History & Folklore

English reporter: What do you think of western civilisation Mr. Gandhi? Ghandi: I think it would be a very good idea. This famous anecdote is attributed to the great Indian independence leader, Mahatma Ghandi. Whether he actually uttered those words or not, the point is still valid. We live in […]

Eugene Daly looks at the factors that instigated the diminishment of our native tongue in Ireland. The mortal wounds of Gaelic Ireland were inflicted at the battle of Kinsale in 1601, but the death agony was prolonged for all of the seventeenth century and into the eighteenth and nineteenth in […]

Change. What does it really mean? At the beginning of every year people are full of personal resolutions in an attempt to change direction in life. These changes (or at least the promise of them), are usually intended to put people on a journey of self-enhancement or improvement. Let’s have […]

The hallowed period of Christmas was celebrated by the ancient Irish with great pomp and festivity. Fleming’s ‘History of Ancient Irish Customs’, gives an elaborate account of the festivity and amusement at this season of gaiety and mirth. He writes: “On Christmas Eve the village maidens went to the woods […]