Standing outside the red brick Holywood Arches Library in East Belfast is a rather peculiar statue. The piece consists of a well-dressed man opening a wardrobe like he’s looking for a pair of clean socks. But he’s not looking for socks, reader – he’s looking for another world. Step around to the other side of [...]

We’re not sure about you, reader, but our nights are still a bit chilly while we wait for spring to arrive in Canada! What better way to warm up than with An Irish Coffee! Before we grind the beans, though, we decided to find out exactly how to make our next Irish Coffee the best we’ve ever [...]

We all know appearances can be deceiving. Just one look at the pretty garden forecourt of Gleeson’s Townhouse and Restaurant and you’d think it was where tranquility lived. And you’d be right – almost. You see, inside that lovely old stone building in County Roscommon, hiding among the atmosphere of old-world calm is a kitchen [...]

Davey has worked in Irish bars since he was 15. Here, he explains why the Irish make the best bartenders, why it’s probably the best job in the world, and what the pub really looks like from the other side of the taps. ‘Oh hi, um, are you guys open yet?’ came the soft Southern [...]

You probably know our hopping, hair-flying traditional Irish dancing from the ‘Riverdance’ show thundering through your town or at least your TV set. It’s a peculiar but much-loved style that has evolved over centuries and has enough customs and conventions to make your curly head spin! So we thought we’d save you the chin-scratching pondering [...]

It’s 100 years ago. The Manhattan Bridge has just connected Canal Street to Brooklyn, Henry Ford has already sold 10,000 cars and the young aviation industry has yet to ‘take off’. In Belfast, the noise of the hammering of rivets echoes around the city from the Harland & Wolff shipyard. There, a local workforce of [...]

With years of gracing the covers of travel brochures and magazines, Carrick-a-Rede has to be the supermodel of bridges. It has a classic striking profile: light rope bridge hanging precariously over a chasm of rocky cliffs and blue-green waters. It’s tall, like any leggy model, at 23 metres above the crashing Atlantic. And it has [...]

Sean Grant – half of the comedy duo behind the Coasters film – reveals the trials of being professionally funny on an island of comedians. “So you’re a comedy writer are you? And what makes you so funny?” Now I’m used to awkward questions  such as, “How did you get this number?” and “Were you [...]

Knives, forks, spoons…baking cutters. Tuck into Northern Ireland’s fascinating food! I’m sitting down at 8.30am in Belfast and having a ‘when in Rome, eat how the locals eat’ moment. “If there’s a breakfast of champions,” my server advises “it has to be the Ulster Fry”. That’s fried bacon, eggs, tomato, potato bread and soda farls. [...]

It’s no surprise that the potato is a bit of a favourite on the island of Ireland. We’ve been munching on the humble spud in all its guises for centuries. We love potatoes so much that we’ve managed, with a bit of culinary wizardry and out-of-the -box thinking, to incorporate the potato into our breakfast. [...]