The clan name Walsh is the 4th most used family name in Ireland. It is now found across the globe as Irish have left the country over time.******The surname Walsh speaks to the Welsh origins of the clan. The Gaelic word for Welsh is Breathnach. This is why some early members of the clan were referre …

To put it plainly, the mythology of Ireland is comparable to a large, colorful Celtic knot — that is, beautiful, overflowing with meaning, and very often nigh-impossible to untangle. Timelines blur; facts seem to flip; characters that seemed to have a concrete home in one story dart like white rabbi …

Once upon a time, a man responded to a king’s request for help—and found himself becoming king. Although he was forced to walk a fine line between honoring the king of his homeland and fulfilling his responsibilities to his new land, he managed to hang on to power and thwart his enemies. This man wa …

Every year on June 16, literary aficionados across Dublin (and other major cities around the world) celebrate Bloomsday. The day is a tribute to the work of Ireland's most famous author, James Joyce, and his groundbreaking slice-of-life novel, Ulysses. Since the first Bloomsday (named for a key prot …

Though he was born to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, W.B. Yeats did more to promote and preserve the folklore of ancient Ireland than anyone else.******By the time that poet William Butler Yeats was born in 1865, the discipline of Irish folklore studies had been gaining traction for quite some …

Every country on earth has a national flag, but few are as instantly-recognizable as the Republic of Ireland's green, white, and orange tricolor (or bratach na hÉireann). The simple design of the Irish flag evokes the fierce tenacity and fighting spirit that is often associated with the Irish. Ho …