Travel to Ireland is on a downward curve this year. Tourism Ireland reports that “the first 10 months of 2009 have proven to be a very tough period for tourism to the island of Ireland, and for tourism worldwide.”

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

Dublin was brought to a standstill today as up to 70,000 people took to the streets as part of a national day of protest. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) organized eight rallies across

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.

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

In celebration of Halloween, an ancient Celtic festival originally called Samhain, IrishCentral has hunted down the 10 most frightening of these Celtic and Irish demons and monsters.

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

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.

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 Irish father of a toddler snatched in New Zealand has begged for his two-year-old daughter Aisling to be returned. "We're barely existing," said devastated Alan Symes from

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

Newly crowned All-Ireland champions Kerry dominate the nominations for the 2009 Vodafone football all-stars with 12 of their team in the running for this year’s awards, while Kilkenny hurling legend Henry Shefflin is in the running for a ninth all-star honor like fellow Cats hero DJ Carey .

Roscommon were crowned intermediate champions for 2009 on Sunday after an enthralling final when came back from a three-point deficit to beat Offaly by 0-9 to 0-8.

  Introduction Ireland is an island on the western fringe of Europe between latitude 51 1/2 and 55 1/2 degrees north, and longitude 5 1/2 to 10 1/2 degrees west. Its greatest length, from Malin Head in the north to Mizen Head in the south, is 486 km and its greatest width from east to west is approximately 275

Kerry have been handed a massive boost ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland final derby date with Cork after both Colm “Gooch” Cooper and Paul Galvin were cleared to play after recent injury scares.

The Reidy family surname (also Reedy, Riedy, Reid, and O'Reidy) is an Anglicized version of the Gaelic name Riada. The family was part of the Dalcassian sept and in early Gaelic times lived in the southwest of Ireland, in the Munster counties of Clare and Kerry.

This weekend at the NY GAA, Offaly, Roscommon, Cork and Down came out on top.

Eugene Kyne with the match reports from all the action at Gaelic Park in the Bronx

The latest news from around the country

Eugne Kyne with the breakdown on all the games played in the Bronx last weekend.

Meath overcame Mayo in the All Ireland Football quarter final and will face Kerry in the semi final, while Kilkenny defeated Waterford in the semi final to become the first team to book a place in the All Ireland Hurling Final in September.

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.

The origin of the names Phelan and Whelan is an excellent example of the vagaries of Anglicization of Irish names. Both of these names are derived from the same Gaelic name O'Fáolain. Although Whelan is more common, Phelan is common in areas of Kilkenny and Waterford.

The surname Curran is common in all four provinces in Ireland, but especially in County Donegal and throughout Ulster. The name is also prevalent in the south of Ireland, appearing many times in the County Tipperary Hearth Money Rolls of 1665-7. Currans showed up frequently as Waterford residents in the census of 1659.

The event organizers of the Tour of Ireland, in association with Failte Ireland, have finalized the route for this year’s bicylce race, which will be held on August 21-23.

Eugene Kyne with the lowdown on last weekend's action in the Bronx, where the Four Provinces, Leitrim, Cavan and Tyrone all emerged victorious.

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.

Cathal Dervan's recap of the past weekend's GAA action from Ireland, covering wins by Dublin, Tipperary, Kerry, Down, Derry and Galway.

Eugene Kyne highlights the past week's intermediate and senior football matches from the Bronx.

Results from Ireland GAA (hurling and football) matches, Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12 GAA.

Results from Ireland's GAA (Gaelic football and hurling) games this weekend.

Eugene Kyne highlights the past week's senior hurling and junior and intermediate football action from Gaelic Park, as well as the results from the Dennis McHugh under-8 Gaelic Football Tournament in Rockland.

A round-up of the results from the All Ireland Football and Hurling Championships that saw Cork win the Munster football title and Kilkenny bag another hurling title in Leinster, with a busy first round of football qualifiers on Saturday.

Eugene Kyne's highlights the week's action from Gaelic Park between Kerry/Donegal and Na Fianna, Tyrone and Kerry, Down and Sligo and Lietrim and Donegal.

Reports from weekend fixtures from New York's Gaelic Park, where Down and Leitrim notched up good wins.

Eugene Kyne's recap of the week's senior football and hurling matches, the John Brady Cup final and the first GAA Minor Board title for Brooklyn.

John Mullane was in scorching form as Waterford booked their place in the Munster SHC final with an eight-point victory against Limerick in this semi-final replay

The Senior Football Championship and the Senior Hurling Championship results straight from Ireland

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.

A round up of Irish traditional music events in the New York area from Paul Keating

Ireland, with 3,000 miles of open Atlantic to the West, offers some of the best surf conditions in the world. Sea Fever, a documentary, covers the history of Irish surfing from the early 1960s to the present.

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

Armagh got the better of Roscommon in the John Brady Intermediate Cup, while Cork beat Tyrone in the Senior Football league

Sunday saw six games in the Senior Football Championship, with Derry, Cork and Galway among the winners. Derry edged a battling Ulster quarter-final with Monaghan to kick off with a win, while in Munster Cork were much too good for Waterford, but it was a tighter affair as Limerick edged Tipperary. Galway were big victors in London in the Connacht quarter-final, while the Leinster first round saw Kildare get the better of Offaly and Wicklow just see off Longford.

With the visit of Mayo in the rear view mirror, normal service was resumed at Gaelic Park on Sunday with wins for Cork, Leitrim and Down in men's senior action.

The family of a missing Irishman in Australia have launched an Internet campaign to track their son down. Sean Walsh, 26, from Waterford, was last seen in the Sydney suburb of Randwick on Sunday, May 10, in the early hours of the morning, Australian police say. He was due to fly back to Ireland on Tuesday having been in Australia since November last.

Thurles will host the Allianz National Hurling League's Division One and Two finals on Sunday.

The name Walsh or Welsh is one of the most numerous of the Norman associated names found in Ireland. It seems to have been the name used independently by the many different groups of Welsh people who arrived in Ireland with the Normans during the 12th century. The name simply means Welshman and its early Norman form was "Le Waleys" but this became gradually anglicized to Walsh.

Joe Deane has brought his inter-county career with the Cork hurlers to an end.