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
Welcome to Season 1, Episode 17 of the Letter from Ireland Show. In this episode we look at “Approved” Irish baby names that are found in families – maybe you’ll hear one from your own family?
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Welcome to Season 1, Episode 16 of the Letter from Ireland Show. In this episode we look at two qualities that are in short supply in the public world today – Integrity and Principle – and the stories of two Irishmen who had those qualities in spades! Why the picture of the puppy? Do read on to find out.
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Welcome to Season 1, Episode 15 of The Letter from Ireland Show. In this episode we go back to the Irish Famine of the mid-1800s and look at ways at which news of the Irish Famine spread throughout the world – leading to reactions from the most surprising of quarters.
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Next month we are heading off to St. John’s in Newfoundland – and we’re really looking forward to our trip down the Irish immigrant trail in North America. Did you know that Newfoundland has the “distinction” of being the only place outside Europe given a distinct name in Irish? It was called “Talamh an Éisc”…
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Just last night, we had a lovely dinner of poached salmon, new potatoes and green beans. The reason I mention this is because we celebrate the old feast of “Lughnasa” (pronounced Loo-nasa) about this time of year. It’s a traditional time in Ireland to mark the beginning of the harvest – and it certainly feels…
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