In today’s episode of the Letter from Ireland podcast, we take a trip up along the St. Lawrence River in Canada with two stories linked to that part of the world. First, we stop off at Grosse Île just outside Quebec City and then we hear the story of two musical sisters and their Irish-descended…

Murder in The West of Ireland – (#708)

In this episode we cover two infamous real life murder cases in the west of Ireland during the 1800s. The first murder was as a result of mass evictions from an Irish estate during the famine – and the second involved a travesty of justice where the accused were tried in a language they did…

The Evolution of Irish Surnames – Where your Irish Surname fits

In this article, we look at Irish Surnames – their origins and evolution. See if you can find the Irish surnames in your family tree in one of the sections below.

Have you Visited the Irish Famine Museum?

A couple of weeks ago, we were on an Irish road-trip around the north-west counties of the island. One of the most striking locations was a place called Strokestown Park House in County Roscommon. And that is the focus of our letter today. The Strokestown Park estate sits in the middle of 11,000 acres in…

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.