Irish America

Irish America

By Irish America Staff IA Newsletter, October 24 2026

Ireland: The Home of Halloween

By Irish America Staff

IA Newsletter, October 24 2026

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Did you know that Ireland is the true Home of Halloween?  Halloween traces its roots back more than 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Fires were lit, feasts were shared, turnips were carved, and communities gathered to celebrate the changing season. As Irish people emigrated around the … [Read more...] about Ireland: The Home of Halloween

Roots | The O’Reilly / Reilly Clan

By James G. Ryan

Fall 2026

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The O’Reilly family name comes from the Gaelic O’Raghailligh, meaning descendants of Raghaillach. The O’Reillys were the most powerful sept of the old Gaelic Kingdom of Breffny, and the family remains numerous in the area that made up this kingdom: Cavan and the surrounding counties. The name is frequently shortened to Reilly or Riley. Members of the O’Reilly clan are … [Read more...] about Roots | The O’Reilly / Reilly Clan

Roots | Letter to Ireland Answered – 28 Years Later

By Megan Smolenyak and James G. Ryan

Fall 2026

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Genealogy is all about researching your family’s history, but every once in a while, it can turn up a piece of your own past. I was fortunate enough to experience this when I received a response to a letter I had written to a stranger in Ireland 28 years earlier – in 1984. More peculiar still, the gentleman I contacted had passed away in 1990. Perhaps I should explain. I’ve … [Read more...] about Roots | Letter to Ireland Answered – 28 Years Later

Podcasts | From Books and TV to Family and Faith, Guests Open Up About All Things Irish with host Tom Deignan

By Tom Deignan

Fall 2026

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Mary Beth Keane   What is your new novel Whale Harbor (out in November) about? This book came most immediately from my own family. My dad was the second of 11 siblings, like the main character, Macdara, in Whale Harbor. He lost his mother when he was 19. He had a five-year-old brother, Gerry, and all these other siblings. They lived in a rural part of Connemara and spoke Irish. … [Read more...] about Podcasts | From Books and TV to Family and Faith, Guests Open Up About All Things Irish with host Tom Deignan

Review of Books

By Darina Molloy

Fall 2026

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Esther is Now Following You By Tanya Sweeney Most of us will find the actions of this book’s protagonist pretty hard to understand. Sure, she has a crush on a Canadian actor whom she happened to pass in a London park at one stage. She then immerses herself in fan groups and online communities following (and reporting creepily on) his every move. But when she cleans out herself … [Read more...] about Review of Books