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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

The Stones of Gallarus or Two Pounds For a Pint

By James T. Dette

September October 1993

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Survival, we are told, is the first law of nature. If so, the Irish are the most law-abiding citizens in the world. That they survived centuries of English occupation and oppression is legend, but it was a recent trip that illustrated this in a very different way. It was my first trip to Ireland. To my knowledge I was the first descendant of James Burke, my mother's father, to … [Read more...] about The Stones of Gallarus or Two Pounds For a Pint

Tourism Ireland Wins Travel Weekly’s Best Destination Award

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For the 9th year in a row, Tourism Ireland has won the Best Destination Award from Travel Weekly’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Travel Weekly is the leading newspaper for American travel agents and professionals and its thousands of readers voted for the various categories over the summer. Beating off tough competition from European hotspots like Italy, France, Greece, Spain, and … [Read more...] about Tourism Ireland Wins Travel Weekly’s Best Destination Award

A Bit of Blarney: A Visit to Blarney Castle

By M.V. Quinn
March/April 1995

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Oddly enough, Elizabeth I of England made an unintentional contribution to the English language when she coined the word "blarney." Tired of the Lord of Blarney's constant filibustering with "fair words and soft speech," the exasperated queen shouted, "Blarney, Blarney--it's all Blarney. What he says he does not mean, and what he means he does not say." Blarney, a village … [Read more...] about A Bit of Blarney: A Visit to Blarney Castle

Let the Road Rise Up to Meet You

By Róisín Chapman

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A pilgrim-walking route, linking Cashel in County Tipperary and Ardmore in County Waterford, follows the trail of St. Declan who, in the late 5th century, left his monastery in Waterford to walk to Cashel to meet with future patron saint, Patrick. Ireland’s south east, celebrated for its historical Viking ties and impressive hurling record, now has another claim to fame: St. … [Read more...] about Let the Road Rise Up to Meet You