Filíocht | Poetry

Cill Aodáin (Killedan) is a town in Mayo, and it is also the homeplace of the Irish poet Antoine O Raifteirí (Anthony Raftery). Raftery was born in 1779 and died on Christmas Day, 1835…

When we begin a New Year, we often think about the changes we wish to make, resolutions we want to keep, promises we hope to make, and the symbolic page we wish to turn…

Many of the Irish writers of this small island wrote about what it means to connect to a sense of place, to connect to home, to connect to Ireland, to its native language, and this, too, has often been an expression of a yearning and sense of exile within…

The native language of any country is a vessel for translating the soul of that country and its people. If a country lost its native language, it would lose an entirely unique way of thinking and feeling about the world…

At this time of year, the Sun has its greatest moment of light, the longest day of the year, and lasts for a few days where the hours of daylight remain almost the same— as though the Sun has stopped in the sky at that place of most light…

Bealtaine marks the beginning of summer in the ancient Celtic calendar. It is a Cross Quarter Day, halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.  In ancient times, bonfires were lit to mark a time of change and transition, celebrating the season's turning…

Antoine O Raifteiri (Anthony Raftery) was an 18th-century blind Irish poet and fiddle player who came from the ancient bardic tradition. He lived and walked the roads of Mayo and, later, predominantly, South Galway, playing music and reciting poetry in the time before the famine…

As we emerge from the dark incubation of the wintering season, the world outside the window begins to come back to life. The buds are slowly coming onto the trees, the earth softens, and new life forms. Our souls are growing, too…

Ireland is world-renowned for its writers, poets, storytellers, artists and musicians. It is unclear when literacy first came to Ireland. The earliest Irish writings are inscriptions, mostly simple memorials, on stone in the Ogham alphabet, the earliest of which date to the 4th century…

Gráinne Ní Mháille (Grace O’Malley in English), or as she is known in Irish folklore, Granuaile, was born in Ireland around 1530. She was the daughter of Dubhdara O Máille, who commanded the biggest fleet of ships in Ireland at the time. They were from Clare Island, a stunning island in Clew Bay in Co. Mayo. When her father died…