When  gardening author and journalist Fionnuala Fallon and her photographer husband Richard (and their twin babies Milo and Finn) travelled the country in search of Ireland’s kitchen gardens, they were searching for the pick of the planting bunch. Here, she tells us of the more modest, but no less intriguing tale of Ireland’s spring flower: [...]

While we were all singing Auld Lang Syne and shaking the last drops from the supermarket champagne bottle on New Year’s eve, Derry-Londonderry became the first ever UK City of Culture. In times past on the blog, we have whisked our minds to the medium of song in order to convey a hint of the [...]

Iain Miller is a mountaineer living, working and playing in County Donegal’s outstanding mountain ranges. Over the past three cold Irish winters, he has been exploring the frozen mountain ranges of County Donegal, seeking out and climbing as many previously unclimbed frozen waterfalls and ice cascades as daylight and minus temperatures allowed. He has written [...]

Christmas comes but once a year. How is it then that we’re ALWAYS out of gift ideas? On Henrietta Street in Waterford City, you might find what you didn’t even know you were looking for. In the workshop and showroom of the Irish Handmade Glass Company, magic is happening. Glass, crystal, art, is somehow being [...]

Rustle. Sniffle. Trickle. Plop. Slice. Crakle. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… That’s the sound of an winter walk followed by tea and cake and a nap in front of the fire. November is here, boys and girls. Time to kick some leaves, munch on cake and choose your fireside. Hidden Ireland know the score… Clone House, County Wicklow When [...]

So what makes Dublin so unique? It’s the hottest question right now. I’d say; James Joyce, a pint in Neary’s, George’s Street Arcade, and a quiet mid-week afternoon at the National Gallery. Author Roddy Doyle reckons it’s the ‘Why Go Bald’ sign on George’s Street. Deciding what makes an entire city unique is tricky. It’s [...]

You’ve arrived in the walled city of Derry-Londonderry and you don’t know what to do first. Let us take that tricky decision from your shoulders with our 5 Things to do in .   1. Walk the 17th-century walls Have you ever spent hours staring at your walls at home thinking ‘They could be so [...]

The Golden Vale. Before you’ve even seen it, let me be so bold as to guess what it brings to your mind: buttercup-brimming fields, a sightly spread of meadows and perhaps the odd fairy tree. You’re nearly there. Heave a huge hill and a crumbling castle complex into the scene and we’re done. Welcome to [...]

You know us Irish don’t shut up, but you may not always know what we’re saying. The languages spoken in Ireland are Irish, Ullans and, of course, English. But not your typical English. In Ireland, we’ve taken the English language and moulded it around our requirements to what they call Hiberno-English. We’ve stretched some of [...]