From the tip of the stone columns jutting up into the Inner Seas which connect the Irish Sea to the North Atlantic between Ireland and Scotland, it is easy to understand why locals might have thought this to be created by a giant. The hexagonal basalt columns can in places look very much like paving…
Editor’s note: it is such a treat for me that Sam Spector and I were in Ireland at the same time, even meeting for a quick pint in Belfast. My article about Western Ireland will be coming out shortly, and it gives a great chance of comparison with two writers doing many of the same…
As residents and local tour guides are quick to point out, “most ships built in Belfast did not sink.” It’s a funny statement that needs making because, unfortunately, this former shipbuilding superpower’s most famous ship did sink. On April 15, 1912, RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and went down. More than…
It feels wrong somehow that tourism can come out of violence, fear, pain, and death. And yet, here I am on a traditional Belfast black taxi tour joining dozens of other such vehicles, all filled with visitors like me taking photos of a place that only twenty-five years ago was home to some of the…
Editor’s note: I agree with Sam that having an experience with alcohol - or even just places they serve or make it - is an essential part of visiting Dublin. I also wrote about it, and you can read my take here. For more of Sam’s writing, click here to visit his index page. While…
Today, Dublin, Ireland is a thriving, vibrant, metropolitan European capital with a population of about 1.2 million, almost 25% of the country. Yet walking around the city, history is all over. While many come here seeking its spectacular pubs or its music, the history of Dublin is an exciting one, one visible all across the…
There is, perhaps, no more famous symbol of Ireland than Guinness. The dark, almost black, stout beer has been exported to all corners of the globe, an ambassador in a glass for the country and for Dublin, its home city. And although the traditional Irish pub long predates this famous beverage - and would exist…
“How do you pick where you go?” It’s a common question I get, and I understand it. After all, as a travel writer I am fortunate to be able to travel more than most people, and from their perspective I probably always seem to be off on another trip. So, how do I pick where…
He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music. James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man For as long as there has been an Ireland, independent or otherwise, the art of the spoken and written word has been at its center. Walking…
Editor’s note: like Sam, I just finished a wonderful trip through Ireland. However, unlike Sam, I didn’t get a chance to stop at Bru na Boinne, nor did I even know it existed. This is why there are always return trips! For more of Sam’s amazing adventures, click here to visit his index page. Just…