History & Folklore - West Cork People

The moon in Irish folklore

Eugene Daly August, 2025

The ever-changing moon was an object of mystery and superstition in Ireland. The old Celtic druids placed great emphasis on the moon and arranged their calendar by it. It was believed that any work or business undertaken when the moon was growing (waxing) would be successful. Work begun when the […]

History & Folklore

Persia to Iran: The shaping of modern Iran (Part II)

Kieran Doyle August, 2025

In 1935, Reza Shah, the self-imposed leader of Persia, renamed his country Iran. It had endured in some shape or form as Persia for over two and a half millennia. To understand modern Iran, it has to be framed by the influence of Reza Pahlavi and his son Mohammad who […]

Surnames of Co. Cork

Eugene Daly July, 2025

In his ‘Special Report on Surnames in Ireland’, Robert E. Matheson published a list of the 27 commonest surnames in Co. Cork, based on their incidence in the index of births for 1890. This is a great source of genealogy, as is Diarmuid Ó Murchadha’s authoritative ‘Family Names of County […]

Persia to Iran: Mystique turned menace? (Part I)

Kieran Doyle July, 2025

Iran is headline news right now. By the time this article goes to print, the incessant bombing of Tehran and its ten million occupants, by Israel, could be over, or have boiled into a war of greater dimensions. Both the USA and Israel see Iran as an evil country that […]

History & Folklore

Walking the West Cork railway

WCP Staff June, 2025

I was hesitant to write about the West Cork railway. There are many local experts and train enthusiasts who know so much more than me about this topic and it has appeared in journals, books and newspapers, so I don’t feel I can add anything radically new to what has been […]

Wild food in ancient Ireland

Eugene Daly June, 2025

A good deal of the countryside of ancient Ireland was covered with trees and scrub. Hazel was one of the most important providers of food. The nutritious nut (cnó) of this tree can be kept for up to a year and must, therefore, have been a valuable winter food. It […]

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