Lonely Planet's best in Travel 2009 names the Clare cycling route in Ireland among the greatest alongside similar routes in Vietnam, Cuba, New Zealand and Australia.

Sarah Palin releases her new book 'Going Rogue' this week, and judging by the reviews she really gets her Irish up. John McCain, the media, the Democratic Party, and the know alls in Washington all get it loud and clear from the former Alaska governor.

Threats by Ryanair bosses have sparked fears that Shannon Airport in Ireland’s west will become deserted.

It turns out that romance is recession proof and Ireland is one of the best places on earth to ignite its flames. Who knew? Irish men aren’t known for being overly romantic, but the Irish landscape? Well, that’s another story. As any visitor who’s ever wandered further afield than the Shannon Airport stopover can tell you, Ireland is magic.

He’s American and Korean, but U.S. Army Sergeant Seamus O’Fianghusa considers himself an Irishman through and through. As the fluent Gaelic speaker prepares for a deployment to Afghanistan, he talks about his love for all things Irish.

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

Kelleher exists also as Keliher, Kellaher, Kelliher, etc. The modern forms of the name are derived from the Irish name O Ceileachair, from ceileachar, which means "uxorious," or "excessively fond of one's wife."

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

Shannon Airport in Ireland’s West became the first airport outside Canada, Bermuda and the

Bits and bobs from newspapers across Ireland's 32 counties, North and South.

Let’s set off on a journey through the Shannon region, a joyrney that will expose us to different eras of Irish history and different aspects of modern-day Irish culture in an area that encompasses counties Clare, Limerick, North Tipperary, South Offaly and North Kerry. In this feature we will explore the delights of County Clare. Don’t worry about the jet lag. Your sense of time is about to be scrambled as it is!

Up to 30 U.S. immigration officials and their families have this week commenced relocating ahead of this month's scheduled opening of pre-clearance facilities for commercial airline passengers flying to the U.S. from Shannon Airport. The move comes at a time when American authorities are increasingly worried about private jets flying direct to the U.S. with little or no oversight.

U.S. immigration officers and their families have begun a 3,000-mile move across the Atlantic to prepare for the new pre-clearance facility at Shannon airport, scheduled to begin at the end of July.

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.

The Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) is to open an office in the Westpark Shannon Business Campus.

Kelli O’Hara, who recently finished up a long run as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the current Broadway production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic "South Pacific" to take maternity leave, talked to IrishCentral about her family history and heritage.

"I HAVE been married for 10 years to an American citizen. I have had a green card for almost six years. Our marriage is going through a rough patch that will surely end in divorce.

I MUST admit to opening the packaging of Daniel O'Donnell's newest CD, Until the Next Time, with great trepidation.

The last time I checked in with O'Donnell, I got completely addicted to his salt water taffy renditions of pop confections from the 1950s. Teenage Dreams found him posing as a spit-curled rocker Ken doll, posing through the songbooks of former teen idols like Neil Sedaka, the Beatles and the Everly Brothers.

GIVEN that one of her first forays onto foreign soil was a stop in Shannon Airport last year - albeit, it was only to refuel - GOP VP hopeful Sarah Palin certainly has what it takes to meet with Bono, yes?

Palin and her running mate, Senator John McCain, will take time to visit with the U2 frontman in New York on Wednesday to discuss international humanitarian efforts. Bono is in the city for several reasons, including the UN Global Summit, the Clinton Global Initiative meetings and the launch of the Irish government's Hunger Task Force report.

Bono will be meeting the Republicans as a representative of his humanitarian organization ONE, which works against global poverty and disease.

Having the good fortune to contribute photographs to Irish America, I would on occasion drop a not-so-subtle hint to editor Patricia Harty, that I was always available to travel to Ireland. As Irish luck would have it aided and abetted by Ms. Harty's generosity a spot was arranged for me on a very special trip: the Irish America/CIE Tour which took place this past October.

Dublin: The wind and rain lashed furiously on the tarmac at Dublin Airport, rocking our Aer Lingus Airbus like a gondola exposed to the elements on a mountaintop. We hadn't packed any sun block for this post-Christmas 2000 family trip to Ireland, but no one had told us we'd be landing in the monsoon season. It had proved impossible to land at Shannon Airport in the west, where the storm was said to be really raging.

Ireland is a small country that's big on charm, wit and hospitality. And, thanks to a booming economy and the infusion of millions from multi-national companies, Ireland East and Dublin is one of the most rapidly expanding areas in Europe today. Ireland has breathtaking scenery, luxurious five-star resorts with world-class spas, gourmet cuisine and more than 400 top-notch golf courses, but the Emerald Isle is also known for its advanced networking, conferencing and exposition facilities and is a leading destination for today's mobile business traveler.

A group of five Irish Americans returning from the All-Ireland dance championships in Killarney, Co. Kerry had a very narrow escape after they switched at the last moment from the fatal Continental Airlines Flight 3407 which crashed outside Buffalo last Thursday evening. The five narrowly escaped death by catching an earlier flight from Newark after returning from Ireland earlier that day.

Aer Lingus has reversed an earlier decision to end flights between Shannon Airport and London Heathrow and will resume the service from March 29, with one-way introductory fares available at €19.99.

The airline's chief executive Dermot Mannion rejected claims that the move was in response to a government threat to sell its 25 percent shareholding to Ryanair if the Shannon link wasn't reopened.

ONE of the world's most famous pubs, Durty Nelly's in the shadow of Bunratty Castle in Co. Clare, has been sold for almost $20 million, a record price for a bar outside Dublin.The keys to the pub, a first stop for decades for many American tourists entering Ireland via nearby Shannon Airport, were handed over at the weekend by Humphrey O'Connor, who ran it for 25 years after buying it for a then record all-Ireland price of almost $2 million.

AER Lingus is to suspend flights on its Dublin-Los Angeles route from November 2. The company has cited "unprecedented increases in fuel costs, the weak dollar and slowing economies."Capacity is also being reduced on other long-haul routes by 15% this winter.

Senator John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has ancestors who came from Ireland during the Famine.

Palin, 44, was born Sarah Heath in Sandpoint, Idaho, the daughter of Sarah Heath (ne Sheeran), a school secretary, and Charles Heath, a science teacher and track coach. Her family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.

Taoiseach (prime minister) Brian Cowen's government has been asked for information relating to the use of Shannon Airport in the "extraordinary rendition" of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who could face the death penalty.

Irish Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey was in Washington on Monday, November 17 to sign an agreement with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff allowing Ireland to provide full pre-clearance for flights to the U.

Losing GOP presidential candidate Senator John McCain met with Irish Minister for Defense Willie O'Dea on Monday to discuss the issue of the Irish undocumented in the U.S. during a refueling stopover at Shannon Airport.