It was a social network phenomenon before Facebook, blogging and Twitter came along, and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann is still going strong. For sixty years, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann – Irish Musicians Association – has been spreading the gospel of traditional Irish music all over the world, setting up over 400 community-based branches, including 44 in North America. Today … [Read more...] about Comhaltas: Making Music for Sixty Years
Heritage
Sláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween
By Edythe Preet
Slainte! Columnist Edythe Preet explore how "Feile Na Marbh "or "Feast of the Dead" became Halloween and includes a recipe for Irish Barm Brack, which is traditionally served in Ireland on this day. That which we know as All Hallows Eve actually began as a harvest festival several millennia ago in Ireland. Though the evening’s popular colors are black and orange, they might as … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween
Roots: the history of the Ruane, Rowan and Ó Ruadain families
The surname Ruane comes from the old Gaelic Ó Ruadain, meaning the descendant of the red one, originally derived from the Gaelic ruadh. The pre-medieval clan stems from Ui Maine, an ancient territory that was made up of mid-Galway and South Roscommon, and Ui FIachrach, an ancient area of Mayo, Sligo, and Southern Galway. The name, variously recorded as Rowan, Ruan, O’Rowan, … [Read more...] about Roots: the history of the Ruane, Rowan and Ó Ruadain families
Bring Them All Back Home
'Ireland Reaching Out' is a pilot project that aims to reconnect all 70 million Irish people worldwide with their ancestral homeland. The Ireland Reaching Out project is the brainchild of Mike Feerick, a Galway businessman who has his own personal experience of emigration. Feerick, who now lives near Loughrea, was born in New York and lived for many years in America. “I … [Read more...] about Bring Them All Back Home
Irish America Hall of Fame Opens at Dunbrody Famine Ship
Celebrated with the opening of the new Dunbrody Visitor Center on July 8th On July 8, the Dunbrody Visitor Center in New Ross, Co. Wexford was celebrated as a new home for Ireland’s emigration history. The Dunbrody is a three-masted replica of a sailing ship that brought many emigrants from Ireland to North America during and after the Great Famine. The connected center has … [Read more...] about Irish America Hall of Fame Opens at Dunbrody Famine Ship