The Letter from Ireland Podcast

In the late 1800s, hundreds of thousands of Irish people moved into the Tenement Buildings of Dublin and New York. In this Podcast, we travel to the Tenement Museums of both Dublin and New York to get an insight into what life was like in these buildings for our Irish ancestors.

Would you like to take a trip with us from Queenstown to Ellis Island? Join us on a journey as we first travel to Queenstown (Cobh) in County Cork before touring around Ellis Island in the USA - meeting some very interesting people along the way!

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we chat with Pam Guye Holland - a genealogist based in Boston, Mass. In the interview we discuss how critical it is to gather all the local information you can on your Irish ancestors before attempting to trace their origins back to Ireland. And - we ask Pam to share some of her best hints and tips!

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we celebrate the 5th birthday of The Green Room (our member area) and the 6th birthday of the letter from Ireland. Over that time we have received and answered over 90,000 Irish-related questions. Carina and Mike discuss the 12 most surprising things they noticed over that time.

Do you know where to start with your Irish Family History Research? Irish Genealogy has it's quirks as you may have discovered! In this episode we bring you around our new Green Room Research Wheel that we have recently launched for our Green Room members. Join us on this episode of the Letter from Ireland show as we look at the brand new Essential Green Room Guide to Irish Family History Research...

Join us on this episode of the Letter from Ireland show as we look at a Celtic Festival that celebrates the arrival of Spring. Maybe you even celebrate it yourself? Our shared Irish ancestors had a lot of traditions around this festival – and the Saint who became associated with this time of year in Christian times. The Letter from Ireland Show is a weekly podcast that goes out each Thursday...

Join us on this episode of the Letter from Ireland show as we look at the influence of the Normans on Irish surnames and families - we then take off for Wales where we visit just some of the castles where many of the originators of various Irish surnames in Ireland were born and bred. If you have any of the following Irish names in your family tree, then you will be really interested in this episo...

Join us on this episode of the Letter from Ireland show as we travel to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania in Australia) and visit some really interesting locations associated with Ireland's convict and emigrant association with the area! So, come on in - sit down and have a listen to stories, people and places of this most beautiful part of the world!

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland show, Carina goes on a voyage of discovery (in more ways than one) as she uncovers the hidden history of her paternal grandfather: Bartholomew Cronin. Join Carina as she begins at the shop where her grandfather worked and lived - and then she heads back to his home-place before journeying even further back to one very special place associated with an Iris...

Carina never knew the surname that her paternal grandmother was born with - she only knew to call her "Granny"! So, we decided to find out a little more. What did we discover? Well, join us in this episode of the Letter from Ireland show as we go on a voyage of discovery - starting in a small shop in the Irish countryside - then on to a cottage on the fringes of Cork City - before finishing up at...

The City of Liverpool in England has had very strong links with Ireland down through the centuries. In this Podcast, Carina takes you on a trip around Liverpool - through a gate that could tell a million stories, into "Paddy's Wigwam and then introduces you to four very famous sons of Liverpool - three of whom have direct Irish Roots!

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we follow the trail of an Irish Emigrant family all the way from County Kerry to Chicago and Illinois in the USA. Join us as we start in the family homestead just outside Listowel in County Kerry.

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show Carina introduces you to five very different heroes of Irish Culture and Heritage. She visits a man who restarted a Whiskey distillery that was in his family for hundreds of years, a woman who oversees the visitors to one of the best known books in the world, another man who discovered a hidden town on his property, an ex-political prisoner who...

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show Carina introduces a wonderful Irish Ancestry Resource that many of us overlook when we are "scouring" the records for the smallest hint or connection. It also has the benefit of being very entertaining. It's called the Irish Schools Collection and I think you will enjoy what you hear - and find it very useful!

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we preview the 2019 Green Room Hooley - by sharing memories, poems and some wonderful stories based around the areas where we are holding our Green Room gatherings .

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we go on a tour around the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh, County Tyrone - meeting some fascinating people and learning all about what life was like back in the early 1800s for the local population.

Have you visited the National Irish Famine Museum in Stokestown Park, County Roscommon? Why not come along with us now as we take you on a tour of this fascinating place. You may even hear about one of your own ancestors.

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show Carina looks back on our visit in March 2018 to Australia following the Irish Ancestral trail. We met some fascinating people along the way, all eager to share the story of their Irish roots - as well as visiting some sites associated with Irish heritage across the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Have you ever heard of the Celtic festival of Bealtaine - marking the start of an Irish summer? In this podcast, Carina shares some of her special travels and memories at this wonderful time of year.

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 9 of the Letter from Ireland Show. In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show Carina, Courtney and Mike discuss their own experiences (and opinions!) of DNA testing for Irish Family History research.

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show Carina and Mike chat about many useful aspects of discovering more about your Irish family history - all wrapped inside just one Australian reader's story - and her links back to one county in Ireland.

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 7 of the Letter from Ireland Show. In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we join John Grenham - author of the definitive guide to Irish Genealogy - "Tracing your Irish Ancestors" - and more. Mike has a very interesting, and wide-ranging discussion on the state of Irish Family History records and research - all recorded at the National Archives in Dublin.

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we share just some of the interviews and commentaries we recorded as we made our way along the "Irish Ancestral Trail" from Newfoundland to Toronto in Ontario. We do hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making this show!

In the episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we talk with Mike Collins - the publishing director of Cork University Press and specifically about their recent best-seller "The Atlas of the Irish Revolution". We cover a wide range of topics from the Atlas itself, Irish revolutionary history and also delve into Mike's own Irish ancestry. We do hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed making t...

In this special episode, we select some stories from our annual Green Room Member Storybook. You will hear stories from our members sharing lots of memorable Irish experiences both in Ireland and closer to their own homes. The Letter from Ireland Show is a weekly podcast that goes out each Thursday from our cottage in County Cork. Tune in to this episode - and dive straight in to a bit o...