The Letter from Ireland Podcast

We visit one of the many, many Holy Wells around Ireland and chat with the lady whose family is responsible for the upkeep of this ancient Irish shrine. This is probably a place that was used and venerated from pre-christian times. In the show we share lots of tales, cures and tradtions that many of your Irish ancestors would have practiced and been familiar with. With lots of great Irish music an...

In a follow-up to our recent episode about traveling from Cobh to Ellis Island - we head back to the Cobh Heritage Centre in County Cork and hear 7 stories of emigration from this very spot to many places around the world. Many thanks to Jack Walsh and all the team at the Cobh Heritage centre for this fascinating tour - and 7 fascinating tales (none too tall)! With lots of great Irish music and so...

Join us as we attend a Saint Patrick's Day Parade of Story and Song. In this episode we sharetwo stories - one all about the places in Ireland where Saint Patrick is said to have walked and the next looking at the Shamrock and the gorse, two plants associated with this time of year in Ireland. We've lots of great Irish music and song along the way! Enjoy! Music featured in this episode: "Boil the...

In this special episode of the Letter from Ireland show we start our journey in Cobh (Queenstown) in County Cork. We chat with the manager of the Cobh Heritage Centre who has his own immigration stories to tell. We then take the route across the Atlantic that our ancestors would have followed (just slightly upgraded!) to New York and meet with a group of our Green Room members on Ellis Island for...

In this week's episode we go back in time. First we go back to a time when the first Celtic peoples arrived in Ireland - we then go back even further to look at the period when the Celts appeared on the continent of Europe for the first time. Much of this "history" is relayed to us through old Irish annals and texts - all written in the ancient Irish language. As a result, the language of Irish pr...

In this week's episode we look a little closer at how our Irish ancestors lived and worked through the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday each year. This was a time known as "Lent". It was treated very seriously by the Roman Catholic church - who were very specific in their directions to the flock as to how they should live their lives over this time of penance, fasting and piety. We start with a...

In this week's episode share what we consider to be eight of the best traditional Irish love songs of all time! This is, of course, a very personal and subjective collection - and I'm sure you will agree with some and disagree with many. I have used the input of many of our readers and Green Room members down through the years and many of the these songs are ones that were recommended again and ag...

In this week's episode we look at the life times and legacy of three ancient Celtic saints - with lots of fine music in between. We start with a letter all about the Irish Saint Gobnait - but you may be surprised at how her name was anglicised into different versions that you may have in your family tree. Then, we head up to the north of the island and look at Saint Mel and Saint Colmcille - and t...

We look at the connections between the Irish name "Brigid/Bridget", Saint Bridget of Kildare and the Irish Celtic Goddess Brigid. This is all very appropriate as we come up to the celtic festival of "Imbolc" - celebrating the start of a celtic spring as well as Saint Brigid's day. All with lots of chat and music along the way. Enjoy! Songs Featured in This Episode: "Brigid" performed by Patrick De...

This week we have a special episode that takes you around ten counties on the island of Ireland. We stop off at each point and share a song - as well as more on the place and the person featured in the song. Please note that this episode was broadcast in a different format inside our Green Room - and in that show we dedicated the first song to Carina's mum who died just before it was broadcast. Sh...

In this episode we trace the origins of Carina's Irish grandfather - Bartholomew Cronin. He died well before she was born and she only recently realised how little she knew of his early days, the wider family and his final resting place". So, join us as we look to solve this mystery - with plenty of journeys, unexpected turns, twists and interesting characters along the way. We've arranged the sho...

In this episode we trace the origins - and more - of Carina's mystery Irish grandmother. I say "mystery" because Carina only ever knew her as "Granny Cronin". So, join us as we look to solve this mystery - with plenty of journeys, unexpected turns, twists and interesting characters along the way. We've arranged the show in the following 5 parts - with music and songs of Cork City and County Cork a...

In this episode we explore not just the world of Irish music - but 10 tracks from the extended Celtic family. We use music featured on the TV programme - "The Transatlantic Sessions" - to bring you music and song from Ireland, Scotland, the USA and much more. With lots of chat between each song. MUSICAL TRACKS FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE: "Magic Foot" - Performed by Sharon Shannon and the Transatlant...

In todays special Christmas episode, we share a selection of old Irish Christmas carols, songs and tunes. They include: The Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve - performed by The Chieftains Christmas in Killarney - performed by Bing Crosby Curoo, Curoo Carol of the Birds - performed by Maggie Sansone, Andrea Hoag, Sharon Knowles, Patrick Egan Christmas Angels - performed by Clannad The Wexford Carol - p...

In today's episode we share some old Irish names - quite beautiful ones - that are just some of our favourites for boys and girls. Perhaps you already have one or two in your own family? We also share the story of Jimmy Hasty, an Irish footballer from Dundalk in County Louth and how I learnt a good lesson when I received som particular feedback on this story from one of our readers. Running throug...

This week we look at one of the most Irish of cities outside Ireland - the city of Liverpool on the western shores of Britain. It's a place that has seen over a million Irish pass through its port to stay in England, Wales and Scotland or to head to places further afield such as the USA, Canada, Australia and other locations. We chat about just some of the Irish families who decided to stay in Liv...

This week we look at the fact that there are many, many more people of Irish descent OUTSIDE the island of Ireland than on the island of Ireland. Many Irish immigrants brought their Irish placenames with them when they settled in a new country. We look at just two cities with an Irish pedigree and chat about their Irish connections and links to specific places in Ireland. All this accompanied by m...

Welcome to this special musical edition of the Letter from Ireland podcast. We take a tour around the five counties - Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon - of the Irish province of Connaught. We have chosen two songs/pieces of music from each County with plenty of history and stories along the way. We hope you enjoy them very much! As we move around the counties, Mike refers to a map of the...

In this episode we look at two types of storyteller. First, we have the "bard" who composes songs to honour the deeds and exploits of the great (and not so great) among us. In this case, a certain gentleman called "Thady Quill" had a song composed in his honour which has lived on long past himself. We then move on to a storyteller who was immortalised in the book "The Tailor and Ansty". With plent...

In this episode, we look at the time of the Brehon laws of Ireland and take an example of just some of these Gaelic common laws that held our society together. We also chat about the Brehon families and some of the Irish surnames associated with these families. We then go on to chat about the early Irish monks and some of the monastic-related surnames of Ireland. We tie it all up by linking to the...

Join us on this episode of the Letter from Ireland show as we tell some surprising stories from an Irish Halloween! Did you know that many of the rituals and traditions associated with Halloween came from the Celtic Festival of "Samhain" (pronounced "sow-en" - "sow" as pronounced in pig)? Carina and Mike talk about the Celtic seasons and festivals, their own Irish Halloween memories - and tell two...

In this episode, we feature two Irish Pub stories that are bound together. In the first, we chat about the book McCarthy's Bar - which gives a comical view of both the Irish Pub and the Irish by Pete McCarthy. We then travel to the pub featured on the cover of that book - McCarthy's Bar in Castletownbere - and tell the story of a special item at the back of that pub. With lots of Irish drinking so...

Today we feature two Irish movie stars from the golden age of Hollywood - Grace Kelly and Maureen O'Hara. In one story we chat about the "Two Graces of County Mayo" and then we take a trip up Maureen O'Hara's ancestry tree. We even manage to uncover songs on which they feature. Not to be missed!

In this extended musical edition of the Letter from Ireland podcast, we share 15 songs performed by 15 Irish artists. Each song has a connection with the song that went before it - and the one that goes after it. Hence the title! We feature artists you may already be familiar with - Van Morrison, Mary Black, Lisa Hannigan - as well as many more you may be hearing for the first time. Lots of chat b...

In this episode we look at the journey a branch of the Vikings took and established a Dukedom in what became known as "Normandy" in northern France. We look at their culture and traditions - traditions that they brought with them to England in 1066 and then onto Ireland in the late part of the 1100s. From this group we have so many of the Norman-Irish surnames that we know today -Fitzgerald, Barry...