County Wicklow

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View of Little Skellig from Skellig Michael across the water.

From Carnivale to An Irish Easter (#808)

In this week’s episode we look a little closer at how our Irish ancestors lived and worked through the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday each year. This was a time known as “Lent”. It was treated very seriously by the Roman Catholic church – who were very specific in their directions to the…

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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…

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Solving The Mystery of Irish Surnames – Two Examples (#723)

Have you ever wondered how the Irish surnames in your family tree came about? Understanding just HOW your Irish surnames developed is KEY to understanding more about your Irish origins and likely locations in Ireland. In this episode we take two very different Irish surnames and use them to illustrate the sometimes simple – and…

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Mount Brandon

Will You Travel With This Irish Saint? (#716)

We start this episode by hitting the high seas in the company of Saint Brendan the Navigator – a man who roamed the known (and unknown) world using the simple boats of his day. We then come back onto dry land and embark on a pilgrim trail towards Mount Brandon (named after the earlier mentioned…

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Elvis and The Fighting Irish – (#707)

In this week’s episode we look a little closer at how our Irish ancestors lived and worked through the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday each year. This was a time known as “Lent”. It was treated very seriously by the Roman Catholic church – who were very specific in their directions to the…

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