About Us and A Letter from Ireland.

Mike and Carina Collins of A Letter From Ireland

Welcome to A Letter from Ireland.

 

Let me guess - you’ve been interested in tracing your Irish Heritage and Family History for some time now.

 

Maybe you've already travelled to Ireland? Perhaps you wonder if you will ever get here?

 

What you DO know is that your ancestors left Ireland for a better life - bringing with them their values and beliefs, many of which were passed to you and your own family.

 

Since 2013, we've shared our weekly "Letter from Ireland" and it has attracted over Two Million people of Irish descent around the world. They find that our Letters, Blog posts, Videos, books and Podcasts help them to understand what life was like for their Irish Ancestors.

 

For some, this information provides a rich backdrop to help with research on Ancestry Record sites. For others, the Letter connects them with their Irish roots in a very real and visceral way.

 

Here are just some reasons why some of our readers keep coming back to "A Letter from Ireland" for more:

 

“Trace your surname, discover where your ancestors may have lived and step into this fascinating and beautiful land that we love”. Sandy Laferriere.

 

“If you have Irish blood running through your veins, or even if you are just interested in Ireland, this site is essential.” Patty McCoy.

 

“You and Carina are melding a very important aspect of Irish history and heritage to our personal genealogical endeavors. Thanks for bringing it all to life for us!” Jack Healy.

 

 

Now, I think it’s time to introduce ourselves! We are Mike and Carina Collins - a husband and wife team based in County Cork, Ireland.

 

Our Irish Heritage adventure started when we noticed many people asking questions on Facebook about Irish surnames and the homelands of their Irish Ancestors.

 

We started to answer with our local knowledge - and those answers took the form of a weekly email called “A Letter from Ireland”.

 

In each Letter, we share stories of counties, surnames and heroic Irish individuals who made new lives for themselves across the world - often in the harshest of circumstances. Sound like any of your Irish ancestors?

 

Today, we travel around Ireland - gathering stories and sharing them with you through our weekly letters, blog posts, videos and podcasts.

Would you like to see the Letter and Podcast survive and thrive for the future - and receive some personal benefits along the way?

Recent Posts

Norman Lords knights jpg - Irish Norman Surnames.

Irish Norman Surnames.

When we hear the word “Norman” in Ireland today, we often think of the “Anglo-Norman” invasion of Ireland in 1170 that we learned about in school. Many of my own friends today have Norman surnames – Roche, Barry, Fitzgerald and so on. We attended the same classes in school, played for the same teams and…

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An old Irish stone ruin cottage

The Origins of Your Irish Surnames.

Would you like to know a little more about the typical origins of your Irish Surnames? Then read on…

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top100surnames jpg - 6 Favourite Online Irish Heritage Resources.

6 Favourite Online Irish Heritage Resources.

Here are just six of our favourite Irish Heritage resources, with an example of how we can use each one to help one of our readers.

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President Michael D Letter jpg - Letter to the People of Ireland - Care of - President Michael D. Higgins

Letter to the People of Ireland – Care of – President Michael D. Higgins

A few weeks back – we asked you if you would like to join us. Join us in sending a letter to the People of Ireland – care of the President of Ireland – Michael D. Higgins. It would be a letter from the readers of A Letter from Ireland – the vast majority of…

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Kelly

A Country of Irish Family, Tribes and Kin.

Do you have Irish ancestors somewhere in your family tree? As I write these words, I’m sitting on the waterfront of the beautiful town of Cobh in County Cork. On one side are the waters of Cork harbour – on the other the colourful shop-fronts of the town. In the middle of the shop fronts…

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