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

slider1 jpg - A Roadtrip Through 16 Counties of Ireland (Part 3)

A Roadtrip Through 16 Counties of Ireland (Part 3)

A few weeks back we went on a road trip from Cork to Donegal and back – covering 16 counties in all. When we came back we wrote up a number of posts in our weekly newsletter  – and these were some of the MOST popular newsletters we have done so far. This is Part…

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Final Draft jpg - The Tribes of Ireland – Ireland at the Birth of Your Irish Surname.

The Tribes of Ireland – Ireland at the Birth of Your Irish Surname.

Do you have an Irish surname in your family tree? In this Letter from Ireland we look at the Tribes of Ireland in 1150. Join us as we take a tour off the kingdoms at this time and the surnames associated with them.

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Irish road trip

A Roadtrip Through 17 Counties of Ireland (Part 2)

This week on our road trip around Ireland, we move on to the counties of Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim and Fermanagh. As before, we’ll stick with the stories of the counties – the names and families associated with each. COUNTY SLIGO. Sligo is a pocket-sized gem of a county tucked away up in the north-west of…

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Irish roadtrip

A Roadtrip Through 17 Counties of Ireland: Part 1

We got back late last night from a great road trip during which we covered 16 counties across Ireland (see our route below). We traveled from south to north and back down again. And that’s what I’d like us to talk about today – the Counties of Ireland. Which county in Ireland are your families…

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Clonony Castle, County Offaly, Ireland

Did your Family Live in an Irish Castle?

Do you wonder if you have Irish Castles somewhere in your Irish Ancestry. I have put together a list of castle-owning names. Is your Irish surname here?

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