A Neolithic passage tomb, County Cork surnames, and pewter chess sets

Céad míle fáilte, welcome to your Letter from Ireland “Shorts”.  Each Tuesday we’ll bring you a quick-read of some of our favourite and interesting Irish things for this week.

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FAVOURITE PLACES IN IRELAND
Newgrange, County Meath. (See it on a map here.)

During the Winter Solstice, the sunrise sends a golden beam 19 meters down its passage from the entrance to illuminate the ancient chamber inside. Talk about clever engineering – this place is even older than the pyramids! Check out this video where Carina chats briefly about the site, or join the lottery to be one of the lucky ones to experience the Winter solstice in person.

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FEATURED IRISH SURNAMES – County Cork Surnames

Did you know that Cork is the largest county in Ireland (both north and south)? That could be why plenty of our readers have ancestors or surnames from County Cork. See our list of County Cork surnames here  – and see if you can find your own name among them!

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BOOK I’M READING NOW
“The Voyage of the Catalpa” by Peter F. Stevens

This is the incredible true story of one of history’s most daring prison breaks. In 1875, Captain George Anthony sailed the whaling ship Catalpa from Massachusetts to Australia on a secret mission: to rescue six Irish freedom fighters from a brutal British prison. Check out the book on Amazon. 

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IRISH WORD OR PROVERB

“Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí”

Which translates to “Praise the youth and they will flourish.”

Click here to listen to how a native Irish speaker would say it.

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IRISH CRAFT/PRODUCT WE LOVE

Mullingar Pewter has been making handcrafted pewter products from their workshop in County Westmeath since 1974, using traditional methods passed down from our ancestors. They have many products but thes beautiful themed chess sets really caught my eye! Check out their shop here. 

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RIDDLE OF THE WEEK

“What goes up when the rain comes down?“

Click here to see the answer.

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That’s it for this week. Send us an email with any of your own favourites for inclusion in future emails, or if you’re a plus member leave a comment below.

Slán for now,
Mike & Carina.

*Note: The above article may contain some affiliate links (for example Amazon) which means we get paid a small amount should you choose to purchase, at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep the show on the road!