Everyone pictures you the same way before they arrive — a lone clifftop, a green road with no traffic, a pub with a turf fire and a fiddle going in the corner. Those moments are real, but summer rarely hands them over: July fills the car parks and the Atlantic still throws down its rain. Pick your month well, though, and the Ireland of the postcards is suddenly all yours.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• Ireland — What First-Time Visitors Expect (And What Actually Happens)

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - A little update from Love Ireland

• Ireland Has 1,500 Ancient Monuments — These 10 Are The Greatest

• At The Bar: -The Bars Ireland’s Own Publicans Just Voted The Best

• Around The Web: The Tipperary Rock Where Ireland's Kings Were Made — and the Legends That Never Left?, You Stumbled Into an Irish Festival. Now What?,🔒 25 Questions & Answers on Tracing Your Irish Ancestors and more

• From Love Ireland -How To Move To Ireland: Your Complete Guide To Starting A New Life On The Emerald Isle

• Irish Food You Will Love - Galway Oyster Festival 2026: Why September Is the Best Time to Visit Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way

• The Craic - “Is This the Road to Killarney?”

Ireland — What First-Time Visitors Expect (And What Actually Happens)

👉 Read the full story

There’s a version of Ireland everyone carries before they land: an empty clifftop, a quiet green road, a pub with a fire and a session in the corner. This genuine, gently funny guide lays out what first-timers expect versus what actually happens — the summer rain, the coach tours at the Cliffs of Moher, and why going early (both in the day and in the season) is the single best decision you’ll make. Read it before you pick your month.

👉 Read the full story

Hit reply and tell us — which month are you eyeing for your Ireland trip?

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

A little update from Love Ireland

From 1st September, we’ll be making a small change to help keep Love Ireland original, authentic and fair to the people behind the images we all enjoy.

We will no longer accept posts reshared from other groups or pages.

Ireland Has 1,500 Ancient Monuments — These 10 Are The Greatest

Long before the castles, before the round towers, before Christianity ever reached these shores, Ireland’s earliest people were raising stone circles, dolmens and passage tombs — more than 1,500 of them still stand. This ranked tour runs from the famous to the gloriously remote, and asks the only question that matters: which one moves you most?

At The Bar

The Bars Ireland’s Own Publicans Just Voted The Best

Forget the tourist lists — every August the people who actually pull the pints get together and decide, category by category, which of Ireland’s bars are the finest in the land. It’s the perfect shortlist for a shoulder-season trip, when the fire’s lit, the crowds have thinned and a quiet pub finally feels like the one you imagined.

Around The Web

The Irish Story of the Man Who Found Paradise and Lost Everything Coming Home

The white horse arrived from the west, where the Atlantic horizon blurs into something older than memory. On its back rode a woman with golden hair and eyes that had never known sorrow.

The Tipperary Rock Where Ireland’s Kings Were Made — and the Legends That Never Left

It rises from the flat Tipperary plain like something dropped there by giants. The Rock of Cashel — a limestone outcrop soaring 60 metres above the surrounding fields — has been impossible to ignore for over 1,500 years.

Why Ireland’s Seafood Chowder Tells the Story of Every Village That Made It

Order a bowl of seafood chowder in the wrong pub in Ireland and you’ll know immediately. The locals will notice. And the chowder will tell you exactly where you are — if you know how to read it.

The Outrageous Games People Played at Irish Wakes — And Who Tried to Stop Them

The body is laid out in the parlour. The candles are burning. The priest has said his prayers. And then someone deals the cards. Photo: Shutterstock That is not a scene from a dark comedy. For centuries, it was simply what happened at an Irish wake.

You Stumbled Into an Irish Festival. Now What?

Every year, thousands of travellers arrive in Irish towns mid-festival with no idea what’s happening. Here’s which festivals catch visitors off guard, and what to do when you find yourself in the middle of one.

🔒 25 Questions & Answers on Tracing Your Irish Ancestors

A practical, detailed guide for uncovering your Irish family story

From Love Ireland

How To Move To Ireland: Your Complete Guide To Starting A New Life On The Emerald Isle

There is a moment that many people describe the same way. You are standing somewhere in Ireland — on a cliff path above the Atlantic, in a village square that feels like it has not changed in centuries, or in a pub…

From YouTube

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

Galway Oyster Festival 2026: Why September Is the Best Time to Visit Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way

The Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival is back for its 72nd year, running Friday 25 to Sunday 27 September 2026, and if you’ve been looking for the perfect excuse to book that Ireland trip, this is it.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Is This the Road to Killarney?”

Asking for directions in rural Ireland can sometimes lead to considerably more information than you expected.

Think you know your Irish seasons? Prove it.

From landmarks to legends to the food on the table, today’s five-question quiz is a quick, cheerful test of how well you really know Ireland — and a fine way to daydream about your next trip. Play, then reply and tell us your score.

Take The Test

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Dublin has two entirely separate names in Ireland’s two languages — the English “Dublin” comes from the Irish Dubh Linn, meaning “black pool”, while the official Irish name, Baile Átha Cliath, means something completely different: “town of the hurdled ford”. The two names describe two different features of the very same bend of the River Liffey, and both have been in use for well over a thousand years.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

and if your wanderlust runs further south, Love South Africa brings you Cape Town to Kruger — the real South Africa, every week.

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

There's a secret the Atlantic keeps for Ireland: the same Gulf Stream that batters the west coast also warms it, so plants that would never survive a European winter grow lush and green here instead. You can feel it best under glass in Glasnevin, where the curved Victorian palm houses of Dublin's National Botanic Gardens hold orchids, tree ferns and towering palms — and it won't cost you a cent to wander in. This week, we're following Ireland's garden trail.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• Is the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin Worth Visiting?

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

• Where Arctic And Mediterranean Flowers Bloom Side By Side

• At The Bar: -The 119.5 Seconds That Make A Proper Pint

• Around The Web: What Pairs Perfectly With Soda Bread Fresh From the Oven?, The Best Places to Retire in Ireland: Peaceful Towns, Stunning Scenery,🔒 The Irish Coast by Train and more

• From Love Ireland -How To Move To Ireland: Your Complete Guide To Starting A New Life On The Emerald Isle

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

• The Craic - ““Four Seasons in One Hour”

Is the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin Worth Visiting?

👉 Read the full story

Just a short hop from the city centre, Glasnevin’s National Botanic Gardens are one of Dublin’s great free days out — 19 hectares of rose beds, herbaceous borders and those glorious curved-glass Victorian glasshouses where the tropics thrive in the middle of Ireland. It’s the kind of place you plan to give an hour and end up losing an afternoon. Our full guide walks you through what to see, when to go, and why locals keep coming back.

👉 Read the full story

Have you wandered the glasshouses at Glasnevin? Hit reply and tell us which corner of the gardens you'd sit in all day.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

Now for this week’s challenge…

Four friends — Aoife, Brian, Ciara and Declan — each visited a different Irish city: Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast.

Study the clues in the image carefully.

Which city did Aoife visit?

Where Arctic And Mediterranean Flowers Bloom Side By Side

If Ireland has a wild garden that no gardener planted, it’s the Burren in County Clare — a moonscape of bare limestone where Arctic gentians and Mediterranean orchids somehow flower in the same cracks, an accident of climate and geology found almost nowhere else on Earth. It’s proof that Ireland’s growing magic isn’t only in the walled gardens; sometimes it just happens on its own. This piece unpicks the science behind one of the country’s strangest and loveliest landscapes.

At The Bar

The 119.5 Seconds That Make A Proper Pint

Step out of the gardens and into the snug: every good Irish day tends to end at the bar, and there’s a quiet ritual to the way a pint of Guinness is built, rested and topped. Our Love Ireland guide breaks down the pour, the pint and the etiquette around it — the small ceremony that makes a stout in Ireland taste like nothing you’ll get anywhere else.

Around The Web

Why the Irish Mammy Is Unlike Any Other Mother the World Has Ever Known

Every country has mothers. Only Ireland has a Mammy. She is not just a parent. She is a cultural phenomenon — recognisable across generations and continents.

Ireland: What First-Time Visitors Expect (And What Actually Surprises Them)

A grounded look at the gap between what people picture before their first Irish trip and what actually greets them on the ground.

Best Things to Do in County Louth, Ireland: The Complete Guide

Ireland’s smallest county punches well above its weight — medieval ruins, a long coastline, and easy reach of Dublin.

Galway Oyster Festival 2026: why September is the best time to visit

The world’s oldest oyster festival returns to the Wild Atlantic Way — and it’s the perfect excuse to catch Galway at its liveliest.

The Best Places to Retire in Ireland: Peaceful Towns, Stunning Scenery

For anyone dreaming past the holiday and into the “what if we actually moved here” territory — a look at Ireland’s most liveable towns.

🔒 The Irish Coast by Train

Scenic rail journeys along cliffs, harbours and coastal towns

From Love Ireland

How To Move To Ireland: Your Complete Guide To Starting A New Life On The Emerald Isle

There is a moment that many people describe the same way. You are standing somewhere in Ireland — on a cliff path above the Atlantic, in a village square that feels like it has not changed in centuries, or in a pub…

From YouTube

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

There is a loaf that sits at the centre of nearly every Irish kitchen, and most people who eat it have no idea why it exists at all. No yeast, no proving, no kneading for an hour by the window — just flour, buttermilk, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and a cross cut into the top before it goes in. This is Guide № 001 in a new series: one subject at a time, covered properly — history, chemistry, regional variation, real recipes, common mistakes and how to fix them, and everything else worth knowing, gathered into a single reference worth keeping.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Four Seasons in One Hour”

Sunshine. Rain. Wind.

Sunshine again.

And somehow that can all happen before lunch.

Our visitor has discovered one of the great mysteries of Ireland:

“Why is the weather changing so fast?”

The answer?

“If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes!”

Which Irish County Is Actually Yours? Find Out In 30 Seconds

We built a little tool that matches you to the Irish county that fits you best — your pace, your landscapes, your idea of a perfect day out. It takes about half a minute and it’s genuinely good fun, whether you’re planning a trip or just daydreaming at your desk.

Your Irish County

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Spike Island, sitting in Cork Harbour just a short sail from Cobh, was once home to the largest prison in the world — in the 1850s its star-shaped fort held around 2,300 convicts behind its walls. Today the island is a peaceful heritage site you can visit by ferry, a striking reminder that some of Ireland’s calmest spots have the most turbulent pasts.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if the city bug ever bites — Love New York shares neighbourhood secrets, lesser-known spots, and the NYC that never sleeps. A quiet whisper for another day:

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

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Connemara sits in the west of County Galway, between Galway city and the Atlantic. It is a region rather than a single town, made up of open bog, low granite mountains, sea inlets and small villages. Many visitors pass through it in a single day, driving out from Galway and back before dark. That is a shame, because Connemara rewards people who slow down and stay a while. The light changes by the hour here, and the same road can look completely different on the way home.

What makes Connemara different is how little has changed. This is one of Ireland’s largest Gaeltacht areas, meaning Irish is still spoken as an everyday language in many homes and shops. The land was never rich enough for large farms or big towns, so it kept its scattered cottages, stone walls and quiet roads. The famous “forty shades of green” give way here to browns, purples and greys — the colours of heather, bog and granite.

This guide suits travellers who prefer depth over distance. If you like walking, local music, small harbours and long evenings, Connemara will feel like the right kind of place. Autumn is a good time to come. The summer crowds have gone, the heather is still in colour into early September, and the roads are quiet.

In This Email:

• A Slow Guide to Ireland’s Connemara - Below are five real places worth building a trip around, a simple five-day plan that avoids backtracking, and clear advice on when to visit and how long to stay. Every place listed is open to visitors and has an official website you can check before you go.

  • Clifden and the Sky Road

  • Kylemore Abbey and Victorian Walled Garden

  • Connemara National Park, Letterfrack

  • Roundstone village and Roundstone Bog

  • Killary Fjord and Leenane

  • A suggested five-day Connemara itinerary

  • When to visit Connemara

  • How to get there and how long to spend

A Slow Guide to Ireland’s Connemara:-

Read more

Kinsale has barely 5,000 people, a harbour, and a run of steep, brightly painted streets — and somehow it became the town that changed how Ireland thinks about food. In 1978, a handful of local restaurateurs formed the Kinsale Good Food Circle, Ireland's first organised restaurant association. Nearly fifty years on, it's still one of the best weekends you can plan around a plate of food.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

Share

In today’s email:

• Kinsale, Ireland’s Culinary Capital: Where to Eat and What to Know

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

• Living In Kinsale: What Life Is Actually Like In Ireland's Harbour Town

• At The Bar: -Ireland's Top Bars: The 2026 Award Winners

• Around The Web: What Pairs Perfectly With Soda Bread Fresh From the Oven?, The Best Places to Retire in Ireland: Peaceful Towns, Stunning Scenery,🔒 The Irish Coast by Train and more

• From Love Ireland -Captain Boycott: The Man Who Accidentally Gave His Name To Every Language On Earth

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

• The Craic - “Directions Are More of a Suggestion”

Kinsale, Ireland’s Culinary Capital: Where to Eat and What to Know

👉 Read the full story

Forty minutes from Cork Airport, Kinsale sits on a natural harbour surrounded by some of the richest fishing grounds off the Irish coast — and a cluster of small food producers worth planning a trip around. Our full guide covers where to eat, the town’s fighting history, and when to go.

👉 Read the full story

Have you eaten your way through Kinsale — or is it still on the list? Hit reply and tell us.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

Now for this week’s challenge…

Four friends — Aoife, Brian, Ciara and Declan — each visited a different Irish city: Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast.

Study the clues in the image carefully.

Which city did Aoife visit?

Living In Kinsale: What Life Is Actually Like In Ireland's Harbour Town

Visiting Kinsale for a weekend is one thing — living there is another. Beyond the restaurants and the harbour views, Kinsale is a real working town with its own rhythms, a tight-knit community, and a slower pace that draws people in for good. Our guide looks at what life there is actually like, for anyone who's ever wondered what it would take to stay.

At The Bar

Ireland's Top Bars: The 2026 Award Winners

Every year, a handful of Irish pubs get singled out as the very best in the country — the ones that get the pour, the atmosphere, and the welcome exactly right. This year's award winners are worth planning a detour for, wherever you're headed.

Around The Web

What Pairs Perfectly With Soda Bread Fresh From the Oven?

A short, warm guide to the butters, jams and cheeses that turn a good loaf of soda bread into a proper occasion.

Ireland: What First-Time Visitors Expect (And What Actually Surprises Them)

A grounded look at the gap between what people picture before their first Irish trip and what actually greets them on the ground.

Best Things to Do in County Louth, Ireland: The Complete Guide

Ireland’s smallest county punches well above its weight — medieval ruins, a long coastline, and easy reach of Dublin.

Galway Oyster Festival 2026: why September is the best time to visit

The world’s oldest oyster festival returns to the Wild Atlantic Way — and it’s the perfect excuse to catch Galway at its liveliest.

The Best Places to Retire in Ireland: Peaceful Towns, Stunning Scenery

For anyone dreaming past the holiday and into the “what if we actually moved here” territory — a look at Ireland’s most liveable towns.

🔒 The Irish Coast by Train

Scenic rail journeys along cliffs, harbours and coastal towns

From Love Ireland

Captain Boycott: The Man Who Accidentally Gave His Name To Every Language On Earth

In French it is boycotter. In Russian, boĭkottīrovat. In German, boycottiren. In Japanese, boikotto.

From YouTube

The Burren: Irelands Strangest Landscape (True Story)

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

There is a loaf that sits at the centre of nearly every Irish kitchen, and most people who eat it have no idea why it exists at all. No yeast, no proving, no kneading for an hour by the window — just flour, buttermilk, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and a cross cut into the top before it goes in. This is Guide № 001 in a new series: one subject at a time, covered properly — history, chemistry, regional variation, real recipes, common mistakes and how to fix them, and everything else worth knowing, gathered into a single reference worth keeping.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Directions Are More of a Suggestion”

You stop to ask a local for directions.

Simple enough, right?

Not necessarily in Ireland.

Which Irish County Is Actually Yours? Find Out In 30 Seconds

We built a little tool that matches you to the Irish county that fits you best — your pace, your landscapes, your idea of a perfect day out. It takes about half a minute and it’s genuinely good fun, whether you’re planning a trip or just daydreaming at your desk.

Your Irish County

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Spike Island, sitting in Cork Harbour just a short sail from Cobh, was once home to the largest prison in the world — in the 1850s its star-shaped fort held around 2,300 convicts behind its walls. Today the island is a peaceful heritage site you can visit by ferry, a striking reminder that some of Ireland’s calmest spots have the most turbulent pasts.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if the city bug ever bites — Love New York shares neighbourhood secrets, lesser-known spots, and the NYC that never sleeps. A quiet whisper for another day:

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

There's a moment at the top of Blarney Castle when you lie back, grip two iron rails, and lean out over a 400-year-old gap in the battlements to kiss a slab of limestone that supposedly hands you the gift of the gab. Half of you thinks it's daft. The other half is already grinning — because you're standing on the tower Cormac MacCarthy built in 1446, and you'd not miss it for the world.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

Share

In today’s email:

• Blarney Castle in County Cork Ranked Among World’s Luckiest Travel Destinations

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

• The Cliff-Top Fort On The Edge Of The Aran Islands

• At The Bar: -The Love Ireland Guide № 005: Irish Pub Etiquette

• Around The Web: Why Cork Is Worth More Than a Quick Stop on Your Ireland Trip, Galway Oyster Festival 2026: why September is the best time to visit,🔒 Why Dublin Is the Best First Stop in Ireland and more

• From Love Ireland -Captain Boycott: The Man Who Accidentally Gave His Name To Every Language On Earth

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

• The Craic - “The Traffic Jam Has Wool”

Blarney Castle in County Cork Ranked Among World’s Luckiest Travel Destinations

👉 Read the full story

It’s official — Blarney has the numbers to back up the legend. A new 2026 study placed the County Cork stronghold among the top ten luckiest travel destinations on Earth, and once you’ve climbed the tower and leaned back to kiss that famous stone, you’ll understand exactly why people cross oceans for it. Built in 1446 by Cormac MacCarthy and still standing tall and intact nearly six centuries later, it’s one of those rare bucket-list spots that genuinely lives up to the hype.

Here’s the practical bit: no booking required, but arrive early (the castle opens at 9am) to beat the tour-coach queues, which can stretch to an hour or more by mid-morning. Give yourself a good hour and a half to two hours so you can wander the Rock Close gardens, tackle the Wishing Steps, and peer into the Witch’s Kitchen while you’re there — then it’s a short hop into Cork city for lunch.

👉 Read the full story

Have you kissed the Blarney Stone — or is it still waiting on your itinerary? Hit reply and tell us.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

Think you’ve got this one?

Read the clues carefully — then tell us which county Mary visited THIRD.

Don’t just give us the answer… tell us how you worked it out!

The Cliff-Top Fort On The Edge Of The Aran Islands

If Blarney is Ireland’s most famous fortress, Dún Aonghasa is its most dramatic — a 3,000-year-old semi-circle of stone walls clinging to the lip of a 100-metre cliff on Inis Mór, with nothing but the wild Atlantic on the other side. No one fully agrees on what it was for, but standing at its edge with the wind coming off the ocean is one of those experiences that stays with you long after the ferry home.

At The Bar

The Love Ireland Guide № 005: Irish Pub Etiquette

Walk into an Irish pub for the first time and nobody hands you a rulebook — but there is one, unwritten, and every regular in the room is following it without…

Around The Web

Why Cork Is Worth More Than a Quick Stop on Your Ireland Trip

Cork often gets overlooked in favour of Dublin or the Wild Atlantic Way, but we think that’s a mistake worth correcting.

Best Food Festivals in Ireland 2026 Worth Planning Your Trip Around

From oyster feasts on the coast to harvest celebrations inland, a round-up of the tastiest dates worth building a trip around.

Why Slow Travel Works Better in Ireland

Speed-running through Ireland misses the point. The country rewards those who linger — stopping for a chat at a crossroads pub, taking the scenic route through Connemara instead of the motorway, or spending an afternoon…

Galway Oyster Festival 2026: why September is the best time to visit

The world’s oldest oyster festival returns to the Wild Atlantic Way — and it’s the perfect excuse to catch Galway at its liveliest.

Ireland’s 10 most stunning sunset spots

From Atlantic headlands to quiet lakeshores, ten places where the light does something you’ll never forget — which one stops you in your tracks?

🔒 Why Dublin Is the Best First Stop in Ireland

History, walkable streets, and a city that welcomes you in

From Love Ireland

Captain Boycott: The Man Who Accidentally Gave His Name To Every Language On Earth

In French it is boycotter. In Russian, boĭkottīrovat. In German, boycottiren. In Japanese, boikotto.

From YouTube

The Burren: Irelands Strangest Landscape (True Story)

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

There is a loaf that sits at the centre of nearly every Irish kitchen, and most people who eat it have no idea why it exists at all. No yeast, no proving, no kneading for an hour by the window — just flour, buttermilk, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and a cross cut into the top before it goes in. This is Guide № 001 in a new series: one subject at a time, covered properly — history, chemistry, regional variation, real recipes, common mistakes and how to fix them, and everything else worth knowing, gathered into a single reference worth keeping.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“The Traffic Jam Has Wool”

You’re driving along a quiet Irish country road, enjoying the scenery...

And suddenly — traffic.

Which Irish County Is Actually Yours? Find Out In 30 Seconds

We built a little tool that matches you to the Irish county that fits you best — your pace, your landscapes, your idea of a perfect day out. It takes about half a minute and it’s genuinely good fun, whether you’re planning a trip or just daydreaming at your desk.

Your Irish County

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Spike Island, sitting in Cork Harbour just a short sail from Cobh, was once home to the largest prison in the world — in the 1850s its star-shaped fort held around 2,300 convicts behind its walls. Today the island is a peaceful heritage site you can visit by ferry, a striking reminder that some of Ireland’s calmest spots have the most turbulent pasts.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if the city bug ever bites — Love New York shares neighbourhood secrets, lesser-known spots, and the NYC that never sleeps. A quiet whisper for another day:

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

When your great-grandmother stepped onto a ship at Cobh, she couldn’t pack a field or a townland — but she could pack a recipe. Soda bread, colcannon, a way with a pot of stew: these crossed the Atlantic folded into memory, and some families still make them exactly the same way, 150 years on. This Wednesday, we’re following the food home — right back to the parish it came from.

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We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

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In today’s email:

• Traditional Irish Soda Bread

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• Ireland’s Best Cooking Classes

• At The Bar - Where The Trad Session Still Rules The Pub

• Around The Web: The Wedding Night That Created Ireland's Most Heartbreaking Castle Ghost, The Castle on a River Island That Defied Every Army Sent Against It,

  🔒 A First-Timer's Guide to Driving in Ireland and more

• From Love Ireland -Which Irish County Has The Most Fiddle Players?

• Irish Food You Will Love - The County Rivalry That Won’t Go Away: Whose Brown Bread Wins?

• The Craic -“You’re Never a Stranger for Long”

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

👉 Read the full story

No dish tells the emigrant story better than soda bread. It only became an Irish staple in the 1840s — after bicarbonate of soda reached Ireland during the Great Famine (1845–1852), letting families bake a loaf with nothing but soft flour, buttermilk, a pinch of salt and no oven, no yeast, no time. Cheap, shelf-stable and forgiving, it was exactly the kind of bread that could be learned by heart and carried across an ocean.

Here’s the whole of it, the way it was made in cottages from Donegal to Cork: sift 450g plain flour with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and 1 tsp salt, make a well, pour in roughly 400ml buttermilk, and bring it together with one hand into a soft, shaggy dough — no kneading. Shape a round, cut a deep cross on top (to “let the fairies out,” the old people said, though really it helps it bake through), and bake at 220°C for about 30–35 minutes until it sounds hollow underneath. That’s it. That’s the loaf that fed a nation and travelled with it.

👉 Read the full story

And if you want to trace the loaf back to its source, our complete guide shows you exactly how to find your ancestral townland — the parish records, the civil registration, the free 1926 census — and connect your family's food to the field it grew from

“Want deep dives into Ireland every Sunday? Our premium readers already have their next edition waiting.”

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

Ireland’s Best Cooking Classes

From hands-on baking to Irish coffee and whiskey cocktail masterclasses, these cooking classes offer a genuine way to taste Ireland beyond the pub. This guide rounds up the top-rated options across the country, with clear prices and formats, so you can choose what fits your trip best. It’s about learning, sharing, and coming home with more than photos.

👉 Read the full story

At The Bar

Where The Trad Session Still Rules The Pub

Long before Spotify, the music lived in the corner of the pub — a fiddle, a bodhrán, a box, and whoever wandered in with a tune. The trad session is Ireland’s oldest social network, and it’s very much alive if you know where to listen. From smoky Clare back rooms to Galway’s harbour bars, here’s where the real thing still happens, unamplified and unadvertised.

Around The Web

The Wedding Night That Created Ireland’s Most Heartbreaking Castle Ghost

Most Irish ghost stories are vague. A shape at a window. A cold feeling on the stairs. The White Lady of Charles Fort is different. Her name is known. Her grief had a cause.

Why Ireland’s Ancient Gods Chose to Go Underground — And Never Really Left

There was a time when Ireland’s gods walked the land in plain sight. Then they lost a battle. Rather than disappear, they made a choice — and that choice still shapes the way Irish people see the world today.

The Women Ireland Once Paid to Cry — and Why the Church Tried to Stop Them

When someone died in rural Ireland, a sound rose from the house that no visitor ever forgot. It began low, like wind through a gap in the wall, then climbed into something that split the air.

The Wandering Teachers Who Kept Ireland’s Feet Moving for Centuries

Before Riverdance. Before feiseanna. Before Irish dancing became a global phenomenon watched by millions, it survived because of one remarkable figure…

The Castle on a River Island That Defied Every Army Sent Against It

Cahir Castle sits on a rocky island in the middle of the River Suir. The water runs on both sides of it, year after year, century after century.

🔒 A First-Timer’s Guide to Driving in Ireland

Road rules, rural realities, and a relaxed 7-day route

From Love Ireland

Which Irish County Has The Most Fiddle Players?

If you mapped every fiddle player in Ireland, county by county, the picture might surprise you. The fiddle is not concentrated in one corner of the country.

And YouTube

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The County Rivalry That Won’t Go Away: Whose Brown Bread Wins?

Clare, Kerry, Cork, Donegal — every county thinks its brown bread is the one. Here’s what the debate is really about, and where to try the loaves people actually argue over.

Interested in more Irish Recipes?

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“You’re Never a Stranger for Long”

There’s something visitors often notice about Ireland...

People talk to you.

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Five Questions Stand Between You And A Perfect Score

Think you know your Irish food, landmarks and legends? Today’s Daily Game is five quick questions and a fresh set every day — landmarks, traditions, history and the odd curveball. It takes two minutes and it’s dangerously addictive.

Take The Test

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Irish coffee wasn’t invented in a Dublin bar but at Foynes in County Limerick, the flying-boat port that handled transatlantic air travel before Shannon Airport existed — chef Joe Sheridan whipped up the first one in 1943 to warm a planeload of cold, delayed passengers. When an American asked if he was drinking Brazilian coffee, Sheridan famously replied, “No — that’s Irish coffee,” and a global drink was born on a foggy Limerick estuary.

Love Scotland Too?

If you love starting your morning with Ireland, you might enjoy waking up to Scotland. Join 43,000 readers who get daily stories of castles, Highlands, whisky trails and the heart of Scottish culture — written with the same warmth you’ll find here. We think of them as family.

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Also From Our Family

For hidden history, local haunts and the London that Londoners actually love, Love London is a lovely quiet read

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

Somewhere in Ireland there is a tiny named field — a townland — that was your great-great-grandmother's actual address long before she ever saw a ship. A baptism written into a parish register in 1847, a marriage entry, a surname in Griffith's Valuation: the paper trail home still exists, and most of it is free to search. Today, here's exactly how to follow it back.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• Irish Townlands — The Complete Ancestry Research Guide for the Diaspora

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

• The Tower On Galway Bay That Has Stood For 1,400 Years

• At The Bar: -The Limerick Pub Where The Trad Session Never Stops

• Around The Web: Why the Irish Mammy Is Unlike Any Other Mother the World Has Ever Known, Galway Oyster Festival 2026,🔒 The Most Meaningful Short Drive from Dublin and more

• From Love Ireland -Did Bram Stoker Ever Visit Transylvania? How An Irish Civil Servant Invented It From A Library Book

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

• The Craic - “Music Is In Our Blood”

Irish Townlands — The Complete Ancestry Research Guide for the Diaspora

👉 Read the full story

Your ancestors didn’t come from a county. They came from a townland — one of roughly 60,000 tiny named patches of Irish ground, and the single most important word in tracing your family. It’s the address on the baptism, the marriage entry, the property survey. Find the townland, and you’ve found the field your people walked out of. Here’s the practical path, step by step:

Start with civil registration — free and fully searchable. Ireland began registering all births and deaths in 1864, and non-Catholic marriages back in 1845. Every one of those records is online, free and searchable, at IrishGenealogy.ie. Start with the most recent ancestor you can name and work backwards, generation by generation.

Then the Catholic parish registers. Baptisms and marriages in most Catholic parishes survive from the 1820s to the 1860s — held by individual parishes and microfilmed by the National Library of Ireland. You can browse them free at registers.nli.ie. This is the record type that carries you back before civil registration existed.

Why Catholic ancestry is often easier to trace. In 1922, the Four Courts fire in Dublin destroyed most pre-1922 census returns and a great many Church of Ireland parish registers. But the Catholic parish records were held locally — so most of them survived. If your people were Catholic, the odds are genuinely in your favour.

Know your county’s survival. For the great diaspora counties — Cork, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry, Roscommon, Sligo, Donegal and Tipperary — Catholic register coverage is generally strong, and the NLI catalogue tells you exactly which years exist for each parish before you start.

Then pin the exact spot with Griffith’s Valuation (1847–1864). This is the single most complete surviving pre-Famine property survey, free at askaboutireland.ie. It lists each tenant’s surname and townland. Cross-reference a surname from Griffith’s with the same name in the parish register, and you can often pin the family to one exact townland.

👉 Read the full story

If this stirred something in you, forward it to the cousin or sibling who’s always said “someday I’ll look into our roots.” Someday can be today.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

Think you’ve got this one?

Read the clues carefully — then tell us which county Mary visited THIRD.

Don’t just give us the answer… tell us how you worked it out!

The Tower On Galway Bay That Has Stood For 1,400 Years

Perched on a rocky spur where the tide laps its walls at Kinvara, Dunguaire Castle is the most photographed tower house in the west of Ireland — and behind that postcard silhouette lies a story stretching back some 1,400 years to the kings of Gort. It’s compact, atmospheric and utterly walkable, the kind of place that makes a grey Galway afternoon feel like a fairytale.

At The Bar

The Limerick Pub Where The Trad Session Never Stops

There’s nothing on earth quite like traditional music heard the way it was meant to be heard — a few feet away, in a warm, low-ceilinged room, with a pint settling in front of you. Dolan’s in Limerick has been one of the great homes of the live session for years, a place where fiddle, bodhrán and box carry the night and strangers leave as friends.

Around The Web

Why the Irish Mammy Is Unlike Any Other Mother the World Has Ever Known

Every country has mothers. Only Ireland has a Mammy. She is not just a parent. She is a cultural phenomenon — recognisable across generations and continents.

Galway Oyster Festival 2026:

Why September Is the Best Time to Visit Galway

The Dance That Came From Paris and Became the Heartbeat of Rural Ireland

Nobody says the set dance is French. Nobody ever has. But the truth of how it arrived in Irish villages — and what happened to it once it did — is one of the most joyful, surprising stories in Irish culture.

Cobh: The Emigration Port Where the Titanic Made Its Last Stop

The steep, colourful harbour town in County Cork was the final glimpse of Ireland for more than two million emigrants — and the last port the Titanic ever called at before the Atlantic.

Irish Surnames from County Galway: Origins, Meanings and Heritage

Discover the most common Irish surnames from County Galway — their Gaelic origins, meanings, and the clans behind them. Plus get weekly Ireland stories free in our newsletter.

🔒 The Most Meaningful Short Drive from Dublin

Ireland’s Ancient East: Castles, Coastlines and 5 Days of Living History in Wicklow and Wexford

From Love Ireland

Did Bram Stoker Ever Visit Transylvania? How An Irish Civil Servant Invented It From A Library Book

On August 8, 1890, Bram Stoker walked into the lending library on Whitby’s quayside and asked for a book almost nobody read.

From YouTube

The Burren: Irelands Strangest Landscape (True Story)

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The Love Ireland Guide № 001: Irish Soda Bread

There is a loaf that sits at the centre of nearly every Irish kitchen, and most people who eat it have no idea why it exists at all. No yeast, no proving, no kneading for an hour by the window — just flour, buttermilk, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and a cross cut into the top before it goes in. This is Guide № 001 in a new series: one subject at a time, covered properly — history, chemistry, regional variation, real recipes, common mistakes and how to fix them, and everything else worth knowing, gathered into a single reference worth keeping.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Music Is In Our Blood”

Walk into the right Irish pub and sooner or later, someone might pick up an instrument.

And suddenly the whole room changes.

Talk Like A Local Before You Even Land

Ever been baffled when an Irish friend calls something “gas” or tells you your plans are “grand altogether”? Our Irish Slang Translator decodes the phrases that leave visitors politely nodding along — and it’s genuinely good craic to play with for 30 seconds.

Irish Slang Translator

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

The English word “boycott” comes from Captain Charles Boycott, a land agent in County Mayo who in 1880 was so completely shunned by the local community that no one would harvest his crops, serve him in shops, or even deliver his post. Within months newspapers had turned his name into a verb — and it survives today in dozens of languages around the world.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if your heart wanders further south… Love Italy shares hidden villages, family recipes, and the Italy the guidebooks always miss (29,000 readers and counting)

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

There's a reason they call County Wicklow the Garden of Ireland. While the rest of Europe is still buttoning up against the cold, the mild Atlantic air has Powerscourt's terraces and Mount Usher's riverbanks spilling into colour. This week we're wandering the county where Ireland blooms first — grand estates, walled gardens, and all.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• County Wicklow — The Complete Guide to Ireland’s Garden County

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

• Plan Your Ireland Trip Around Moments, Not Monuments

• At The Bar: -The Dark Stories Hiding Behind Ireland’s Most Famous Pub Names

• Around The Web: The Woman Locked in Ireland’s Most Dramatic Castle — and Why She Never Left, Why No Irish Person Would Ever Put New Shoes on the Table — and the Dark Reason Why,🔒 A Practical Guide to Pub Culture in Ireland and more

• From Love Ireland -Did Bram Stoker Ever Visit Transylvania? How An Irish Civil Servant Invented It From A Library Book

• Irish Food You Will Love - How to Make Soft, Swirled Chocolate Brioche Twists — Bakery-Quality at Home

• The Craic - “A Good Story Is Worth More Than Gold”

County Wicklow — The Complete Guide to Ireland’s Garden County

👉 Read the full story

They didn’t start calling Wicklow “the Garden of Ireland” by accident. Tucked just south of Dublin, its warm, sheltered valleys grow gardens that shouldn’t really thrive this far north — from the Italianate terraces of Powerscourt to the wild woodland walks of Mount Usher, all set against mountains, lakes and monastic ruins. This is the complete guide to planning a few slow, green days in the county that blooms before anywhere else.

👉 Read the full story

What garden or estate would you most love to wander through on your next trip? Hit reply and tell us.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

THE LOVE IRELAND FRIDAY BRAIN TEASER!

Think you’ve got this one?

Read the clues carefully — then tell us which county Mary visited THIRD.

Don’t just give us the answer… tell us how you worked it out!

Plan Your Ireland Trip Around Moments, Not Monuments

Most first-timers build their Ireland itinerary as a checklist of landmarks — and end up spending the whole trip in the car. There’s a better way: plan around the experiences you actually want to feel, and let the places fall into place around them. This guide flips the whole approach on its head, and it might just save your holiday.

At The Bar

The Dark Stories Hiding Behind Ireland’s Most Famous Pub Names

That cheerful sign over the door often hides something far stranger than you’d guess — feuds, ghosts, smugglers and long-buried scandals, all tucked into a single painted name. Next time you order a pint, you might look at the sign above the bar a little differently.

Around The Web

The Woman Locked in Ireland’s Most Dramatic Castle — and Why She Never Left

On the basalt cliffs of County Antrim, a ruined castle clings to a narrow promontory above the sea. Three sides drop straight into the Atlantic. On a calm day, it is breathtaking. On a stormy night, locals say to stay away.

Why No Irish Person Would Ever Put New Shoes on the Table — and the Dark Reason Why

Drop a pair of new shoes on the kitchen table in an Irish home and the room will go very quiet, very quickly. Your host will move them before you can wonder what you did wrong. No explanation offered. Just a look.

Why the Most Powerful Celtic Symbol Hides Its Meaning Underground

The Celts were obsessed with patterns you could trace with a finger — knotwork that loops forever, spirals that never end. But one symbol breaks every rule. Its power doesn’t live on the surface.

Cobh: The Emigration Port Where the Titanic Made Its Last Stop

The steep, colourful harbour town in County Cork was the final glimpse of Ireland for more than two million emigrants — and the last port the Titanic ever called at before the Atlantic.

The Irish Queen Who Negotiated With a Tudor Monarch — and Won

In 1593, an Irish chieftain sailed to Greenwich Palace to meet the Queen of England.

🔒 A Practical Guide to Pub Culture in Ireland

Etiquette, timing, music sessions, and how to choose the right pub

From Love Ireland

Did Bram Stoker Ever Visit Transylvania? How An Irish Civil Servant Invented It From A Library Book

On August 8, 1890, Bram Stoker walked into the lending library on Whitby’s quayside and asked for a book almost nobody read.

From YouTube

The Burren: Irelands Strangest Landscape (True Story)

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

How to Make Soft, Swirled Chocolate Brioche Twists — Bakery-Quality at Home

There are bakes that are fine, bakes that are good, and then there are bakes that make an entire kitchen fall silent the moment they come out of the oven. Chocolate brioche twists fall firmly in that last category.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“A Good Story Is Worth More Than Gold”

Talk Like A Local Before You Even Land

Ever been baffled when an Irish friend calls something “gas” or tells you your plans are “grand altogether”? Our Irish Slang Translator decodes the phrases that leave visitors politely nodding along — and it’s genuinely good craic to play with for 30 seconds.

Irish Slang Translator

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

The world’s very first duty-free shop opened at Shannon Airport in County Clare in 1947, invented by an Irishman named Brendan O’Regan because transatlantic flights were forced to refuel there. Every duty-free shop on Earth today traces its origins back to that one small Irish terminal.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if your heart wanders further south… Love Italy shares hidden villages, family recipes, and the Italy the guidebooks always miss (29,000 readers and counting)

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

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County Waterford sits in the south-east of Ireland, facing the Celtic Sea. Most visitors drive straight past it on their way between Cork and the more famous west, and that is exactly why it stays quiet. Here you will find Ireland’s oldest city, a stretch of coast shaped by ancient volcanoes and old copper mines, and small harbour towns where the pace of life has barely changed in a generation. It is a region built for people who like to take their time.

What makes Waterford different is the layering of history you can walk through in a single week. The Vikings founded Waterford city in the year 914, making it the oldest city in Ireland. Long before that, Christian monks built a monastery on the cliffs at Ardmore. In the 19th century, miners cut copper from the sea cliffs west of Tramore. Today a smooth cycling path runs the length of an old railway line, linking the sea, the mountains, and the towns in between. You can move between all of these things gently, without long drives or crowds.

This guide is written for slow travellers. It suits couples, walkers, cyclists, and anyone tracing family roots in the south-east. September and October are among the best months to come: the summer traffic has gone, the light is soft and low, and the harvest season brings food events and long, calm evenings. If you want an Irish region that rewards patience rather than a checklist, this is one of the best.

In This Email:

• Ireland’s Copper Coast and County Waterford - Let’s walk you through the coast section by section. You will learn where to cycle, where to stand on a cliff above an old monastery, which gardens are worth a full afternoon, and how to build a relaxed five-day route that never doubles back on itself.

  • The Waterford Greenway

  • The Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark

  • Lismore Castle Gardens

  • Mount Congreve Gardens

  • The House of Waterford Crystal and the Viking city

  • A suggested five-day itinerary

  • When to visit and how long to spend

Ireland’s Copper Coast and County Waterford:-

Read more

Your ancestors never said they were "from County Mayo." They said they were from Attavally, or Doogort, or a scatter of houses with a name older than any map. That name — the townland — is the smallest address in Ireland, and the closest thing you have to standing in the doorway they walked out of. This weekend, we'll help you find it.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

Share

In today’s email:

• The Townland Your Irish Ancestors Called Home — and How to Find It

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara: The 1,400-Year Story Behind Galway Bay’s Most Photographed Tower

• At The Bar: -Turlough O’carolan: The Blind Irish Harper Who Shaped Traditional Music

• Around The Web: How to Plan a Trip to Your Irish Ancestral Townland Using the Free 1926 Census, Cobh: The Emigration Port Where the Titanic Made Its Last Stop,🔒 Slow Travel Through County Cork and more

• From Love Ireland -What Your Irish Surname Reveals About Where Your Family Came From

• Irish Food You Will Love - How to Make a Tiramisu Charlotte Cake — Eggless Mascarpone Cream and Chocolate Ganache

• The Craic - “Wait Five Minutes!”

The Townland Your Irish Ancestors Called Home — and How to Find It

👉 Read the full story

Here is the thing almost no Irish-American knows: a county is a region, but a townland is your family’s actual address — the specific field, the specific cluster of homes, the specific name your great-grandparents answered to when someone asked where they belonged. Ireland has more than 60,000 of these ancient place names, some of them a thousand years older than the counties drawn around them, and every single one is a story most visitors never hear.

👉 Read the full story

What county does your Irish family come from? Hit reply — we read every message.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

I Love Ireland

Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara: The 1,400-Year Story Behind Galway Bay’s Most Photographed Tower

Dunguaire Castle rises from a tidal island on the shore of Galway Bay near Kinvara in County Galway. It is one of the most photographed castles in Ireland, and one of the most story-laden.

At The Bar

Turlough O’carolan: The Blind Irish Harper Who Shaped Traditional Music

In 1688, a young man of eighteen lay in bed, blind, his life altered forever by smallpox. His name was Turlough O’Carolan. Most thought his story was over. In truth, it had barely begun — he went on to become Ireland’s last great wandering harper, composing tunes still played in pubs across the country today.

Around The Web

How to Plan a Trip to Your Irish Ancestral Townland Using the Free 1926 Census

More than 700,000 household returns went online this spring — free and searchable — letting the descendants of emigrants find the exact town, village and street their ancestors called home a hundred years ago.

The Trees No Irish Person Will Ever Cut Down — and the Ancient Fear Behind It

Somewhere in the Irish countryside, a motorway was rerouted. Not because of planning laws. Not because of protected wildlife. Because of a tree — a single hawthorn, standing alone in a field, said to belong to the fairies. Nobody cut it down.

The Ancient Alphabet Carved Into Ireland’s Oldest Stones — and What It Says

Stand beside an ogham stone and you are looking at the oldest writing in Ireland. These narrow pillars of rock, marked with notches and lines along their edges, contain real messages — names, claims, and stories carved by real people over 1,500 years ago.

Cobh: The Emigration Port Where the Titanic Made Its Last Stop

The steep, colourful harbour town in County Cork was the final glimpse of Ireland for more than two million emigrants — and the last port the Titanic ever called at before the Atlantic.

The Ballrooms of Romance That Once Brought Rural Ireland Together Every Weekend

Every Saturday night in 1950s Ireland, something remarkable happened. Across the country, young men and women put on their best clothes and walked — sometimes for miles — to a corrugated iron building at the edge of town.

🔒 Slow Travel Through County Cork

How to see the city, the coast, and everything in between—without repacking every night

From Love Ireland

What Your Irish Surname Reveals About Where Your Family Came From

Your Irish surname holds a secret. It tells you where your family came from — the specific county, the townland, the landscape your ancestors called home for generations before they left. More than a name, it is a map.

From YouTube

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

How to Make a Tiramisu Charlotte Cake — Eggless Mascarpone Cream and Chocolate Ganache

Some desserts stop people in their tracks. The Tiramisu Charlotte Cake is one of them.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Wait Five Minutes!”

There’s one subject you can always rely on for conversation in Ireland...

The weather.

Which Irish County Is Yours? Find Out In 30 Seconds

You’ve been thinking about townlands all morning — so start one county up. Our Find Your Irish County tool is a quick, fun way to discover which corner of Ireland your heart (or your surname) belongs to. Give it thirty seconds and see where it sends you.

Your Irish County

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Marsh’s Library in Dublin, opened in 1707, is Ireland’s oldest public library and still holds three wired “cages” where readers were once locked in alongside the rarest and most valuable books to stop them being stolen. Its shelves and reading nooks have barely changed in over 300 years, making it one of the few genuinely 18th-century rooms you can still walk into anywhere in Europe.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if a great city is more your pace, Love London shares the hidden history, local haunts and quiet corners that Londoners themselves love. A gentle daily letter worth a look:

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

There’s a place on Inis Mór where the ground simply ends. Dún Aonghasa, a semicircular stone fort older than the pyramids at Giza, sits right on the lip of a 100-metre cliff with the wild Atlantic thundering below — and on the seaward side, no wall at all. You lie on the warm limestone, edge forward on your elbows, and look straight down into 3,000 years of Ireland holding its breath.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

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Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

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In today’s email:

• The Ancient Irish Fort Built on a Cliff Edge — With No Wall on the Sea Side

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• The Free Records That Can Lead You Back To Your Ancestor’s Exact Doorstep

• At The Bar: -The Hidden Credit System That Once Held Every Rural Irish Pub Together

• Around The Web: The Real Reason Dublin’s Georgian Doors Are All Different Colours, Puffins at Skellig Michael: Ireland’s best wildlife encounter,🔒 Driving Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way the Best Way and more

• From Love Ireland -From Dream To Doorstep: The Real Guide To Moving To Ireland And Making It Home

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Buttermilk Muffins Worth Heating The Oven For

• The Craic - “A Hug in a Mug!”

The Ancient Irish Fort Built on a Cliff Edge — With No Wall on the Sea Side

👉 Read the full story

Take the 40-minute ferry from Rossaveel out to Inis Mór, cycle past the endless drystone walls, and you’ll arrive at one of the most astonishing places in all of Ireland: Dún Aonghasa. Nobody fully knows why Bronze Age islanders built a great fort here with its open side facing a sheer drop into the ocean — but standing on that cliff edge, you understand instantly why they never left the Aran Islands.

👉 Read the full story

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

I Love Ireland

The Free Records That Can Lead You Back To Your Ancestor’s Exact Doorstep

So many readers write to us dreaming of finding the townland their family left generations ago — and the wonderful news is that you can often trace it right down to the house. Ireland’s free census fragments, Griffith’s Valuation and parish registers are a goldmine, and knowing how to read them turns a surname into a front door you can one day stand at.

At The Bar

The Hidden Credit System That Once Held Every Rural Irish Pub Together

Long before contactless cards, the country pub ran on trust — and on the publican’s slate, a running tab chalked up for neighbours who’d settle when the harvest came in or the wages arrived. It’s one of the quiet, forgotten mechanisms that kept whole communities afloat, and it tells you everything about how the Irish pub was never really about the drink.

Around The Web

Why the Full Irish Breakfast Is About Far More Than What’s on the Plate

Most meals tell you what a country eats. The full Irish breakfast tells you who Ireland is. Eight items. All hot. All together. Served at a pace that says: sit down, you’re not in a hurry.

The Real Reason Dublin’s Georgian Doors Are All Different Colours

Every year, millions of visitors photograph Dublin’s painted doors. They line the streets of Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square in every shade imaginable — deep red, bright yellow, seafoam green, cobalt blue.

What Happens When You Find the Field Where Your Family Left 150 Years Ago

You’ve been carrying the name your whole life. Murphy. Gallagher. O’Brien. You’ve heard the county — Mayo, Roscommon, Clare — spoken at family dinners since before you understood what it meant.

Puffins at Skellig Michael: Ireland’s best wildlife encounter

On a rocky island off the Kerry coast, thousands of puffins nest within arm’s reach each summer — a magical add-on to Ireland’s most extraordinary monastic site.

The 10 prettiest coastal villages in Ireland

From candy-coloured harbours to sleepy fishing piers, these are the seaside villages worth building an entire trip around.

🔒 Driving Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way the Best Way

A slower journey along Ireland’s west coast — from early-morning cliffs to the far northern edge of the island

From Love Ireland

From Dream To Doorstep: The Real Guide To Moving To Ireland And Making It Home

For anyone who has ever stood on a windswept Irish headland, nursed a pint in a creaking pub, or simply felt that Ireland reaches something deep inside them, the idea of making it permanent is not as far-fetched as it…

From YouTube

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Irish Food You Will Love

How to Make Perfect Swiss Meringue Buttercream — The Baker’s Foolproof Method

Some frostings are fine. Swiss meringue buttercream is extraordinary. It is silky, stable, and far less sweet than standard American buttercream.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“A Hug in a Mug!”

There are some problems in Ireland that apparently require the same solution...

Do You Really Love Ireland?

Think you know Ireland inside out? Our free daily game puts that to the test — quick, genuinely tricky, and worth bragging rights if you get a perfect score. Takes about a minute.

Do You Love Ireland (TEST)

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

The Aran Islands have almost no natural soil — for centuries the islanders made their own farmland by hand, layering seaweed and sand over the bare limestone to build fertile ground between the stone walls. Those hand-made fields are the only reason a windswept rock in the middle of the Atlantic could feed families for generation after generation

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And for the Francophiles among us: Love France brings you Paris secrets, provincial charm and the stories behind French culture, to 7,000 readers and counting

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

The smell hits before the eyes even open: bacon first, then sausage, then the hiss of an egg going into the pan. Eggs, bacon, sausage, black and white pudding, grilled tomato, a fried slice, and bread on the side — every component earns its place, and getting the order wrong is how you spot a tourist.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• The Unwritten Rules of a Full Irish Breakfast

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• The Illicit Irish Spirit Hidden In The Bogs For 300 Years

• At The Bar - The Irish Pub Shipped Flat-Pack To The Far Side Of The World

• Around The Web: Ireland’s Four Landscapes: Coast, Bog, Forest and Mountain, The Viking city Dublin bulldozed for council offices,

  🔒 Wicklow: The Garden of Ireland and more

• From Love Ireland -The Morrigan: Ireland’s Triple Goddess Of War, Fate And Sovereignty

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Spiced Bun That Perfumes An Irish Kitchen

• The Craic -“Why Are Irish Place Names So Long?”

The Unwritten Rules of a Full Irish Breakfast

👉 Read the full story

Every component earns its place on the plate, and locals notice when one’s missing or done wrong: the eggs, the rashers, the sausages, black and white pudding, a grilled tomato, and bread to mop up what’s left. It’s less a meal than a small ritual — the kind that sets the tone for the rest of the day before a step outside the door.

👉 Read the full story

What’s the one thing that has to be on your plate for it to count as a proper fry? Hit reply and tell us.

“Want deep dives into Ireland every Sunday? Our premium readers already have their next edition waiting.”

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

Ireland’s Best Cooking Classes

From hands-on baking to Irish coffee and whiskey cocktail masterclasses, these cooking classes offer a genuine way to taste Ireland beyond the pub. This guide rounds up the top-rated options across the country, with clear prices and formats, so you can choose what fits your trip best. It’s about learning, sharing, and coming home with more than photos.

👉 Read the full story

At The Bar

The Illicit Irish Spirit Hidden In The Bogs For 300 Years

Long before the craft-gin bars of the Cathedral Quarter, Ireland had a very different drinking tradition — poitín, the fierce homemade spirit distilled in secret and buried in the bogs to hide it from the law. Banned for three centuries, it never quite died out, and today it’s making a legal, roaring comeback. Here’s the strange, stubborn story of Ireland’s original moonshine.

Around The Web

Ireland’s Four Landscapes: Coast, Bog, Forest and Mountain

Ask ten people who have visited Ireland what they remember most, and you’ll get ten different answers. Some will mention the sea — the way it churns against dark cliffs or lies flat and grey under a November sky.

How the DART Transformed Dublin’s Coastal Suburbs: Property Prices, Class Identity, and the Rise of South Dublin Since 1984

How the DART Transformed Dublin’s Coastal Suburbs: Property Prices, Class Identity, and the Rise of South Dublin Since 1984 In 2019, the average home within walking distance of Dalkey DART station cost €828,000.

The Viking city Dublin bulldozed for council offices

Beneath a car park at Wood Quay lay one of the best-preserved Viking settlements in Europe — until Dublin poured concrete over it. The story of what was lost is one of the strangest chapters in the city’s history.

Ireland’s most complete medieval monastic city

Tucked into a Wicklow valley, Glendalough still has its round tower, ruined churches and lakeside paths almost exactly as the monks left them 1,000 years ago. It’s one of the most atmospheric places to walk in the whole country.

The Irish Boy Who Burned His Thumb and Became Ireland’s Greatest Hero

At seven years old, a boy sat beside a quiet pool in the Irish countryside, watching an old druid fish.

🔒 Wicklow: The Garden of Ireland

You love Ireland, but it’s hard to feel close to it from far away. We understand — Ireland lives in your heart. That’s why we created the daily Love Ireland Newsletter. Every morning, you’ll feel more connected to the places, stories, and moments you love

From Love Ireland

The Morrigan: Ireland’s Triple Goddess Of War, Fate And Sovereignty

The Morrigan is one of the most powerful figures in Irish mythology. She is a triple goddess of war, fate, and sovereignty. For thousands of years, the Irish people feared and respected her.

And YouTube

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Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The Spiced Bun That Perfumes An Irish Kitchen

Boxty came from the griddle; these come from the oven, and the smell alone is worth the effort. Soft, spiced and glossy with a sticky glaze, homemade hot cross buns are a small ceremony of a bake — and once you’ve made your own, the shop-bought ones will never quite do again.

Interested in more Irish Recipes?

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Why Are Irish Place Names So Long?”

Ireland can be confusing enough for a first-time visitor.

Then you see some of the place names

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What Would Belfast Have Called You?

Before you go — here’s a fun one. Our free “Your Irish Name” tool takes 30 seconds and hands you the Irish version of your own name, complete with its meaning and roots. It’s a lovely little way to feel a bit more Irish before your morning tea goes cold.

Your Irish Name

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

The pneumatic rubber tyre — the kind now on nearly every car and bicycle on Earth — was perfected in Belfast in 1887 by John Boyd Dunlop, a local vet who fitted inflated rubber tubes to his young son’s tricycle to give him a smoother ride. That backyard tinkering in a Belfast yard grew into one of the largest tyre companies the world has ever seen.

Love Scotland Too?

If you love starting your morning with Ireland, you might enjoy waking up to Scotland. Join 43,000 readers who get daily stories of castles, Highlands, whisky trails and the heart of Scottish culture — written with the same warmth you’ll find here. We think of them as family.

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Also From Our Family

If your heart wanders to the big city now and then, Love London (3,000 readers) shares hidden history, local haunts, and the London that locals actually love.

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

Everyone talks about the Ring of Kerry, but slip north to the Antrim coast and you'll find the drive that quietly outshines them all — one road from Belfast to Derry where the Giant's Causeway, a swaying rope bridge, a clifftop castle and the world's oldest whiskey distillery all wait within a single unforgettable day. Fewer crowds, wilder edges. This is the Ireland the guidebooks like to keep to themselves.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• Northern Ireland Road Trip — The Causeway Coastal Route, Best Route & What to See

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• The County Cork Museum That Traces Your Emigrant Ancestors

• At The Bar: -Why An Irish Pub Feels Like Coming Home

• Around The Web: The Ancient Legends Hiding Inside Ireland’s Most Beloved Names, Top 10 Irish islands worth the boat trip,🔒 County Armagh: The Orchard County

• From Love Ireland -Living In County Wexford, Ireland: What Life Really Feels Like

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Buttermilk Muffins Worth Heating The Oven For

• The Craic - “Ah, It’s Grand!”

Northern Ireland Road Trip — The Causeway Coastal Route, Best Route & What to See

👉 Read the full story

If you only make room for one drive on your next trip, make it this one. The Causeway Coastal Route runs the Antrim seaboard from Belfast to Derry, threading past the basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway, the knee-wobbling Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, ruined Dunluce Castle clinging to its cliff, the Game of Thrones tunnel of the Dark Hedges, and Bushmills — licensed to distil since 1608 — with the little Glens villages of Cushendall and Cushendun tucked in between. Our full guide maps the stops, the timings and the views most visitors never slow down for.

👉 Read the full story

Reply and tell us: would you drive this in one day, or take three and savour every headland?

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

I Love Ireland

The County Cork Museum That Traces Your Emigrant Ancestors

Far from the Antrim cliffs, down on Cork’s harbour, sits the quay where more than two and a half million people left Ireland for good. The Cobh Heritage Centre turns that vast emigration story into something personal — passenger records, coffin-ship history and the tools to trace the exact ancestors who once stood on this pier looking back at Ireland one last time.

At The Bar

Why An Irish Pub Feels Like Coming Home

Some places you visit; an Irish pub you belong to. It’s the turf fire, the unhurried pint, the stranger who becomes a friend by closing time — the particular magic that has Irish emigrants the world over aching for a snug and a session. This lovely piece captures exactly why the pub calls to the soul.

Around The Web

The Ancient Legends Hiding Inside Ireland’s Most Beloved Names

When an Irish grandmother calls her granddaughter “Aoife,” she is using the name of a fierce warrior woman from the oldest stories Ireland ever told. Every Irish name carries a living piece of mythology.

The Ancient Circles Hidden in Every Irish Field — and Why Nobody Will Touch Them

Drive through any Irish county and you will see it eventually. A raised circular mound in the middle of a farmer’s field, surrounded by a ditch, with a few gnarled trees growing on top. The field is ploughed right up to the edge.

Top 10 Irish islands worth the boat trip

From the Aran Islands to the far-flung specks off Donegal and Cork, these scraps of rock and green hold some of the most remarkable communities and scenery in the country. A guide to which ones deserve a spot on your itinerary.

The Like of Us Will Never Be Again’: The Last Days of the Great Blasket Island

‘The Like of Us Will Never Be Again’: The Last Days of the Great Blasket Island In 1929, a fisherman named Tomás Ó Criomhthain finished writing a book.

The Island With More Stone Walls Than Roads — and the Families Who Built Every One

From the air, Inis Mór looks like a cracked mosaic of grey and green. The largest of the Aran Islands is divided into thousands of small, irregular fields — each one bordered by a low grey wall.

🔒 County Armagh: The Orchard County

In the heart of Northern Ireland lies Armagh, a picturesque county renowned for its lush landscapes and bountiful apple orchards.

From Love Ireland

Living In County Wexford, Ireland: What Life Really Feels Like

County Wexford sits at the sunny southeastern tip of Ireland, roughly 140 kilometres south of Dublin. It records more sunshine hours per year than anywhere else in the country.

From YouTube

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

How to Make Perfect Swiss Meringue Buttercream — The Baker’s Foolproof Method

Some frostings are fine. Swiss meringue buttercream is extraordinary. It is silky, stable, and far less sweet than standard American buttercream.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“Ah, It’s Grand!”

Do You Really Love Ireland?

Think you know Ireland inside out? Our free daily game puts that to the test — quick, genuinely tricky, and worth bragging rights if you get a perfect score. Takes about a minute.

Do You Love Ireland (TEST)

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on the then-derelict St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin — at a fixed rent of just £45 a year. The lease still had more than 8,700 years left to run when the company later bought the site outright, meaning for two centuries the world’s most famous stout was, on paper, brewed on rented ground until the year 10759.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And for the Francophiles among us: Love France brings you Paris secrets, provincial charm and the stories behind French culture, to 7,000 readers and counting

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

There’s a corner of County Kildare where stallions worth tens of millions graze behind white rails, foals find their legs on limestone-rich grass, and a red Japanese bridge arches over still water. This is the Irish National Stud — one of the only working stud farms on earth that throws open its gates to visitors. Three thousand years of Ireland’s love affair with the horse, and you can walk straight into the middle of it.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• County Kildare — Home of the Irish National Stud

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• The Only Pony Ireland Can Call Its Own

• At The Bar: -Why An Irish Pub Feels Like Coming Home

• Around The Web: The Games the Irish Played at Wakes — and Why Nobody Thought It Was Strange, The Irish Blessing Everyone Knows — and the Story Nobody Ever Tells,🔒 Explore County Dublin: Home of Molly Malone and more

• From Love Ireland -Living In County Wexford, Ireland: What Life Really Feels Like

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Buttermilk Muffins Worth Heating The Oven For

• The Craic - Welcome to Murphy’s Pub — where closing time is apparently negotiable.

County Kildare — Home of the Irish National Stud

👉 Read the full story

If you’ve ever wondered why Ireland produces the best horses on earth, the answer lives in Kildare’s soft, mineral-rich pastures — and the Irish National Stud is where you can see it up close. Beyond the paddocks of champion thoroughbreds, your ticket opens onto the exquisite Japanese Gardens, the contemplative St Fiachra’s Garden and the Irish Racehorse Experience, making this one of the most rewarding family days out in the country. It’s heritage, horticulture and living tradition all on one site.

👉 Read the full story

Have you walked the red bridge in the Japanese Gardens, or watched the foals in the paddocks? Hit reply and tell us — we'd love to hear it.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

I Love Ireland

The Only Pony Ireland Can Call Its Own

The Connemara pony is Ireland’s single native pony breed — hardy, sure-footed and famously good-natured, shaped over centuries by the bogs and mountains of the west. Legend ties them to Spanish horses that reached Galway’s shores long ago, but their real story is one of survival: half-wild herds that still run free across Connacht today. It’s a heritage worth knowing before you ever set foot in the west.

Reply and tell us — have you ever seen the Connemara ponies out on the hills?

At The Bar

Why An Irish Pub Feels Like Coming Home

Some places you visit; an Irish pub you belong to. It’s the turf fire, the unhurried pint, the stranger who becomes a friend by closing time — the particular magic that has Irish emigrants the world over aching for a snug and a session. This lovely piece captures exactly why the pub calls to the soul.

Around The Web

The Games the Irish Played at Wakes — and Why Nobody Thought It Was Strange

Something happened at Irish wakes that most people have never heard about — and it wasn’t silence. After the keening was done and the candles were lit, after the neighbours had paid their respects and the whiskey had been poured, the games began.

The Ancient Irish Horse Fair That Has Drawn Thousands to County Galway Every October

The noise hits before the horses do. Dealers’ voices carry across the field, hands slap in greeting, and the thick October air carries something ancient with it. The Ballinasloe Horse Fair is not a show.

The Irish Blessing Everyone Knows — and the Story Nobody Ever Tells

Almost everyone with Irish ancestry knows the words. “May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.” They appear on greeting cards, pub walls, wedding speeches, and tattoos from Dublin to Boston.

The Like of Us Will Never Be Again’: The Last Days of the Great Blasket Island

‘The Like of Us Will Never Be Again’: The Last Days of the Great Blasket Island In 1929, a fisherman named Tomás Ó Criomhthain finished writing a book.

The Ancient Rivalry That Left Three Thousand Stone Towers Across the Irish Landscape

Drive almost anywhere in Ireland and something catches your eye. A stone tower on a hilltop. A crumbling wall above a river. A four-storey ruin standing alone in a farmer’s field.

🔒 Explore County Dublin: Home of Molly Malone

Welcome to County Dublin a place where history, culture and natural beauty converge to create a tapestry of experiences waiting to be explored.

From Love Ireland

Living In County Wexford, Ireland: What Life Really Feels Like

County Wexford sits at the sunny southeastern tip of Ireland, roughly 140 kilometres south of Dublin. It records more sunshine hours per year than anywhere else in the country.

From YouTube

For More From Social Media:

Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

How to Make Perfect Swiss Meringue Buttercream — The Baker’s Foolproof Method

Some frostings are fine. Swiss meringue buttercream is extraordinary. It is silky, stable, and far less sweet than standard American buttercream.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

"Why Does Guinness Taste Better in Ireland?"

Do You Really Love Ireland?

Think you know Ireland inside out? Our free daily game puts that to the test — quick, genuinely tricky, and worth bragging rights if you get a perfect score. Takes about a minute.

Do You Love Ireland (TEST)

Refer a friend

One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Ireland has another native equine besides the Connemara pony — the Kerry Bog Pony, a tiny, tough breed once used to haul turf and seaweed across soft ground where horses would sink. It came within a whisker of extinction, surviving on just a handful of purebred animals by the 1990s before a determined revival brought it back from the brink.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

If your wanderlust reaches beyond these islands, Dream in Miles offers world travel inspiration — hidden destinations, budget tips, and places that change you. Take a peek →

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

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Most visitors to the south-west of Ireland head straight for the Ring of Kerry. The tour buses follow the same loop, stop at the same viewpoints, and move on. Just to the south, reaching out into the Atlantic between Bantry Bay and the Kenmare River, sits a longer and far quieter finger of land: the Beara Peninsula. It belongs partly to County Cork and partly to County Kerry, and it remains one of the least crowded corners of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Beara rewards the traveller who slows down. The single main road narrows as it runs west, sheep wander across it, and the Caha and Slieve Miskish mountains rise straight from the sea. There are copper mines that once employed thousands, a garden island shaped over a century, and small villages painted in bright colours where the pace of life has changed little in decades. This is a place with a strong sense of itself, and it is best understood at walking or driving speed rather than through a bus window.

This guide suits readers who prefer depth to distance. If you would rather spend an afternoon on a single island, or linger over a harbour lunch while the fishing boats come in, than tick off ten stops in a day, Beara is for you. Late summer and early autumn are among the finest times to come, when the crowds thin, the light softens, and the roads are your own.

In This Email:

• Ireland’s Quiet Corner Between Cork and Kerry - Below you will travel the length of the peninsula from its wooded eastern gateway to its wild western tip. You will find five places worth planning a trip around, a realistic five-day itinerary that flows in one direction with no backtracking, and clear advice on when to visit and how to get there. Everything listed is a real, currently operating place, with its official website so you can check times before you go.

  • Glengarriff and Garinish Island

  • Bantry House and Garden

  • Castletownbere

  • Allihies and the Copper Mine Museum

  • Dursey Island and its cable car

  • A suggested five-day itinerary along the Beara Peninsula

  • When to visit, how to get there, and how long to stay

Ireland’s Quiet Corner Between Cork and Kerry:-

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There's a covered market in the heart of Cork that has been trading since 1788, its iron arches echoing with fishmongers' calls and the smell of warm spiced beef and buttered brack. Right now it's the beating heart of Cork on a Fork — five days when Ireland's food capital throws open its stalls, and you discover that the real Ireland isn't in a restaurant at all. It's at the market.

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In today’s email:

• Cork on a Fork Festival 2026 — Five Days of Food in Ireland’s Culinary Capital

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• The Seven Minutes That Changed Irish Dance Forever

• At The Bar: -The Legal Loophole That Kept Sunday Pubs Pouring

• Around The Web: How Baileys Irish Cream Was Invented in London by Two Men Who'd Never Been to Ireland, What Every Item on a Full Irish Breakfast Plate Actually Tells You About Ireland,🔒 County Antrim: Walking in the Footsteps of Giants and more

• From Love Ireland -Tracing Your People Back To County Clare

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Buttermilk Muffins Worth Heating The Oven For

• The Craic - Welcome to Murphy’s Pub — where closing time is apparently negotiable.

Cork on a Fork Festival 2026 — Five Days of Food in Ireland’s Culinary Capital

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If you’ve ever dreamed of eating your way around Ireland, Cork just handed you the itinerary. From 12–16 August, Cork on a Fork brings 150 food experiences to the city — street feasts, a supper served inside a cathedral, and free cooking demos at the legendary English Market, one of the oldest covered markets in Europe and a destination in its own right. It’s a rare chance to shop, taste and graze exactly where Cork locals have done their weekly messages for over two centuries.

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Reply and tell us: if you had one afternoon at the English Market, what would you fill your basket with first?

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

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From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

I Love Ireland

The Seven Minutes That Changed Irish Dance Forever

On a spring evening in 1994, a short interval act at the Eurovision in Dublin brought an entire arena to its feet — and Riverdance was born. What began as seven minutes of thundering footwork grew into a global phenomenon that has since played to tens of millions across the world, carrying Irish music and dance to stages its creators never imagined.

At The Bar

The Legal Loophole That Kept Sunday Pubs Pouring

Before 1960, Irish law only allowed a pub to serve you on a Sunday afternoon if you were a genuine “bona fide traveller” — someone who’d journeyed more than three miles from home. Nobody checked. Everybody asked anyway. And the whole country, with a completely straight face, played along with the fiction for decades.

Around The Web

How Baileys Irish Cream Was Invented in London by Two Men Who’d Never Been to Ireland

The bottle on your shelf has a signature on it. R.A. Bailey. It looks like the kind of handwriting that belongs to a ruddy-faced Irish dairyman, third generation at least, whose family has been turning County Monaghan cream into something worth drinking since…

Why Did Irish Whiskey Almost Disappear — And How Did It Go From 3 Distilleries to 40?

Around the turn of the last century, Irish whiskey was the dominant spirit on the planet. The United States ran on it. Britain’s saloons poured it.

The Story Behind Étaín: Ireland’s Beloved Irish Girl Name

Say it out loud: AY-teen. Let it roll off the tongue and you will immediately understand why this name has captivated Irish parents for generations.

Giant’s Causeway Being Damaged by Tourist Coins — What Visitors Should Know

If you’re planning a trip to the Giant’s Causeway, here’s something worth knowing before you go: that “good luck” coin you might be tempted to wedge into the basalt columns is actually causing real damage.

What Every Item on a Full Irish Breakfast Plate Actually Tells You About Ireland

The full Irish breakfast is more than a meal — it’s a cultural statement. Discover what each item on the plate reveals about Ireland and its people.

🔒 County Antrim: Walking in the Footsteps of Giants

County Antrim located in the captivating landscape of Northern Ireland is a place of remarkable beauty and intriguing legend.

From Love Ireland

Tracing Your People Back To County Clare

For so many readers, Ireland isn’t a holiday — it’s a homecoming. This guide walks you from the Ellis Island records your ancestors passed through all the way back to the townland they left behind, with practical stops like the Clare Heritage Centre in Corofin and the parish books that can put a name to a place at last.

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Irish Food You Will Love

The Buttermilk Muffins Worth Heating The Oven For

Every good Irish market stall has a tray of something warm and buttery — and these bakery-style apple crumble muffins are exactly that. Made with tart Cox apples, a proper buttermilk batter and a cinnamon crumble top, they bake up tender in the middle with a crunchy lid, and the recipe makes a full dozen for sharing.

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The Craic

Welcome to Murphy’s Pub — where closing time is apparently negotiable.

Do You Really Love Ireland?

Think you know Ireland inside out? Our free daily game puts that to the test — quick, genuinely tricky, and worth bragging rights if you get a perfect score. Takes about a minute.

Do You Love Ireland (TEST)

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Cork’s English Market survived a fire in 1980 that gutted the main hall — locals raised the money to rebuild it within a year, and Queen Elizabeth II’s 2011 visit there (the first by a reigning British monarch) is still pointed out stall by stall by traders who remember exactly where she stood.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if your wanderlust ever drifts city-ward: Love London shares hidden history, local haunts, and the London that locals love — a quiet gem worth a look.

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

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There's a particular kind of quiet that only arrives when you've carried your bed on your back into the Kerry mountains and watched the last light drain from MacGillycuddy's Reeks. No reception desk, no key card — just canvas, a flask of tea, and a sky thick with stars over the Black Valley. This week, we're showing you where to sleep under Ireland's wildest skies.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

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In today’s email:

• Camping in Kerry — A Guide to Ireland’s Most Scenic Spots

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• The Sligo Estate Where 100 Rooms Sit Almost Untouched By Time

• At The Bar: -The Unspoken Rule That Keeps Every Irish Round Honest

• Around The Web: Ireland Has an Ancient Epic as Big as Homer — and Almost Nobody Knows It, The Five Sacred Roads That Once Connected Every Corner of Ireland to Its Heart,🔒 Ireland's Greatest Natural Wonder Was Built By Giants and more

• From Love Ireland -Living in County Galway, Ireland: What Life Is Really Like

• Irish Food You Will Love - Lazy Daisy Cake — The Danish Dream Cake with Caramelised Coconut Topping

• The Craic -”It’s the People That Make Ireland!”

Camping in Kerry — A Guide to Ireland’s Most Scenic Spots

👉 Read the full story

Ireland has no formal right to roam, but along the Kerry peninsulas, respectful wild camping under the mountains is a tradition as old as the hills themselves. Our full Kerry guide walks you through the most breathtaking places to pitch a tent — from the hush of the Black Valley to lochside pitches in the shadow of Carrauntoohil — and the practicalities of doing it well, from Leave No Trace to packing for four seasons in a single afternoon. If you’ve ever wanted to swap the hotel lobby for a sunrise over the Reeks, start here.

👉 Read the full story

Would you brave a night under canvas in the Kerry mountains, or is a warm bed and a full Irish in the morning more your speed? Hit reply and tell us.

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

I Love Ireland

The Sligo Estate Where 100 Rooms Sit Almost Untouched By Time

If sleeping under the stars isn’t quite your idea of comfort, Ireland offers the opposite extreme too. Temple House in County Sligo is a vast Georgian mansion set on a thousand-acre estate, run by the same family for generations and lovingly frozen somewhere in the early 20th century — think creaking staircases, portrait-lined halls, and a lake with the ruins of a Knights Templar castle at its edge. It’s one of the most atmospheric places to stay in the west of Ireland, and a world away from a tent.

At The Bar

The Unspoken Rule That Keeps Every Irish Round Honest

There’s a ritual in every Irish pub that has nothing to do with the drink and everything to do with honour. The round — the unspoken agreement that if someone buys you a pint, you buy the next — is treated as seriously as any tradition in the country, and the lengths an Irishman will go to keep his round alive have been known to defy all financial logic. It’s the sort of quiet social contract you’ll only really understand once you’ve stood at a bar and felt it in action.

Around The Web

The Year Ireland Sent 100,000 Schoolchildren to Interview Their Grandparents

In 1937, every Irish schoolchild was given the same task: collect folklore from grandparents. The result was one of the world’s greatest cultural archives.

Ireland Has an Ancient Epic as Big as Homer — and Almost Nobody Knows It

The Táin Bó Cúailnge is Ireland’s greatest ancient epic — a 2,000-year-old story of war, bulls, and heroism that shaped Irish culture and identity forever.

The Secret Meaning Behind the Embroidery on Every Irish Dancing Dress

Discover what the patterns on Irish dancing dresses really mean — from Celtic knots to spirals — and why competition costumes can cost thousands of pounds.

Why the Banshee Only Follows Certain Irish Families — and What Her Cry Really Means

Discover the haunting truth about Ireland’s most famous spirit — the banshee follows specific Gaelic families and wails before a death. Here’s what she really is, and who she follows.

The Five Sacred Roads That Once Connected Every Corner of Ireland to Its Heart

Long before maps existed, five ancient highways radiated from the sacred Hill of Tara and connected every corner of Ireland. Here is where they went — and why some still survive today.

🔒 Ireland’s Greatest Natural Wonder Was Built By Giants

The Giant’s Causeway is a breathtaking natural wonder located along the rugged coastline of County Antrim in Northern Ireland.

From Love Ireland

What Life In County Mayo Actually Looks Like

If a night under canvas in Kerry has you dreaming bigger, County Mayo is where a lot of that dream becomes a real, everyday life. Wild Atlantic coastline, welcoming communities, and a pace of life most people spend years trying to find their way back to — this is what living in Mayo is really like, day to day, once the postcard wears off.

From YouTube

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Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

Lazy Daisy Cake — The Danish Dream Cake with Caramelised Coconut Topping

Some recipes travel across borders without losing anything along the way. The Lazy Daisy Cake — known in Denmark as Drømmekage , or “Dream Cake” — is one of them.

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

"You Don't Need a Plan. You Need Time."

What would Ireland call you?

Before you plan that trip, find out the name Ireland would give you. Our free “Your Irish Name” tool takes about 30 seconds and matches you with a traditional Irish name and its meaning — a small, lovely reminder of the country that keeps calling you back. Try it and see what fits.

Your Irish Name

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s highest peak at 1,038 metres, has a large steel cross bolted to its summit — first raised by locals in 1976, toppled by storms, and hauled back up and re-erected more than once since. On a clear day from the top you can see the Atlantic on one side and the plains of Limerick on the other, a reward that makes the scramble up Ireland’s roof more than worth it.

Love Scotland Too?

If Ireland’s sunny southeast has you dreaming of more Celtic coastline, let us introduce a kindred spirit. Join 43,000 readers who wake up to Scotland every morning — castles, Highlands, whisky trails, and stories from the heart of the country, delivered just like this one.

Also From Our Family

And if your wanderlust ever drifts city-ward: Love London shares hidden history, local haunts, and the London that locals love — a quiet gem worth a look.

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

Drive the Antrim coast on a grey morning — sixty million years of basalt stacked into steps at the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle clinging to its cliff, the road curling on toward Bushmills — and sooner or later you arrive somewhere hungry. In the kitchens of the north, that hunger was answered with boxty: grated potato, a hot griddle, and a smell that means you're home. This one's for everyone who loves both the wild coast and the warm kitchen at the end of it.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

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In today’s email:

• Traditional Irish Boxty — The Potato Pancake Every Kitchen in the North Once Knew

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• Ireland’s Best Cooking Classes

• At The Bar - The Irish Pub Shipped Flat-Pack To The Far Side Of The World

• Around The Web: Giant’s Causeway in a Storm: Why Visitors Say It’s Unlike Anywhere Else, The Corners of Ireland Where You Can Live an Entire Day Without Speaking English,

  Discover Donegal: Ireland’s Forgotten County and more

• From Love Ireland -The Ten Irish Towns Where The Food Is The Whole Reason To Visit

• Irish Food You Will Love - The Spiced Bun That Perfumes An Irish Kitchen

• The Craic -“It’s the Little Things!”

Traditional Irish Boxty — The Potato Pancake Every Kitchen in the North Once Knew

👉 Read the full story

Boxty is the north of Ireland on a plate: grated raw potato, mashed potato and a little flour, cooked golden on a griddle until the edges crisp. There’s an old rhyme — *”Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan; if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man”* — and once you taste it fresh off the heat with a knob of butter, you’ll understand why families guarded their version so fiercely. Have you made boxty, or did your granny have a trick to it? Hit reply and tell us your secret ingredient.

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If someone you love would enjoy making this, forward them this email — it takes two seconds, and a plate of boxty shared is a memory kept alive.

“Want deep dives into Ireland every Sunday? Our premium readers already have their next edition waiting.”

Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

Top Experiences In Ireland Likely To Sell Out

2026 is going to be a busy year - Here is a list of the top experiences that will most likely sell out and you should book in advance. Don’t delay!

“...so you can focus on making memories, not managing schedules.”

Book Here

From Our Love Ireland Community

The Love Ireland Facebook Group is a community of 1.3 Million happy people!

For years, this community has shared memories, travel dreams, family stories and a love for Ireland that stretches far beyond its shores.

We’re setting ourselves a challenge.

Can we reach 1 MILLION Irish Hearts before St. Patrick’s Day 2027?

Ireland’s Best Cooking Classes

From hands-on baking to Irish coffee and whiskey cocktail masterclasses, these cooking classes offer a genuine way to taste Ireland beyond the pub. This guide rounds up the top-rated options across the country, with clear prices and formats, so you can choose what fits your trip best. It’s about learning, sharing, and coming home with more than photos.

👉 Read the full story

At The Bar

The Irish Pub Shipped Flat-Pack To The Far Side Of The World

Here’s something that surprises most people: many of the “authentic” Irish pubs from Sydney to São Paulo were designed, built and crated up in Ireland itself, then shipped abroad and reassembled snug by snug. It’s a quietly brilliant Irish export story — the mahogany, the etched glass, the very idea of the perfect pub, packed into a container and sent out to the diaspora. Read how Ireland literally exports its finest rooms to the world.

Around The Web

Giant’s Causeway in a Storm: Why Visitors Say It’s Unlike Anywhere Else

Rare Geological Discovery at Giant's Causeway Northern Ireland — What It Means for Visitors

Bushmills Salmon and Whiskey Festival Returns to Northern Ireland's Causeway Coast

If you’re planning a trip to the Causeway Coast, this festival deserves a spot on your calendar. Bushmills — home to the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery — is hosting its Salmon & Whiskey Festival on 2–4 October 2026, celebrating two things this corner of Ireland does exceptionally well.

What Really Happens at an Irish Céilí and Why Nobody Sits Down

The céilí is unlike any other night in Ireland. Everyone dances, a caller guides the floor, and strangers become partners within minutes. Here’s what to expect at a real Irish céilí.

The Corners of Ireland Where You Can Live an Entire Day Without Speaking English

In Ireland’s Gaeltacht regions, Irish is the language of daily life. Discover where to find them, what to expect, and why visitors fall silent.

The Irish Boy Who Burned His Thumb and Became Ireland’s Greatest Hero

At seven years old, a boy sat beside a quiet pool in the Irish countryside, watching an old druid fish.

🔒 Discover Donegal: Ireland’s Forgotten County

Located in the enchanting northwest of Ireland, County Donegal captivates with its rugged landscapes, rich history and cultural vibrancy.

From Love Ireland

The Ten Irish Towns Where The Food Is The Whole Reason To Visit

From Kinsale’s harbour restaurants to Dingle’s seafood and the market stalls of Sligo, some Irish towns have quietly turned into full-blown food destinations. If you’d rather plan a trip around a great meal than a bucket-list landmark, this is your map — ten towns where breakfast, lunch and a slow dinner are the main event.

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Love Ireland Channel

Irish Food You Will Love

The Spiced Bun That Perfumes An Irish Kitchen

Boxty came from the griddle; these come from the oven, and the smell alone is worth the effort. Soft, spiced and glossy with a sticky glaze, homemade hot cross buns are a small ceremony of a bake — and once you’ve made your own, the shop-bought ones will never quite do again.

Interested in more Irish Recipes?

Join Love Ireland Cooking Channel

The Craic

“It’s the Little Things!”

You arrive in Ireland with a list.

The Cliffs. The castles. Dublin. Galway. The Ring of Kerry.

And then something unexpected happens...

Some of your favourite memories aren’t on the list at all.

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Can You Talk Like You’re From Ballymena?

The north has a dialect all its own — “wee,” “boke,” “foundered,” “houl’ yer whisht” — and half the fun of the Antrim coast is decoding the chat in the chippy queue. Our Irish Slang Translator is a daft little thing you can try in 30 seconds, and it’s dangerously moreish. Go on, see what it makes of your best attempt.

Irish Slang Translator

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One More Thing Before You Go

Did you know?

C.S. Lewis, born in Belfast in 1898, said the sight of the Mourne Mountains in County Down was what first stirred him to imagine Narnia. Look south from the Antrim hills on a clear day and you can see the very same blue peaks that shaped one of the most beloved fantasy worlds ever written.

Love Scotland Too?

If you love starting your morning with Ireland, you might enjoy waking up to Scotland. Join 43,000 readers who get daily stories of castles, Highlands, whisky trails and the heart of Scottish culture — written with the same warmth you’ll find here. We think of them as family.

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Also From Our Family

If you fancy something wilder still, Love South Africa brings Cape Town to Kruger — the real South Africa, every week — to 5,600 readers.

Essentials you need to pack for your Ireland Trip

UK Ireland Scotland Power Adapter Plug, TESSAN Type G Travel Adaptor with 2 USB Charger Ports 2 American Outlets, US to London England British Hong Kong Irish Kenya Dubai Qatar Wall Adapter.

Keep driving west through Dingle — past the last pub, past the last Gaelic road sign, past the beehive huts monks stacked stone by stone a thousand years ago — and eventually the land simply stops. At Dunquin, a pier zig-zags down the cliff to water so blue it looks borrowed from somewhere warmer, the Blasket Islands drifting just offshore. This is the westernmost tip of Europe's most westerly country. National Geographic once called this peninsula the most beautiful place on earth.

NEW: THE LOVE IRELAND APP IS HERE

We’ve just launched the Love Ireland app on the App Store — everything you love about

Love Ireland, beautifully built for your iPhone. Browse thousands of stories, places,

castles and pubs in a clean, fast, made-for-mobile experience.

Download it free on the App Store (iPhone) →

Today’s Newsletter Presented By

Share

In today’s email:

• Dunquin Pier, Dingle Peninsula — A Complete Visitor’s Guide

• Don’t Let Your Ireland Trip End In Tears

• From Our Love Ireland Community - 1 Million Irish Hearts

• 23,000 People Applied To Live On This Empty Island

• At The Bar: -The Cobblestone Dublin: The Smithfield Trad Pub Where The Music Takes Centre Stage

• Around The Web: What Shape Is Ireland? Here’s How to Describe It, Rose of Tralee 2026: Why This Is the Best Week to Be in Kerry,🔒 Explore Carlow: Ireland’s Hidden Gem and more

• From Love Ireland -Living in County Galway, Ireland: What Life Is Really Like

• Irish Food You Will Love - Irish Potato and Leek Soup Recipe: A Bowl of Comfort From the Irish Kitchen

• The Craic -"It's the People That Make Ireland!"