A Valley with a Tragic Past and Irish Pottery

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 
Doolough Valley, County Mayo. (see it on a map here)

The Doolough Valley in County Mayo, though certainly a beautiful sight on a fair day, hides a terrible and tragic secret from the Great Famine. Carina talks more about the history of this scenic valley in this video.

For Letter from Ireland Plus members: Also check out our County Mayo Homelands Feature here for much more.

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FEATURED IRISH NAMES – County Antrim Surnames

This week we’re going to look at the many surnames of County Antrim, which used to be the most populated county of the whole island. Did your ancestors come from County Antrim? Click here to see if you can find your own surnames.

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BOOK I’M READING NOW

“The Country Girls” trilogy by Edna O’Brien. We wanted to recommend this book once more because the author, the great Edna O’Brien, recently passed away, and what better way to honour her than by remembering her through her monumental novel? “The Country Girls” introduces us to Kate Brady and her friend Baba Brennan as they navigate the challenges of a rural Irish convent school, the streets of Dublin, and later married life in London. It certainly caused quite a stir in Ireland when it was first released! Click here to see the book on amazon.

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IRISH WORD OR PROVERB

“Céad míle fáilte“

Which translates to “A hundred thousand welcomes”. A nice simple one to fit into your everyday life, I’m sure you’ve seen it in many of my letters!

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

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IRISH CRAFT/PRODUCT WE LOVE

Louis Mulcahy makes exquisite pottery out in the Dingle peninsula in Kerry and has been called the “godfather of Irish craft”. He makes some amazing “druid” sculptures, but we personally always go for a lamp! See some of his spectacular work here.

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RIDDLE OF THE WEEK

“I’m a stone that gives the gift of gab, kiss me in Cork, and you’ll never be drab. What am I?“

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!