About 200,000 Irish fans from all over the world have joined a Facebook petition calling on FIFA for a replay of the France/Ireland match which ended in bitter controversy in Paris Wednesday night. France advanced to the World Cup finals through a disputed goal after star striker Thierry Henry blatantly handled the ball before setting up the winning score.

Speculation has risen that Rosie O’Donnell and longtime partner Kelli Carpenter have called it quits.

During his visit to the U.S. last week, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin announced the allocation of $2.68 million in grants for Irish organizations throughout the U.S. The Emigrant Support Program, managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, provides the grants.

Did you know that Dublin has more gay men and women per capita than San Francisco? Or that in recent years Ireland’s become a go-to destination for gay and lesbian travelers? Recent banner attractions for the GLTB visitor have included the Bingham Cup – sometimes referred to as the gay Rugby World Cup – which was held in Dublin in 2008.

The death of Ted Kennedy precedes by three weeks the end of John Sweeney’s 14-year tenure as president of the AFL-CIO. Together, these events signal the end of an epoch in American political history: that of Irish American leadership of the nation’s liberal institutions and Democratic organizations.

There are only two teams left in the New York Senior football County Championship: Down and Cork. Eugene Kyne preview the game and wonders what team will popping the champagne this Sunday in the 125th anniversary year of the GAA in Ireland and the 95th year of football in the Big Apple.

Peter Quinn remembers Danny Cassidy.

An Irish film-maker has called on U.S. authorities to ban Irish comic Tommy Tiernan. Louis Lentin, the former head of drama at the national broadcaster, RTÉ, said Tiernan should be denied a visa for his shows in the U.S. in October.

The Moran clan have produced some very interesting folk. The anglicized "Moran" can be traced to multiple distinct Irish names, and though commonly linked to County Mayo, forms of the name originated throughout middle Ireland in Counties Leitrim, Galway, Kildare, Offaly, and more. Moran is so heavily anglicized - from the French "Morrin" to the Irish "Moran" - that exact knowledge of each Moran's lineage may be hard to trace.

THE Irish government has measured up to its recent statements about the importance of the global Irish by scheduling a high profile conference for the weekend of September 18 in Dublin. The reaction to the government invitation to its forum has been excellent, with over 180 business leaders from all corners of the globe agreeing to attend in what will surely be an historic weekend.

Seven Irish technology startup companies traveled to Silicon Valley last month for a high powered weeklong trade mission, meeting with more than 40 U.S. entrepreneurs, technologists, advisors and potential investors.

Senator Edward Kennedy - who freely acknowledged that his own family would not be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. now - was a real champion for the undocumented Irish.

Former Irish political prisoner and Maze escapee Pol Brennan was shackled as he was deported on Friday to the Republic of Ireland, where he says he intends to remain “for quite a while” before deciding whether to return to Northern Ireland.

Former IRA prisoner Pol Brennan was deported on Friday to the Republic of Ireland. The 56-year-old, who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years, was flown to Norfolk, Virginia on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft on Thursday before continuing on to Limerick, Ireland the next day.

A leading member of the AOH has blasted calls from Northern Ireland to jail former IRA man and Maze escapee Pol

After 17 months behind bars in Texas, a former IRA prisoner who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years is due to be deported to Ireland at the end of this week -- and is facing more jail time in Ireland if Northern Ireland politician Jeffrey Donaldson has anything to do with it.

A 48-year-old Irish man has been shot dead in California. The man, believed to be from County Kerry, was shot dead in Fiddletown in Amador County, around 45 miles from Sacramento, the state capital.

Pol Brennan, a former IRA prisoner who escaped from the Maze prison in Northern Ireland in 1983, is set to be deported back to Ireland this Friday.

Irish rugby Captain Brian O’Driscoll is having laser surgery on his eyes. The star Irish center had one eye operated on last week and is scheduled to have the procedure on his other eye in the coming days.

Ireland is set to promote its own "Alcatraz" in a new tourism blitz. And tourism chiefs are hoping that Spike Island in County Cork will become as big a tourist attraction as the former jail in San Francisco

U.S. soldiers were given a true Irish welcome at a wedding in Co Clare this week. The 300 troops were stranded in Shannon last weekend after their Iraq-bound plane was grounded.

An American writer who has written glowingly about Ireland in the top-selling "Better Home and Gardens" magazine spent four days flying back and forth across the Atlantic after being refused entry into Ireland.

You don’t need to cross the Atlantic to find great traditional Irish treats. In fact, the best place to look maybe the Pacific Coast! San Francisco, a heavily Irish populated area of California, has a wide selection of Irish bakeries, pubs and restaurants that bring a bit of Eire over here.

Irish President Mary McAleese today paid tribute to the volunteer community at the heart of the GAA. McAleese was speaking at a garden party hosted at Áras an Uachtaráin today to mark the 125th anniversary of the Gaelic Athletic Association. "From Derry to Dingle, from Dublin to Dubai, from San Francisco to Hong Kong day after day, week after week, an army of volunteers cares for this organization and keeps it full of effort and imagination," she said.

Irish coffee was invented by Limerick chef Joseph Sheridan in 1942 to welcome Americans visiting Ireland. The travelers arrived in the west of Ireland on a cold winter night, so Sheridan added whiskey to their coffee to warm them up, telling the Americans they were being served Irish coffee.

Irish America holds the key to a united Ireland. That's according to Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, who was speaking at the annual Sinn Fein forum in San Francisco on Saturday. Social media will form a crucial part of Sinn Fein's outreach. The new PR campaign will use Twitter and YouTube to virtually unite major American cities on St. Patrick's Day in calling for a "united Ireland.

This week Cathal Breslin will make his U.S. debut as a classical pianist in an almost sold out show at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Debbie McGoldrick answers the latest queries on immigration in her weekly Green Card Column.

Gerry Adams convened a conference on Irish unity in New York on Saturday as part of what he described as “the start of an engagement with the Irish diaspora.” Hundreds of Irish Americans attended, with writers and academics joining Adams on the podium.

In a bid to cut costs during weak economic conditions and in response to a decrease in consumer demand, Aer Lingus has announced cuts in services between the U.S. in Ireland during its upcoming winter schedule.

Mayor Shirley Franklin believes that the placement of an Irish consulate in Atlanta will enhance the city's reputation as a global business and cultural center.

Tthe U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (UCSIS) recently announced that it has begun the process of archiving old alien records that will eventually become part of the U.S. National Archives.

Up to 1,000 delegates are now expected to attend the Sinn Fein organized conference, which will take place in New York on Saturday, June 13. It will be another opportunity for Sinn Fein to fly the flag in America and to put paid to the claims by dissidents that they have allowed a united Ireland to slip off the agenda.

Niall O'Dowd is 30 years in America next week. The callow youth who stepped off a plane in Chicago on June 9, 1979 has certainly come a long way, for better or worse.

Former IRA prisoner Pol Brennan pulled off a great escape this week as the Department of Homeland Security abruptly canceled his deportation saying they needed more time to review his case. Brennan, who escaped from the infamous Maze Prison in 1983 had been due to be deported back to Northern Ireland last week.

Notre Dame holds some Irish surprises. When I was preparing a lecture on Eamon De Valera’s visit to the university during his 1919 American tour, I discovered that on the stop he viewed the Civil War sword of Thomas Francis Meagher. Known as a leader of the failed Young Irelander rising of 1848, Meagher championed a republican movement that sought to free Ireland by any means necessary. Not only does Notre Dame hold Meagher's sword but it also holds a battle flag of the famed Irish Brigade

A beautiful Spring weekend in Seattle brought almost 500 dancers from the Western US and Western Canada to the Pacific Northwest Irish Dance Championships Feis May 16-17.

The American Ireland Fund pulled off a huge coup last night. At a time when black tie dinners are falling by the wayside like road kill, the American Ireland Fund New York dinner managed to defy the current recession and raise over $2.3 million, in one of their most successful dinners ever

In search of spiritual comfort, Catholics from the U.S. to Ireland are flocking to Mass now that the global economic situation is in crisis.

Ever since the launch of IrishCentral.com, I have waited for the moment when I could help the global Irish community find their way back home. Now we are taking the first step in what will be a steady march by publishing family histories and historic photos from the most-searched Irish clan names.

Every summer, thousands of Irish college students who come to the U.S. on the J1 Visa have an amazing time. But sometimes, as this list shows, things can go horribly, horribly wrong...

Do you know an Irish woman who deserves to be acknowledged for the outstanding work she does throughout the year? We’re sure you do and we want to hear from you.

Ireland might be in the throes of its worst ever financial crisis, but at least Dublin is still a pretty good place to live, a new survey says

O’Connell Street’s Spire tops the list of must-see sites in Dublin, in a new study of photos posted on the Web site Flickr.

The name Doyle is found in older annals as O Dubhgaill but is almost never found in this form in modern times. Although the Doyle name is fairly common in Ireland, the origin of the name is not clear. It is generally believed to be derived from the Gaelic "Dubh Gall," meaning "dark foreigner."

'Yes, he might have done something terrible to someone else, but I would remember that he loves me and he didn't do it to me.' A surprising number of Irish American women back Megan McAllister as she stands by fiance accused of Craigslist killing.

From animal testicles to ghostly apparitions - there are some pretty strange Irish bars out, as this list shows.

Feis vendor Mary Ann King has been in this game for a decade. Her store, Claddagh Gifts is based on Mill Valley, CA, but Mary Ann goes mobile too, bringing the best of her loot around to the Feises in Southern California. Selling jewelry, hats, capes, and all things Irish, Mary Ann is no stranger to the Feis scene.

This time two years ago Delaney Michael from Sacramanto was in a wheelchair. Suffering from a mystery illness, the young dancer feared she would never walk again, let alone dance again.

Cousins Jennifer Wilbanks and Lila Wallrich are seasoned Feis moms. The difference is that they also compete in the Feiseanna!