About Us and 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
We returned last night from a trip to Dublin. We had an important job to do (more on that later in the letter), but we did get some time to catch up with friends and family. On Friday evening we were all kicking back in front of the fire and the telly—as you do—and on…
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I first remember the word being used in the context of an “Irish Diaspora” when President Mary Robinson used to light a candle of welcome each night in all the windows of the presidential residence. A symbol of guidance and welcome for people of Irish descent spread throughout the world. Now there are about 80…
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Let me start by asking you to do something. Close your eyes and think of Ireland. Let the images and sounds come wafting into your consciousness. Perhaps you are seeing green fields with stone walls? Or a wild blue sea beating off high cliffs and flowing onto white sands? How about empty bog land stretching…
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This is a very different sort of letter today. My original plan was to talk a little about the pattern of emigration from Ireland over the last 300 years—and how that has been so linked to climate and harvest failures. But, sometimes feelings overtake facts. As I went through much of the wonderful literature—especially the…
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I don’t know about you – but I am a big fan of the music of Van Morrison – I think most people would find something of beauty in his vast repertoire. But this morning, we’re going to use just one of his songs – “Coney Island” to guide us around south County Down. “Coming…
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