Mar
17

St. Patrick’s Day

Posted in ireland, waterboys | 3 Comments
Being mostly Irish, I actually have a bit of fondness for the holiday. Not so much for the drinking aspect, but more on a “connection: with my roots” kind of thing. I was actually in Galway about 15 years ago during St. Patrick’s Day. Definitely a different vibe than the States, mostly because it’s more of a religious holiday there. There was a very tiny parade and then people went to church and that was about it. I can’t really make a statement about people hitting the pubs early, because I think there were people in the pubs by 10 or 11 am nursing a Guinness every day I was there (both times!). In fact, the only thing different was when we hit the pubs that night,  the bartenders traced shamrocks into foam on the tops of the pints. Good music everywhere, though. šŸ™‚ And as much as I love… Read more
Jan
1

Of Cabbages and Kings…

Posted in ireland, random, sidhe | 5 Comments
I took a digger down the Hill of Tara about fifteen years ago this month. I was on a college tour and as part of that my little group got to head out to Newgrange and Tara. Funny thing, though. I was actually rather apprehensive about the Hill. After all, it had been rumored to hold the court of the Tuatha De Dannan, as well as the place to crown the ancient kings of Ireland.  My maiden surname is Hogan, and according to at least some family traditions, my clan actually became the knighted bodyguards of Brian Boru, the first Ard Ri (or High King) of Ireland. (Guess we were part of the Dal Cais. Who knew?) Which is all very well. I’m not sure what I expected when I got there, but honestly, it’s not much more than a rather tall, grassy mound. And a rather muddy one, if… Read more