Finding your Irish Ancestral Homeland (#838)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
6M ago
In this special Irish family history episode we take two letters from our Green Room members. We chat about the approach they should take to uncover more about their respective Irish ancestral homelands. The first letter comes from one of our members in Australia and shares the story of her Irish Irish ancestors. She wonders how to go about discovering the actual origin for these ancestors in Ireland. Mike shares his approach - and comes up with a target destination! In the second letter we chat about how people often jump back to the Irish records too soon - and often jump to incorrect conclu ..read more
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A Genealogical Trip Back to County Cork (#837)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
7M ago
In this special episode we choose one of our Green Room members (see more about the Green Room here) and accompany them on a genealogical trip back to County Cork. Cathy Abraham lives in Boston, USA and her great-grandparents arrived there in the 1870s from County Cork. They were Timothy O'Callaghan and Ellen Richardson. The story went that Timothy was a poor farm-hand on Ellen's parents farm just outside Cork City. They eloped to America as Ellen's parents did not approve of a match between them. Cathy was keen to dig a little more in this story as well as finding and visiting the places asso ..read more
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Did Your Irish Ancestor Live Through This Terrible Time? (#836)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
7M ago
In this episode we look at a very difficult time in Ireland - one that triggered a time of death across the population of the island as well as emigration for many generations afterwards. I'm talking, of course, about "An Gorta Mór" - also known as "The Great Hunger" or "The Great Famine" of the mid 1800s. The first letter looks at a particular landless class in Ireland - who formed a sizeable percentage of our population - but who were, more or less, wiped out during the Famine. I wrote the second letter when I came across an account from 1847 which profiled particular families in a townland ..read more
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Two Royal Families of Ireland - O'Neill and O'Connor (#835)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
7M ago
In this episode we look at two of the major family surnames of Ireland - O'Neill and O'Connor. The first story asks if you have Niall of the Nine Hostages DNA?. This Niall was the patriarch of the O'Neills of Meath and Ulster and there are a surprising number of people on the planet today who have a direct link back to this one individual. We then move on to the O'Connors - who provided us with the last two High Kings of Ireland. Using the first and second name of the late, great, singer - Sinéad O'Connor - we look at the origins of his Irish girls name and surname. We also have lots of wonder ..read more
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The 8 Most Unique Male Irish Singing Voices (#834)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
7M ago
In this musical episode we look at a very personal choice of the eight most unique Irish MALE singing voices. I wonder will you agree? Maybe it will introduce you to a new talent that you have not heard before - or maybe you feel I have left out one or two of your own favourites! Either way, I hope you enjoy this selection of beautiful Irish songs and voices. Music featured in this episode: "Samhradh, Samhradh" performed by Iarla Ó Lionáird and The Gloaming. "Bodenstown Churchyard" performed by Frank Harte. "Rare Aul Times" performed by Luke Kelly. "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears" performed by T ..read more
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From County Cork to the Bright Lights of Broadway and Chicago (#833)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
8M ago
In this episode we tell the story of not one, but two, Irish families that came out of the area surrounding the town of Bantry in West Cork, Ireland. The first story shares the story of Francis O'Neill who emigrated to the USA and Chicago - eventually becoming a chief of police. More importantly, he became an avid collector and preserver of traditional Irish music. The healthy state of Irish traditional music today owes a lot to the efforts of this one man. We then follow the Keohane family who left the area in the early 1800s. On arrival in the USA, their name changed to "Cohan" and their gra ..read more
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The 8 Most Beautiful Irish Female Singing Voices (#832)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
8M ago
In this musical episode we look at a very personal choice of the eight most beautiful Irish femail singing voices. I wonder will you agree? Maybe it will introduce you to a new talent that you have not heard before - or maybe you feel I have left out one or two of your own favourites! Either way, I hope you enjoy this selection of beautiful Irish songs and voices. Music featured in this episode: "This is to Mother You" performed by Sinéad O'Connor. "No Frontiers" performed by Mary Black. "Mystic Lipstick" performed by Maura O'Connell. "Galway Bay" performed by Dolores Keane. "Leaving Limerick ..read more
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The City of Belfast and County Antrim (#831)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
8M ago
In this episode we travel to that fascinating county at the north-east of the island of Ireland - County Antrim. We explore it's rich heritage and history as well as the most numerous surnames in the county. We then go to the south-east of the county to the city of Belfast and again, explore it's rich history and heritage. A "must-listen" if your Irish ancestor came from this beautiful and fascinating part of the island of Ireland. We also have some wonderful Irish songs and music to help us along the way - all with an attachment to County Antrim and Belfast! Music featured in this episode ..read more
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An Irish Birthday Celebration (#830)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
8M ago
In this episode we celebrate 10 years of the Letter from Ireland! In the summer of 2013, we started to write, and send out, a weekly letter from Ireland. Two years later we started the Letter from Ireland podcast. Today, the letter goes out every Sunday to 60,000 people of Irish descent all around the world and continues to thrive - all due to the support and feedback we get from our wonderful listeners and readers. Thank you one and all! We share two letters entitled - "10 Years of The Letter from Ireland" and "Why I write the Letter from Ireland". We also have some wonderful Irish music to h ..read more
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Murder in the West of Ireland - REPOST (#825)
The Letter from Ireland Podcast - with Carina & Mike Collins
by Mike Collins
10M ago
In this episode we cover two infamous real life murder cases in the west of Ireland during the 1800s. The first murder was as a result of mass evictions from an Irish estate during the famine - and the second involved a travesty of justice where the accused were tried in a language they did not understand. We've selected three pieces of music to accompany these letters: We do hope you enjoy! Music featured in this episode: "The Great Hunger" - performed by The Wolfe Tones. "The Fields of Athenry" - performed by Paddy Reilly. "The West's Awake" - performed by Lumiére and Damien Dempsey. Supp ..read more
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