Celebrate Your Irish Heritage

Hi, we're Mike and Carina. We travel Ireland and the Irish ancestral trails of the world, connect with people of Irish descent and share the resulting stories, photos, videos and podcasts with you.

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Recent Articles

Beara is the land of O'Sullivans

Irish Nicknames and your Irish Surname

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…

facebook5 - Have You Heard Your Name in an Irish Accent?

Have You Heard Your Name in an Irish Accent?

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.

RSPCA - Animal Rights and Humanity Dick

Animal Rights and Humanity Dick

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…

An irish knight in battle

Would You Like to Hear the Tale of an Irish Knight?

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…

Irish Rugby Team - United Surnames of Ireland

United Surnames of Ireland

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…