Today we visit the beautiful islands off the west coast of Ireland. For many centuries, these islands grew in population as the natives of Ireland were forced off good land on the mainland wandering even further westwards until they arrived at the sea. The islands offshore were the only option left. The islanders had an…

James Bond Meets Sherlock Holmes – An Irish Story (#709)

Today we take to the streets of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. Edinburgh was the home to Seán Connery, the actor who played James Bond for many years. We also examine another native of Edinburgh – Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the immortal detective Sherlock Holmes. We chat about their Irish roots –…

Irish magazine cover for A Letter From Ireland

Letter from Ireland Magazine January/February 2020

Welcome to the Letter from Ireland Magazine for March/April, 2019. In this issue you will find features on: Saint Patrick and following in his footsteps, County Mayo – a Homelands feature, using Irish Records for your Irish ancestry research and much more.

The Elementary Truth Behind Some Irish Surnames

There is so much talk of immigrants in the news around the world today – so I thought it would be useful to examine an Irish view of “immigrants” in ancient times through the names, nicknames and surnames that were often labelled on these immigrants. Names were given according to appearances – and one word…

Irish Surnames and Their Counties

Do you have Irish surnames in your family tree? If the answer is yes, then read on – and discover more about the surnames of Ireland, where they come from – and see if you can spot some of your Irish surnames.