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
We’re spending our last day in Toronto as we conclude this leg of the “Irish Ancestry Trail”. One of our readers, Tony Dolan from Prince Edward Island in Canada – recently shared a story. Tony emigrated to Canada from County Roscommon in the 1970s and started work as a chef. He stayed in close contact…
Weather-related events and disasters seem to be all around us at the moment, don’t they? Here in Ireland, we’re staring into the face of Hurricane Ophelia – due to hit our shores on Monday evening. There will be high winds, stormy seas and damage to trees and electricity lines – but we are fortunate here…
A few weeks back, we chatted about the various “Irish Ancestry Trails” around the world – I asked readers to share their own “trail”. We received some great stories of whole families leaving Ireland during difficult times – and how their descendants spread to the many parts of the world we find them today. Richard…
Have you ever had difficulty figuring out the meaning of those Irish surnames in your family tree? Where on earth did those “Os” and “Macs” come from? How could “English” be an Irish surname? These are varieties of the many questions we receive on a weekly basis. Just this week, I was chatting with one…
I hope all is well with you and the days are passing you by in good health. This is the part of the letter where I normally comment on the weather here in Ireland, but sure – while it’s true the weather is challenging, there is a welcome lengthening in the days. A welcome return…
One of our readers – Jennifer Connolly – wrote to us from Melbourne in Australia early last year and we decided to write a number of replies to her questions in the form of a letter. I think it illustrates the shared themes that we notice from all of our readers from Australia – maybe you…
Let me ask you a question: Have you ever considered the difference between the male and female of our species? I guess that the main differences, beyond the obvious, range across a wide variety of subtleties. Take myself and Carina, for example. We were both exposed to the prose of Jane Austen in school, through…
This week, we’re going to have a look at one particular name that is found all over Ireland and Scotland – perhaps you have it in your family? Seeing as we now have so many readers from all over the world, today’s choice of word and name seems very appropriate. You see, the Irish word…
I was talking to Carina a couple of days back about last week’s letter. In it, we mentioned how hard it is to come up with stories and examples of strong women from Ireland’s past and present. It seems that the tales and accomplishments of Irish women down through the years have been underplayed, unreported…
Have you ever wondered when the first Irish ancestor to hold your Irish surname lived? How many generations does it go back from yourself? It’s a vexing question for many of us, mostly due to the absence of records here in Ireland from the early 1800s back. I’m settling into a cup of Lyon’s tea as…