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
A few weeks back – we asked you if you would like to join us. Join us in sending a letter to the People of Ireland – care of the President of Ireland – Michael D. Higgins. It would be a letter from the readers of A Letter from Ireland – the vast majority of…
Do you have Irish ancestors somewhere in your family tree? As I write these words, I’m sitting on the waterfront of the beautiful town of Cobh in County Cork. On one side are the waters of Cork harbour – on the other the colourful shop-fronts of the town. In the middle of the shop fronts…
One of our readers – Joan – decided to “road-test” some of our recommendations and came back with the following comment: “I looked up surname Hamill. One particular site said it was Scots/English, Anglo Saxon. But there were 4 comments from Irish people who said it was Gaelic”. So, what’s going on here? I think…
This week on our road trip around Ireland, we move to the counties of Cavan, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and Tipperary. In this post we finish our roadtrip around 16 counties of Ireland. You can see a map of the journey below – do leave a comment at the end of this blog post! This is…
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…
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.
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…
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…
I often get asked – “did my family own Irish Castles?” It’s the ultimate fairy tale – Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses all living in beautiful old castles.
For hundreds of years to up the arrival of the Normans in the late 12th century – Ireland was divided into many autonomous kingdoms – ruled over by a “Ri” or King. These Kings won their lands through military and political might – the boundaries of their kingdoms were constantly changing with the ebb and…