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County Waterford

Irish Name: Port Láirge - "Lárag's port" County Town: Waterford Nickname: The Suirsiders, The Crystal Couny GAA Colors: Blue and white Famous People with Waterford roots: Thomas Francis Meagher, Tyrone Power, John O'Shea, Teresa Deevy, Sean Dunne, Thomas Sir Wyse, Richard T O, William Vincent Wallace When people think of Waterford the first connection they make is the obvious one. Waterford and crystal are synonymous with quality. But to think of the county in purely those terms is to do it a FULL STORY >

County Wicklow

Irish Name: Cill Mhantáin - "Church of the toothless one" County Town: Wicklow Nickname: The Garden of Ireland, The Goat Suckers GAA Colors: Blue and Gold Famous People with Wicklow roots: Charles Stewart Parnell, Mary Tighe, Mathew Lyon, Dermot Troy, Peter O'Connor, Michael Dwyer, Ann Devlin, Count Laval Nugent, Colm Wilkinson, Sinead O'Connor, Dara O'Brian, Frank Kelly Wicklow, meaning "church of the toothless one") is the county seat of County Wicklow in Ireland. Located south of the capital FULL STORY >

County Donegal

Irish Name: Dhún na nGall: "Fort of the foreigners" County Town: Lifford Nickname: Tír Chonaill or Tyrconnell GAA Colors: Green and Gold Famous People with Donegal roots: Colm Cille, Isaac Butt, Brian Friel, Charles Macklin, Frances Browne, Maureen Wall, Cathal Ó Searcaigh County Donegal is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the Province of Ulster and is part of the Republic of FULL STORY >

County Galway

Irish Name: Gaillimh: "stony" County Town: Galway Nickname: The Tribesmen GAA Colors: Maroon and White Famous People with Galway roots: James Joyce's wife Nora Barnacle, Eamon Casey, Walter Macken, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Liam O'Flaherty, Breandán Ó hEithir, Muiris Ó Súileabháin, Eoghan Ó Tuairisc, Oliver St. John Gogarty, Pádraic Ó Conaire, Dónall MacAmhlaigh, Frank Harris, Ellis Dillon and Lady Gregory, the founder of Abbey Theatre. Also from Galway are revoloutionaries like Eamonn Ceannt, Liam Mellowes and John Lynch, a signatory of the American Declaration of Independance. And miscellaneous, like Lord Haw-Haw, executed radio presenter propagandist for the Third Reich, Robert O'Hara Burke, the leader of the first European expedition to cross Australia FULL STORY >

County Sligo

Irish Name: Sligeach: "A shelly place" County Town: Sligo Nickname: The Yeats County, The Magpies GAA Colors: Black and White Famous People with Sligo roots: WB Yeats, Edward P. Doherty (allegedy caught Lincoln assassinator John Wilkes Booth), Bram Stoker, Neil Jordan, Brother Waldred (founder of Celtic FC), Countess Markievicz, Bernardo O'Higgins (former President of Chile) County Sligo is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of FULL STORY >

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One of the most striking destinations for holidays in Ireland is the Giant’s Causeway, which is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed from an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located on the northeast coast of Ireland, about two miles north of the town of Bushmills, home to the famous distillery. Most of the columns are hexagonal, though there are some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest columns are about 36 feet high. The site first became a popular attraction for holidays in Ireland during the nineteenth century after the opening of a tramway made taking Irish holidays at the Causeway a lot easier. Visitors can walk over the basalt columns, which are at the sea’s edge, a half-mile walk from the site’s entrance. After the vistors’ center building burned down in 2000, the Causeway was left without a permanent visitors’ center, which can cause problems for people trying to plan Irish holidays. The Giant’s Causeway has made several appearances in popular culture. Tourists who are fans of Led Zeppelin or the Simpsons can enjoy their Irish holidays that much more with a visit to the Causeway. It appears on the cover of the Led Zeppelin album Houses of the Holy. The cover art was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “Childhood’s End.” The ending of the book involves several hundred million naked children, only slightly and physically resembling humans. The album cover uses a collage of several shots of two children. Because of the cover art, “Houses of the Holy” was not available in several parts of the southern United States for several years. In the 2008 film “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army,” members of the bureau head to The Giant’s Causeway in search of the Golden Army after finding out from the Prince that it is hidden underground. The Causeway itself, though, is not shown. While Hellboy’s team was not out enjoying Irish holidays, the Simpsons are taking holidays in Ireland in the episode “In the Name of the Grandfather,” which was the first Simpsons episode to premiere outside of the U.S. It first aired in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day of 2009. In the episode, Marge, Bart and Lisa jump on the columns of the Giant’s Causeway in a parody of the video game Q*Bert. Another reason why holidays in Ireland should include the Giant’s Causeway is that it is Northern Ireland’s only World Heritage Site. The Causeway is also a good choice for Irish holidays because it is free and open year round, on top of being able to combine holidays in Ireland with Robert Plant and Bart Simpson.

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