Today we feature two Irish movie stars from the golden age of Hollywood – Grace Kelly and Maureen O’Hara. In one story we chat about the “Two Graces of County Mayo” and then we take a trip up Maureen O’Hara’s ancestry tree. We even manage to uncover songs on which they feature. Not to be…

The Pogues & More – A Different Sort of Irish Music (#735)

In today’s episode, we explore the different sort of Irish music that was coming onto the scene from the mid-1970s. We first look at the story of that great London-Irish band – The Pogues – and then onto the more subtle music of Paul Brady. In both cases, lots of background stories, music and craic.…

Irish potato famine statues with fresh flowers decorating them

Reporting The Great Irish Famine (#733)

In this episode we look at the many ways the Great Irish Famine was reported outside of Ireland – and the reaction from some of the groups that were exposed to that reporting. In one case, Mike’s own ancestors were included in a report that went out in English newspapers in the 1840s. One of…

When Did Your Ancestor ARRIVE in Ireland (#730)

Did you know that Ireland was an uninhabited, ice-covered piece of ground up to about 10,000 years ago? Since then, many waves of immigrants have arrived in Ireland and made it more of a “melting Pot” than many of us might imagine. In this episode we look at the arrival in Ireland of two of…

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.