We left the pier in Baltimore (sharing a name and a link with Baltimore city in the USA) at 10.30am and headed off to Cape Clear across a gentle swell. Cape Clear has about 130 people living there permanently – all speaking Irish to varying degrees. That had dropped from a pre-famine population of over…

Irish Norman Surnames.

When we hear the word “Norman” in Ireland today, we often think of the “Anglo-Norman” invasion of Ireland in 1170 that we learned about in school. Many of my own friends today have Norman surnames – Roche, Barry, Fitzgerald and so on. We attended the same classes in school, played for the same teams and…

A Roadtrip Around 16 Counties of Ireland – Part 4

This week on our road trip around Ireland, we move to the counties of Cavan, Longford, Westmeath, Offaly and Tipperary. In this post we finish our roadtrip around 16 counties of Ireland. You can see a map of the journey below – do leave a comment at the end of this blog post! This is…

A Roadtrip Through 17 Counties of Ireland: Part 1

We got back late last night from a great road trip during which we covered 16 counties across Ireland (see our route below). We traveled from south to north and back down again. And that’s what I’d like us to talk about today – the Counties of Ireland. Which county in Ireland are your families…

Did your Family Live in an Irish Castle?

Do you wonder if you have Irish Castles somewhere in your Irish Ancestry. I have put together a list of castle-owning names. Is your Irish surname here?