Newgrange ancient tomb Ireland

Henges, Barrows, and Tombs: Ireland’s Archaeology

A drone flying over a field in Ireland was able to make out the outline of an ancient henge, a circular enclosure that may have had ritualistic purposes.
Horse skull

The Horse Skulls Hidden in the Dance Floors of Ireland

Old houses in Ireland often have horse skulls buried beneath the floors, but folklorists and archaeologists disagree on exactly why.
Charles Byrne skeleton

Will an 18th-Century Giant Finally Get a Burial at Sea?

The skeleton of Charles Byrne, the “Irish Giant," has been displayed in London's Hunterian Museum for 200 years. Byrne wanted a different resting place.
WB Yeats

W.B. Yeats Loved Tarot Cards

The august Irish poet was once a member of a secret occult order called The Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn. He was also an avid student of the Tarot.
Charles Boycott

Boycotting Captain Boycott

There were boycotts before the word was coined in the 1880s, but ever since then they've always been called after the experience of Captain Charles Boycott.
Guinness ad

Why We Drink Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day

Unlike shamrock pins and green beer, Guinness drinking really is a longstanding tradition in Ireland.
Turf Cutters 1869 by Thomas Wade 1828-1891

Peat’s Place in Art

Since the nineteenth century, peat (or turf) has brought social consciousness to art. In the 1800s, Pre-Raphaelite paintings focused on the fact that the poor harvested it.
Bog butter barrels

Bog Butter Barrels and Ireland’s 3000-Year-Old Refrigerators

Wooden Bog Butter Barrels are possibly the most beautiful things you can find in a bog.  But why did people throw their butter into bogs?
James Joyce

James Joyce, Catholic Writer?

James Joyce remains a novelist whose characters are imbued with a Catholic world view, despite declaring himself to be a freethinking heretic.
Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke and the Birth of Traditional Conservatism

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) is one of the philosophical fountainheads of modern conservatism. But he didn't start out that way.