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.

Sign Up For Your Free Weekly Letter From Ireland:

Please enter your name.
Please enter a valid email address.
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

Recent Articles

Carina in a church

Irish Hospitality and Kindness.

I am writing this letter for all the people who have not been to Ireland, and to the people who yearn to return to Ireland! I recently read a quote that said “kindness is not an act. It is a lifestyle.” I hope to give some examples of this quote in my letter. My grandparents…

Looking out on the houses, hills and coastline of the beara peninsula in Ireland on the wild atlantic way.

Beara Peninsula and Kenmare on the Wild Atlantic Way

Our first stop was in the town of Castletownbere. It’s one of Ireland’s main fishing ports and is a busy little town and the commercial hub of the Beara Peninsula. We had to stop for a quick drink at the famous McCarthy’s Bar – made famous by appearing on the cover of a book by…

Irish castle

Castles in Ireland – Our Top 22

Tower castle building was introduced to Ireland by the Normans on their arrival in the late 1100s. This type of castle is quite rare in England and Wales – but you will find them in the more “dangerous” parts of the world – Ireland and Scotland! The Gaelic Chieftains got in on the castle-building act…

Sheeps Head Peninsula and Bantry on the Wild Atlantic Way

I can’t believe the weather we were having for a June weekend – hardly a cloud in the sky, only a light breeze and warming up nicely! It was early on a Saturday morning – the roads were quite empty and we stopped at the little village of Ahakista just to take in the views…

Seaside Houses

Clonakilty to Baltimore on the Wild Atlantic Way

The small village of Rathbarry (guess which family that was named after) and the nearby Castlefreke overlooking Long strand are our first stops along the way. We called to Castlefreke many times over the years – it has been abandoned and falling into decay since the mid-20th century. Apparently the last title-holder was a nationalist…