows, he would return for a pair of scissors and snip the erring one off.

Mick was the epitome of the famine’s great sundering.

It began fifty years before he was born and its residue fell on countless men of his time. Work was hard to find, and when was found, committed the worker to a lifetime of drudgery. It did likewise to his wife and children. 

Read More: Oldest known photo of Irish famine survivor goes on display in Dublin

Mick’s brothers emigrated, all five, and the three sisters went in their wake. Amby was the first to go, day after All Souls, November 1909. Within a decade the rest of his siblings had followed. Amby settled in California, a place called Yreka. Every year a Christmas card arrived in Mick’s cottage. Not in Amby’s hand for Amby couldn’t read or write. There was no compulsory schooling in his time. One year a parcel came containing a pair of framed pictures. I remember their captions. I saw them every day. One was hung from the wall facing Downey’s Hollow. It said, “El Capitan above gentle flow of Merced River.” The caption on the other, looking out on Haley’s Grove, was, “Horse Creek Falls and granite north face of the Cleaver, Minarets Wilderness.”

Thadhy never wrote. No one knew where he lived if he still lived. The last Mick heard of Miley he was in Portland Maine, working on the docks. His sister Madge wrote often until she passed away. She used to send him parcels of clothes, the cast offs of her husband. Once Mick pulled a bundle from the bottom drawer of the kitchen press, shirts, pullovers, caps, leggings. He held up a jumper from the bundle, it was bright yellow and had a picture of a rearing piebald horse decorating the front. ‘Where would a man be going?’ he said to me, ‘with a thing like that upon him. What in the name of God would people think?’

Siney was in the Marines. He came home once when he was posted in the south of England. He stayed for one night and was gone at first light. He said goodbye and added, "how in God’s name could a body live in this god damned nowhere, stuck between Downey’s Hollow and Haley’s Grove."

That was as much as Mick remembered. Maybe others of the clan did make contact but he couldn’t remember if they did. Maybe there might be something in the lowest drawer in the kitchen dresser. If I had a mind go and search it might be worth the while. But there was no great enthusiasm in the way he said it.

Mick had two singing cage birds. A goldfinch and a bird called a mule, a cross between a goldfinch and a canary. The mule sang the pure notes of the canary as the goldfinch did with his ancestry. But they learned from each other-- songbirds are musically inventive—and the time came when each could perfectly mimic the other’s natural song. Sometimes the singing became a contest. Then Mick would throw a towel over one of the cages and the bird inside stopped, thinking that night had fallen. The other bird stopped too, thinking it had outdone its rival.

The birds sang to him, he told me. In his loneliness, they became the sounds of wordplay. Apart from me, he seldom met another soul. Sometimes, when I opened the gate silently, I heard the sound of a voice within. The first time it happened I put the bottle on the doorstop, assuming that Mick had a visitor. Never do that again, he told me. Next time it happened, I gingerly pried the door open. There was no visitor. Mick was having a conversation with his birds. Asking a question from the mule, making a response from the goldfinch.  

Read More: Post eviction famine photographs show hoe merciless British landlords were 

It wasn’t just the absence of rudimentary schooling that limited wordage on people like Mick. It was the constrictions of the time he lived in that made him so quiet and so reserved. The effects of the great famine didn’t turn around when the potatoes grew again. Those who survived it, and those who stayed, would be ground down and beaten into a submission of intellect and human value that would last a hundred years and more.

My father was a soul brother of Mick Harrington. A deeply quiet man who would never offer an opinion if it concerned anything outside the bailiwick of his own land and its experiences and tradition.

In essence, there were two famines: the dearth of hunger and the dearth of human sophistication, especially the lack of self-confidence. I grew up in rural Ireland, the land of my father, the land of Mick Harrington.

I carried their silences and their diffidence with me.

---

Tom Nestor is a writer living in County Offaly. For almost forty years he wrote a column in the Limerick Leader - My Life and Times - about the Ireland that he grew up in during the fifties and sixties. It ran from 1964 to 1998. That column became the basis for two works of memoir, published by The Collins Press, titled "The Keeper of Absalom's Island" and "Talking to Kate."

Monsignor Edward Joseph Flanagan, founder of Boys Town made famous by the Spencer Tracy movie, was a lone voice in condemning Ireland’s industrial schools back in the 1940s and how orphans and those born outside marriage generally were treated. He was viciously castigated by church and government for doing so. He died on this day (May 15) 1948.

His treatment at the hands of clergy and politicians makes it very clear both powerful arms of the state were determined to stick to secrets and lies and cover-ups when it came to the mistreatment of youths and babies.

When he arrived back in America after a 1946 trip to Ireland he let it be known he was appalled by the abuse of children in institutions he saw. Though he mainly focused on the industrial schools, which worked young children to the bone, he widely criticized the entire range of Catholic institutions that dealt so viciously with the most vulnerable of Irish children.

When he came back to America Flanagan, addressing the Irish clergy and political leaders said: "What you need over there is to have someone shake you lose from your smugness and satisfaction and set an example by punishing those who are guilty of cruelty, ignorance, and neglect of their duties in high places . . . I wonder what God's judgment will be with reference to those who hold the deposit of faith and who fail in their God-given stewardship of little children."

However, his words fell on stony ground. He wasn't simply ignored. He was taken to pieces by the Irish establishment. The then-Minister for Justice Gerald Boland said in the Dáil (Ireland's parliament) that he was “not disposed to take any notice of what Monsignor Flanagan said while he was in this country because his statements were so exaggerated that I did not think people would attach any importance to them.”

Flanagan was a devout Catholic, a man who Catholics and non-Catholics worldwide had deemed a hero. He was the Mother Theresa of his day.

Flanagan was born on July 13, 1886, in the townland of Leabeg, County Roscommon, to John (a herdsman) and Honoria Flanagan. In 1904, he emigrated to the United States and became a US citizen in 1919.

He was ordained a priest in 1912 having made the great leap across the pond, to America. In 1917 he was living and working in Omaha, Nebraska, when he hit upon the idea of a "boy’s town," which would offer education and a home for the poor and wayward boys of Omaha.

However, demand for the service was so great that he soon had to find bigger premises. Boys Town, built on a farm 10 miles from Omaha, was the result.

The center was open to all. There were no fences to stop the boys from leaving. Fr. Flanagan said he was “not building a prison."

"This is a home," he said. "You do not wall in members of your own family.”

Boys Town eventually became so well-known – and so well-respected – that Hollywood and the U.S. President came calling. Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney starred in the 1938 movie "Boys Town," and it made a national hero out of Fr. Flanagan. He was internationally renowned as “the world’s most foremost expert on boys’ training and youth care.”

When World War II ended in 1945, President Truman asked Flanagan to tour Asia and Europe, to see what could be done for the many children orphaned and made homeless by the war.

Flanagan decided to return to the land of his birth in 1946 to visit his family and to visit the “so-called training schools" run by the Christian Brothers to see if they were "a success or failure.”

The success of the film "Boys Town" meant Flanagan was treated like a celebrity on his arrival. His visit was noted by the Irish Independent, which said that Flanagan had succeeded “against overwhelming odds,” spurred on by the “simple slogan that 'There is no such thing as a bad boy.'”

But Flanagan was unhappy with what he found in Ireland. He was dismayed at the state of Ireland's reform schools and blasted them as “a scandal, un-Christ-like, and wrong.” And he said the Christian Brothers, founded by Edmund Rice, had lost their way.

Speaking to a large audience at a public lecture in Cork’s Savoy Cinema he said, "You are the people who permit your children and the children of your communities to go into these institutions of punishment. You can do something about it." He called Ireland’s penal institutions "a disgrace to the nation," and later said "I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child’s character."

Despite that, the Irish Church and the Irish authorities felt comfortable ignoring Fr. Flanagan, ignoring the fact that he was considered to be an expert in the matter of providing for the education and upbringing of boys who were otherwise considered to be “lost causes.” Again, his efforts fell on stony ground.

What was it about the Irish Church and the Irish authorities that made them so insular that they felt comfortable dismissing someone of Fr. Flanagan's stature? Even though Fr. Flanagan was a popular hero to many Irish people, his words had no sway with those in authority, whether in the government or the Church.

And, once those who endorsed the industrial school model survived Fr. Flanagan's broadsides, they must have known that no one would challenge them again. They were right, for 50 years anyway.

Read more: Church and State conspired to cover-up Tuam babies horror

Today marks the 170th anniversary of the death of the great Irish political figure Daniel O’Connell.

O’Connell, after whom Dublin’s main street is named, was nicknamed The Liberator or The Emancipator. An Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century, O’Connell campaigned for Catholic emancipation, including the right for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament in London, denied for over 100 years, and the repeal of the Act of the Union, which tied Great Britain and Ireland together.

In commemoration to the Irish politician, known for his gift of oration, here are some of his best known quotes:

“Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong.”

“The altar of liberty totters when it is cemented only with blood.”

- Written in his journal, Dec 1796, and one of O'Connell's most well-known quotes

“Gentlemen, you may soon have the alternative to live as slaves or die as freemen.”

- from his speech in Mallow, County Cork

“Good God, what a brute man becomes when ignorant and oppressed. Oh Liberty! What horrors are committed in thy name! May every virtuous revolutionist remember the horrors of Wexford!”

“My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In this my native land – in the land of my sires – I am degraded without fault as an alien and an outcast.”

“How cruel the Penal Laws are which exclude me from a fair trial with men whom I look upon as so much my inferiors...”

- O'Connell's Correspondence, Letter No 700, Vol II

“I want to make all Europe and America know it – I want to make England feel her weakness if she refuses to give the justice we the Irish require – the restoration of our domestic parliament...”

- Speech given at a 'monster' meeting held at Drogheda, June, 1843

“No person knows better than you do that the domination of England is the sole and blighting curse of this country. It is the incubus that sits on our energies, stops the pulsation of the nation's heart and leaves to Ireland not gay vitality but horrid the convulsions of a troubled dream.”

- Letter to Bishop Doyle, 1831 (O'Connell Correspondence, Vol IV, Letter No. 1860)

“No man was ever a good soldier but the man who goes into the battle determined to conquer, or not to come back from the battle field (cheers). No other principle makes a good soldier.”

“England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity.”

- As quoted in the Tribune, 19 January 1856

“I would walk from here to Drogheda and back to see the man who is blockhead enough to expect anything except injustice from an English Parliament.”

“O Saxon cruelty! how it cheers my heart to think that you dare not attempt such a thing again!”

H/T: IzQuotes