Horse racing in Ireland is what you would call ‘edge-of-the-seat’ entertainment. So, with the Punchestown Horse Racing Festival just around the corner, we asked sports fanatic Paul Rowley to take us through a day at the races and see if he could break even… A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for [...]

County Down native Simon Brown turned professional photographer in 2006 with the sole aim of capturing the natural beauty of his homeland. Since then, his evocative shots of the Northern Ireland landscape, from sweeping coastline to heather-strewn mountains, have been exhibited widely and have just been brought together for his book, ‘Portrait of County Down’. [...]

I’m blogging live from the big bus leading Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day parade, and providing minute-by-minute updates of all the madness from the very heart of it! The other guys on the bus, by the way, are media people from across the globe, and they seem to be loving it! They’re all on the top [...]

Readers and St Patrick’s revellers, prepare yourself for a shock: Ireland was not actually the first place to host a St Patrick’s Day parade. We have the wonderful city of Boston, Massachusetts, to thank for starting that, now legendary, tradition. It was back in 1737 when a group of homesick Irish immigrants marched through the [...]

There’s a saying in Ireland that you may or may not have heard. It goes ‘The craic was mighty!’ and it means  you’ve had a great time somewhere. It’s also a phrase that Micheál Ó Domhnaill is well used to hearing. Music group Dervish making beautiful music on Livetrad Micheál is the musical maestro behind [...]

Now that our traditional Irish menu has a soup starter with Guinness Bread for dunking, we thought it was time to move on to the main course. And in deciding what delicacy to feature, we took your cue and opted for a dish that packs the greatest taste of Ireland – Irish Stew. In order [...]

It’s St Patrick’s Day and naturally, you’ve thrown a party. The guests have chomped happily on Shamrock Salmon sandwiches and green soup. Now it’s time to add the cherry on top – literally! St Patrick’s Day is a day of celebration, of remembering and championing all those things that make Ireland great… we feel a [...]

We’ve all heard the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. One man who has a certain knack for taking pictures is photographer Enda Cavanagh and he has been so kind as to share some of his work with us. We think you’ll find that through his pictures, Ireland’s landscape speaks for itself. [...]

It’s our national day of pride, heritage and celebration. It’s the day the whole world channels the fun and merriment of the Irish in their own way (whether picking up a hurley like Governor Schwarzenegger, dying an entire river green or just chomping on a novelty green bagel for lunch). So can you forgive us [...]

We all love a happy ending but happy endings usually start with tough beginnings. And they don’t come much tougher or more poetic than the story of St Patrick; child to slave, shepherd to savior, saint to legend. It would definitely make an Oscar-winner of a feel-good movie. But the best part of St Patrick’s [...]