Love Ireland

Discover the old Irish school custom that required every child to carry a sod of turf to class each morning — and what it reveals about the soul of rural Ireland.

Discover why lone hawthorn trees still stand in Irish fields, untouched for centuries — and why even modern road builders refuse to cut them down.

Ireland’s ancient law of hospitality meant turning away a stranger was illegal. Discover the Brehon tradition that still shapes Irish culture today.

The concertina arrived in Ireland as a parlour novelty — and never left. Discover how the Irish concertina tradition took root in County Clare and became the quiet heartbeat of Irish music.

The Lisdoonvarna matchmaking festival draws thousands every September. Discover why Ireland’s oldest matchmaking tradition still works in County Clare.

On a remote rock off Kerry’s coast, Irish monks built stone beehive huts 600 feet above the Atlantic and lived there for six centuries. Here is their extraordinary story.

The forbidden history of poitin — Ireland’s illicit spirit that kept rural families alive for centuries, why it was banned, and why some still make it in secret today.

Queen Maeve’s cairn on Knocknarea has stood for 5,500 years and never been opened. Discover the legend of Ireland’s greatest warrior queen.

The egg money was the Irish farmwoman’s income from her hens — a quiet financial independence that predated modern ideas of women’s rights. No law recognised it and no husband touched it.

Learn how to make a classic Vienna Bread at home — a soft, enriched white loaf with a golden crackly crust, baked with steam for a proper bakery finish. Full recipe from The Irish Baker Abroad.