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

St. Patricks Burial Place in graveyard in County Down, Ireland.

St. Patrick – Come Walk in His Irish Footsteps

This week sees the celebration of Saint Patrick’s day here in Ireland and in many places with a strong Irish connection around the world. Maybe you will attend a Saint Patrick’s day parade or celebration in your own part of the world?  I thought it would be fun to take you on a tour today…

Mikes Celtic Past jpg - A Unique Insight into Our Celtic Past

A Unique Insight into Our Celtic Past

What do you think of when you hear the word “Celt” or “Celtic”? Maybe you picture druids with flowing robes in a misty setting near a stone circle, or maybe you think of the collective peoples of Ireland, Scotland and Wales? Surprisingly little is known for sure about the roots and origins of the Celts.…

Celtic cross in Irish church graveyard

Would you Follow these Rules for 40 days?

When I was growing up in Ireland as a young Roman Catholic, a number of things were true for the majority of us Roman Catholics at the time: Few of us youngsters paid much attention to the reflections, suggestions and instructions issued within those letters. The pastoral Letters were, in our minds, aimed at the…

AoifeinGarden.thumb jpg - Praise the Young and They Will Flourish.

Praise the Young and They Will Flourish.

Our son shared the above photo of our grandchild, Aoife, pottering around in their garden last week. As soon as they moved into their new home, he and his daughter spent time planting up a vegetable patch and there was great joy seeing those first carrots appear. She is now fascinated by all the new…

Irish Landscape,Mike Sitting in Foilnamuck

Did Your Ancestor Have an Irish View Like This One?

I was going through some photographs from the past few years and came upon the one that I feature in today’s letter. It’s a photo of my good self sitting in a field in my father’s old farm in west County Cork on a beautiful day in July. It got me wondering just how many of our…

How Does an Irish Name Become an English Name - How An Irish Name Becomes an English Name

How An Irish Name Becomes an English Name

Many readers often ask about the origin of an Irish first name in their family tree. Sometimes, it’s an unlikely Irish name such as “Jeremiah” – or sometimes a rare name such as “Gobnait”. It’s no secret that many of our shared Irish roman catholic ancestors borrowed names from the saints and angels of the…

Saint brigid's eyes with tree and birds

From an Irish Goddess to Saint Brigid

I often hear from readers who are frustrated with the number of Johns, Marys, Williams, Catherines etc. in their Irish family tree as it makes it nearly impossible to sort out who is who with any degree of certainty! Today, we’ll focus on one of these “recurring” Irish names, a name with ancient gaelic origins…

O'Mahony shop front

Using a Simple Irish Ancestry Timeline

When we lived in England during the 1990s, a phrase that I heard many times was “teaching granny to suck eggs”. Maybe you have heard it in your family? It was used in a context of not wanting to insult another person by stating what should be common sense already e.g. standing in front of…

Cronin - Did Many of Your Ancestors STAY in Ireland?

Did Many of Your Ancestors STAY in Ireland?

Carina here – a bit of a change from Mike. I came downstairs earlier and pulled Mike off the keyboard to sent him back to bed – still stressing about “never missing a Letter from Ireland yet”. So I said, don’t worry, I’ll do it instead.At this stage I read the Letter from Ireland each…

Emigration from Ireland

The Irish Ancestry Trail

Don’t you just love that word – “Diaspora”? Apparently, it comes from the Greek word for “scattering”. The reason I bring this up today is because Ireland appointed it’s first “Minister for the Diaspora”. I first remember the word being used in the context of an “Irish Diaspora” when President Mary Robinson used to light a candle of…