Customs and Traditions

The secret story of poitin – Ireland’s illegal moonshine that sustained remote communities for three centuries and is now making a triumphant comeback.

The Cúirt International Festival of Literature returns to Galway from 21–26 April 2026. Now in its 41st year, this beloved festival brings together Ireland’s finest literary voices — including Neil Jordan, Louise O’Neill, Anne Enright, and Liz Nugent — for six days of readings, poetry, and celebration.

The forgotten Irish fishing village that elected its own king and refused to marry outsiders for centuries — and how it gave the world the Claddagh ring.

Every summer, thousands of landless Irishmen walked hundreds of miles to find harvest work. Meet the spailpíní — the forgotten men who kept Ireland fed for centuries.

The Irish harvest knot was a woven straw love token — discover the old tradition where farm girls were the first to declare love at harvest time.

Before television, Irish neighbours gathered every winter night in one cottage for stories and song. Discover the lost céilí house tradition that shaped rural Irish life.

Every September, thousands travel to Lisdoonvarna for Ireland’s matchmaking festival — a 200-year tradition of finding love with a matchmaker’s help.

Before dance halls arrived, rural Ireland gathered at crossroads every Sunday to dance and play music. Discover the vanished tradition of Irish crossroads dancing and the law that silenced it.

The Irish mummers tradition is one of its best-kept secrets — disguised performers who perform ancient folk plays at your door every Christmas, in a custom older than anyone can remember.

Discover the ancient Irish tradition of St. Martin’s Night — a November blood ritual that kept homes safe for centuries and still echoes in parts of rural Ireland.