News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Josephine Cuskelly, 42, originally from County Offaly, became the focus of a national dragnet when she went missing on July 24 with her son Zarakseez. The mother and child are still nowhere to be found.

The Irish premiere of Kilkenny man Gabriel Murray's documentary on the Irish heritage of U.S. president Barack Obama will be screened on Sunday as part of the Waterford Film Festival.

Ireland has a long and bloody history, which means that naturally, haunted places can be found all over the country. We’ve done our research here at IrishCentral and come up with what we think are the 10 most haunted places in all of the Emerald Isle.

The draw for the 2010 All Ireland Football Championships was made Thursday night, and New York will entertain Galway, while champions Kerry start their defense against Tipperary.

Fears are growing for the safety of an Irish mother who has disappeared in the U.S. with her 11-month-old son. Josephine Cuskelly, 42, from County Offaly, has not been seen since July 25 when she left her partner of three years taking their 11-month-old son with her.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

The name Connolly is derived from several different roots. In Connaught and Monaghan it derives from the Gaelic O'Coingeallaigh. Both are anglicized to Connolly although the spelling form Connelly is often found in Galway.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Megan Smolenyak, the same genealogist who discovered that President Obama’s Irish roots go back to Moneygall in County Offaly, has discovered that the family tree of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has a large Irish branch.

This week's stories from around the counties: Crosses in the sky; Nurse slaps patient; Canceled operations; Woman chooses prison; Poor Irish broadband

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Chief Family Historian for Ancestry.com Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak got the assignment of a lifetime when it was discovered in 2007 that future President of the U.S. Barack Obama had Irish roots. Smolenyak’s job? To find out where in Ireland Obama’s family came from.

President Barack Obama's Irish American ancestors were pioneers in 19th century health care reform. Film-maker and historian Gabriel Murray, who found Barack Obama’s great-grand uncle's tomb in Kikenny, Ireland, uncovered the surprise links while he was researching his new documentary, “Obama’s Irish Roots” (visit www.olympia-films.co.uk for more information).

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Irish man Vince Keane from Ballyhaunis County Mayo is helping U.S. President Barack Obama to try and overhaul the health care system in the

The name Malone derives from the Gaelic O'Maoileoin meaning follower of St. John. The family originally came from Ballynahown, County Offaly.

It is quite an image... Maureen Dowd, scourge of every president since Poppy Bush and, arguably, the most powerful journalist in America thanks to her must-read column in The New York Times, talking of the road not taken, living a quiet life as a barkeep's wife back in Clare. Maybe that image isn’t so fanciful, though.

A mystery revolving around President Barack Obama’s Irish roots was solved when a tomb containing the remains of Obama’s Irish ancestor was discovered in the Irish medieval city of Kilkenny.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

The latest news from around the country

Irish and Irish-Americans alike tend to be immensely proud of their surnames. But which last names win in the battle of Irishness? Here are the top 10 most popular Irish last names.

Been to Ireland lately and spent some time in the Shannon Region, or about to so? If you took some photos and have a favorite shot, why not enter the Shannon Development's photo competition and be in with a chance to win $1400!

The O'Carrolls go back to the third century King Oilioll Olum of Munster. Their name derives from Cearbhaill, who was the Brian Boru in 1014 at the battle of Clontarf. Cearbhaill means warlike champion and the O'Carrolls have lived up to the name.

Three feuding Irish cousins — President Obama, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley — are planning to bury the hatchet over a pint at the White on Thursday at at 6 p.m.

News bits from each of the 32 counties in Ireland.

U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney has revealed that President Barack Obama “definitely” plans on traveling to Ireland in the near future.

      DOZENS of victims of child abuse in institutions run by religious orders wept openly and with joy when President Mary McAleese apologized profusely to them on behalf of the people of Ireland for the suffering they had endured. In one of the most emotional occasions in the history of

The National Archives of Ireland digitized online 1911 Irish census has added five more counties to its collection. Joining Antrim, Down, Dublin and Kerry are Cork, Donegal, Galway, Offaly and Wexford.

Barack Hussein Obama is the descendant of Ohio and Indiana immigrants who came from the borders of Counties

President Obama's Irish roots: Click Here Full text of President Obama's recent speech at Notre Dame: Click here

Shane Lowry played his first round as a professional golfer on Thursday at the European Open at the London Golf Club in Kent, shooting a six-over-par 78.

LAST week the world shockingly learned that tens of thousands of Irish children were physically and emotionally abused, beaten, raped and even, survivors say, killed in Catholic Church-run reform schools throughout Ireland from the 1920s right through to the 1990s. After a nine-year investigation, the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in church-run institutions produced its final 2006 page report last week. The report makes it clear that hundreds of priests and nuns terrorized and humiliated tens of thousands of Irish children over six decades with the tacit support of the Irish

Just four days after winning the 3 irish Open at Baltray in County Louth, Shane Lowry has decided to quit the amateur game and join the paid ranks.

Musicians are little noticed, but crucial to a feis. There’s a lot of demand for feiseanna in the U.S. – many parents bring their children to competitions several times a month. The Commission of Irish Dancing in Ireland rules that no more than six feiseanna can occur in North America on any weekend day, and no more than 10, max, over the weekend in all. This is because there aren’t enough qualified musicians to go around.

How can Shane Lowry not turn professional after such his performance this week at the 3 Irish Open?

Irish amateur Shane Lowry won the 3 Irish Open after a dramatic playoff with England’s Robert Rock at Baltray in County Louth.

The O'Connor name, with its varied spellings, doesn't spring from a common source. The name arose in five areas of Ireland: Connacht, Kerry, Derry, Offaly, and Clare and split into six distinct septs, five of which are still in existence.

Check out the IrishCentral guide to the best music festivals in Ireland this summer

Ireland hosts numerous sport festivals every year. Here's a list of some of the best.

Disgraced Irish pensioner priest Father John Skehan has been jailed for 14 months on charges of stealing more than $100,000 from his parish coffers in Florida.

At one time or another, many of us have sketched our family tree, either for a school project or for our own pleasure. But, despite the help of my grandparents, I could only trace back to my great great-grandparents’ generation. The rest seemed lost to history or accessible only to professional genealogists. However, the Internet has opened up a whole new world to the amateur

The ancestral land of President Barack Obama in Moneygall, Co. Offaly, could be turned into a heritage

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama share more than just the task of governing America! Both men's ancestors were shoemakers who fled Ireland for America in the 19th century.

President Barack Hussein Obama is the newest member of an exclusive club of 20 U.S. presidents who claim Irish ancestry. Obama's Irish roots go back to his great-great-great-grandparent, Falmouth Kearney, who left Moneygall in Co. Offaly in 1850 to seek his fortune as a shoemaker in the New World.

Niall O'Dowd: Somewhere in Australia there's an Irish lad called Rowan McCormick who broke Maureen Dowd's heart. When she went back in the early 1970s to visit her homestead in County Clare, hard by the majestic Cliffs of Moher, she met him and fell madly in love.

Mention Irish bands to most people and names like U2 (who are great) and The Corrs (who are not great) spring to mind. But there are many really great Irish bands and singers that never made it big beyond Ireland.