It’s our Camino de Santiago; our Via Francigena; our Lourdes. Ireland’s holy mountain of pilgrimage, Croagh Patrick, has been a peak of spiritual significance for thousands of years, well before Christianity, and St Patrick claimed it as his own. And today, multitudes still scale its slopes for the rejuvenation, the views and the craic. Croagh [...]
Ah, the pub. Cornerstone of community, culture and craic. Den of shoulder rubbing and bad joking. Where live music and lively chat intersect at a smooth mahogany bar. It’s more than occasionally true that our version of ‘one-horse’ towns are in fact ‘one-church one-shop three-pub’ towns. And it’s always the pubs that will be full, noisy [...]
Irish whiskey has been around for centuries, with fans including Queen Elizabeth I and Peter the Great. When John Jameson came over to Ireland from Scotland in the late 1700s, Dublin was the centre of the whiskey world. Their sparkling rep came from using pot stills for distilling, and not using peat to stoke malting [...]
It’s the most popular fee-paying attraction in Ireland. The “all-dominating brewery” (Fodor’s), “extraordinary exhibition” (Eyewitness Travel) and “beer-lover’s Disneyland” (Lonely Planet) is deemed must-see by every Ireland guidebook. So what lies beneath all the hype of the Guinness Storehouse? With a deep breath and a long sip, I went to find out. One of the [...]
If you saw Canada AM’s live broadcast from Belfast, Northern Ireland, last Friday, we’re sure you also saw all of the ‘Titanic SWAG’ (i.e. goodies) that hosts Marci and Jeff displayed while inside Titanic Belfast. See the clip below – click on the 8:30am segment and fast-forward to 1:08 In case you missed it or [...]
It’s Day #2 with Canada’s favourite national breakfast program, Canada AM, broadcasting live from Northern Ireland! Today we find Marci Ien and Jeff Hutcheson at Titanic Belfast, the new all-things-Titanic visitor centre in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. Here Marci and Jeff give us an introduction to Belfast’s new Titanic Belfast visitor centre and the greater Titanic [...]
Canada’s favourite national breakfast program, Canada AM, is broadcasting live from Northern Ireland today and tomorrow! This morning, Jeff Hutcheson was live at Carrickfergus Castle, about 20 km from Belfast city, to explore the Norman castle, which was built in 1177. We’ve gathered some of our favourite clips to share with you! Historian Ken McElroy [...]
Titanic Belfast is one of the most distinctive structures of this century – and it’s only 2012. The largest Titanic visitor experience in the world, Titanic Belfast is also the biggest ever investment project in Northern Ireland. Since it began taking shape almost two years ago, its distinctive angles have been a glittering and exciting [...]
We’re going to give you a sneak peek into the brand new Titanic Belfast visitor attraction, for some snooping and snapping, oohing and ahhing. And all a whole day before the visitor centre officially opens to the public.
Attention all quiz buffs: here’s one to remember for your next trivia night – what is the collective noun for a group of starlings? Answer: a murmuration. These terrifically-titled flocks of tiny birds are known for their dazzling aerial displays, and while canoeing on Lough Derg in the Shannon Region, lucky ladies Liberty and Sophie were [...]
