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

To get started with your own literary tour of Ireland here’s a list of the 10 top annual Irish literary festivals to check out. Pick any one of them and in no time you’ll be completely absorbed by Irish culture and craic.

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 .

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

In tough recession times both here and overseas, Ireland’s tourism may have slowed down, but HeritageIsland.com is providing travelers with guides and discounts to some of Ireland’s best historic and cultural spots.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has moved from the luxury of his three bedroom Dublin city center apartment to the more quieter confines of Bray, County Wicklow, as he films the final weeks of “The Tudors” series.

Meath are through to the final qualifying round after a handy win over Roscommon in Meath on Saturday evening. However, It was the end of the road for Galway and Wicklow as they went down to Donegal and Kildare respectively.

Looking to save money on your vacation this year? Heritage Island is here to help!

News bits from around the 32 counties in Ireland.

Sunday's results  Connacht Final Galway 1-14 Mayo 2-12(mayo win by a point) Ulster Final Tyrone 1-18 Antrim 0-15 Saturday's results   Wicklow 1-15 - 0-17 Down       Kerry 0-14 - 1-10 Sligo       Donegal 2-13 - 0-18 Derry       Galway 1-19   0-17 Cork     There were one point victories across the board today in three of the senior football championships in Ireland. Kerry hung on in a nail-biting classic to stay on track for another All-Ireland appearance with a one-point win over

Cathal Dervan highlights the recent transfer news regarding departures and arrivals of some of Ireland's best footballers, the result of the British and Irish Lions' third test against South Africa and the past week's Gaelic action from Ireland.

Michael Jackson wanted to build a leprechaun theme park in Ireland. Jackson, who was drawn to Ireland because of his fascination with fairies and leprechauns, visited Ireland several times, saying Ireland "inspired" him to make music.

After catching the eyes of several AFL scouts, 17-year-old Kildare minor Gaelic footballer Paul Cribbin has been training with the Collingwood Magpies Aussie Rules Football club.

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.

If you drive across the mountain road that borders south Dublin, chances are you will see Padraig Harrington at work in the garden that serves as his office. “Talent will only get you so far – the successful ones are the ones who work harder,” he says.

Memorial Day is less than two weeks away, which also means the kickoff of the busiest season for Irish festivals. In this era of bailouts, buying a ticket to a festival this summer provides a stimulus package to our culture that will reap immediate benefits to your family.

After a brief sojourn in America, the 2009 Football Championship returns home this weekend, with the Ulster and Leinster competitions starting on Sunday afternoon.

The GAA has abandoned the experimental rules relating to yellow cards after the divisive motion was shot down by delegates at Congress in Cork on Saturday

A roundup of all the action in The Allianz National Football and Hurling Leagues.

The lowdown on the weekend's action in the Allianz National Football and Hurling leagues.

Sunday was a busy day in the Allianz National Football League with action in all four divisions.

With terrific weather in the forecast, the Irish turned their backs on the current violence in the North and the economy everywhere to get ready for the biggest national holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. Around the Irish world, the story was the same, as parade marchers in every time zone had either already marched, were getting ready to march, were marching, or were celebrating after their march. In

DANIEL Day-Lewis may be the flavor of the month in Hollywood right now after his Academy Awards success on Sunday night, but the man of the moment bored me to death for almost an hour the day before he got his hands on another golden gong.

The English-born Irish citizen was the guest of honor on the Marian Finucane radio show on RTE on Saturday morning, a prelude to what the presenter and her producers rightly hoped was going to be a great weekend for the Wicklow resident.

The interview was shockingly uninteresting, aside from one brief moment when Marian informed Daniel that he had previously won an Oscar for playing Christy Moore.

California redwoods in Ireland? Yes, you can find a fine grove at Avondale Forest Park in County Wicklow about an hour's drive from Dublin. Avondale, now a national historic site and home of the Irish Forest Service, was the family estate of Charles Stewart Parnell, whose brilliant career as national leader in Ireland's fight for Home Rule was wrecked by the revelation of his liaison with the married Katherine O'Shea.

To visit Avondale and experience its green lushness is to understand the wellspring of Parnell's attachment to the land (he was president of the Land League - a movement to make tenants owners of the lands they farmed) and by extension to the nation.

Bearing a national passion for the world of sport, Ireland can reverberate to the drums of Gaelic football, hurling, soccer, rugby, horse racing, athletics, boxing and even snooker. Next year will see the sports fan's heart beat to a different pulse when Ireland steps up to the tee for the 2006 Ryder Cup. For three days in September all eyes will turn to the sculpted countryside of Co.

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.

John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) was at the Club Bar and Grill Restaurant at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to promote his fight against Matt Vanda (39-8, 22 KOs) on Saturday, February 21 in the main Garden arena on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto/Michael Jennings fight for the vacant WBO welterweight title. Duddy, who looked in good shape, was joined by his opponent Matt Vanda for the press junket. The return to the ring will be Duddy's first since his public split with Irish Ropes Promotions over money issues.

THE New York senior football team has a new manager for the visit of Galway on October 9. (Didn't we write this last week!)

News over the weekend was the appointment of Seamus Smith, who is a familiar face at Gaelic Park over the years. He can be seen commentating on Sundays as he shares the chore with Mike Cassidy.

Dublin Fire Department 1-18

FDNY 2-08

IN a very entertaining encounter, the Dublin Fire Department used a second half display when they outshot their hosts New York 1-9 to 0-4 to take the Lord Mayor's Cup on Saturday under a beautiful autumn sun. With conditions perfect, they overcame a slim deficit at the half and used impressive individual displays by Seanan Moylan and Alan Moore to secure the victory.

Dublin Fire Brigade jumped out into an 0-6 to 0-2 lead in the first 15 minutes of this entertaining contest as they used the efficiency of frees to easily get on top.

A MONUMENTAL weekend has approached for the New York Ladies GAA Gaelic4Girls program. This program, which began back in 2003, with much thanks to the foresight of Nollaig Cleary, its current chairperson, and Pauline Coll, its former development officer, has grown in leaps and bounds and continues to do so.

Its growth has been so tremendous that the necessity to form a local club, along with the Rockland club, arose, and early in the 2008 season St.

DUBLIN'S County Board have turned to former player Pat Gilroy and former manager Mickey Whelan to revive their All-Ireland football title hopes. Gilroy, a Sam Maguire winner as a substitute in 1995, was the surprise announcement as successor to Paul Caffrey late last week.

A managerial rookie, Gilroy will be joined by former Dubs boss Whelan as team trainer in a new look management team.

WITH the senior divisions of both the Ladies and Men's GAA divisions finished for the year, it is again the chance of the minor Boards of both the girls and boys of New York to avail of the opportunity to use Gaelic Park. While the Minor Board will have semifinals and finals at the Mecca next weekend, the Ladies GAA and Gaelic4 Girls hosted a tremendous tournament of football this past weekend with the New York Ladies Invitational Blitz.

Despite rain on Saturday, enthusiasm was not dampened with a full slate of games before the finals went ahead on Sunday with the under-17 championship going down to the wire in a brilliant game of football.

TADGH Kennelly is already back in training with the Kerry senior football squad after his return from the Sydney Swans Aussie Rules side and could feature in Sunday's NFL game away to All-Ireland final conquerors Tyrone. Kieran Donaghy and Mike Quirke are both injured for the trip to Omagh, but Donnacha Walsh is fit despite a hamstring injury in the opening day win over Donegal . .

HURLING: Congratulations to the SMA priest Father Bernie Cotter, who berated the striking Cork hurlers from the altar at a mass to honor deceased members of the GAA at Pairc Ui Chaoimh before last weekend's county convention. In a shock attack Cotter, himself a former county hurler, claimed among other things that the striking players are "making Cork the laughingstock of the country." The unlikely assault was both full blooded and brilliant.

GAA: Fine Gael are to run the former GAA President Sean Kelly as a candidate in the European elections next year in the Munster South constituency, but they have to hope for better luck second time round. Kelly, a cousin of Enda Kenny's wife, last contested politics in the local elections in 1991when he failed to win a seat on Kerry County Council. His historic role in the axing of Rule 41 and the opening of Croke Park to soccer and rugby may well improve Kelly's election chances second time round.

Kelly comes second to Murphy as the most common surname in Ireland. The name is popular because it originates from at least seven different and unrelated ancient clans or septs. These include O'Kelly septs from Meath, Derry, Antrim, Laois, Sligo, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Galway and Roscommon, and the McKelly sept from East Connaught.