Letter Archive
Welcome to the letter archive page for the weekly "Letter from Ireland". We started to write these letters in 2013 covering Irish Genealogy & Family History, Irish Surnames, Irish Culture & Customs and Ireland Travel, here you'll find a link to all of them.
Browse the letters listed on this page and jump to one that interests you, or enter a placename, surname or other item in the search box below to see related letters.
All of our weekly letters to date
Have you ever lived on an island? OK – I realise that places like Ireland ARE islands, but I mean the smaller islands like the ones that hug the wild coast of the west of Ireland. Earlier this week, I came across the following in a local newspaper: The births of six babies on Sherkin…
Given that you are reading this letter, can I assume that you have an interest in your Irish Heritage and ancestry? Now, let me ask you this – when did you develop this interest? For a few of us, it’s always been there – for others, a curiosity appears in our forties or fifties –…
Have you heard of the Druids of Ireland? Long before Christianity reached Ireland’s shores, there was a complex culture of beliefs involving the practices of law, medicine, and the oral tradition. In this letter we discuss the Druids, the ancient intellectual class of ancient Ireland.
Are you a fan of “Downton Abbey”? As a television series, it seemed to divide the room into either diehard fans of costume drama and a lot of others who wonder just what all the fuss is about! Do let me know which side of the fence you are on. It often surprises visitors to…
Let me start by asking you two questions: Have you ever been to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland? Have you ever boarded a submarine? Our letter today will tie together this unusual combination of questions with the story of one remarkable man from County Clare. On Christmas day, we traveled to a neighbour’s house…
Have you ever had a nickname? In your family – or with your friends – or maybe in school? I remember many of my teachers by their nicknames. There was “Small Tobacco”, “Seán Fada” (long John), “Birdie” and so on. That’s what we’ll chat about this week – the relationship between the Irish surnames in…
Did you realise the difference a local Irish accent can make to the spelling of your surname? One of the harder parts of tracing the origins of your surname in Ireland are the different regional variations that it may have. In this letter, we will use one surname as an example of the way in which a name can evolve to have different spellings and pronunciations, but the same history.
Let me start with a question – do you have a pet? Maybe you live on a farm and keep livestock? We had a Springer Spaniel and two cats up to quite recently – they lived long and happy lives in a loving family home. Well, one of our readers, Rob Hepburn from Northern California…
I’m having a cup of Barry’s tea this morning as we chat and I hope you’ll have a drop of whatever you fancy as you join me for today’s Letter. In fact, the Barrys of Cork have a small part to play in today’s letter. Over in The Green Room, I received a note from…
Today, let’s focus on a recent battle that was fought between two close neighbours – Ireland and England. You see, just last weekend – the Irish and English Rugby teams met as part of the Six Nations Rugby tournament, the six nations being France, Italy, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England. England have a super team…