Monthly Archives: December 2018

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Happy New Year

Just a quick note to wish all of you well on this New Year’s Eve and send blessings to you and yours for 2019! It has been a long, tough year for me and I’m quite glad to shove it out the door – but I’m looking forward to next with the hope that it will be easier and full of joy for us all.

Traditionally, The Parting Glass was often sung on New Year’s Eve throughout Ireland and Scotland prior to being usurped by Auld Lang Syne. You’ll hear it still in my home to mark the new year. For me it is a song that is about having no regrets, even if you have to leave something or someone behind. It is one of my favorites and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Happy New Year all. Safe home.

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Dan Breen

Dan Breen was an integral and powerful man in Ireland’s long fight for independence. He was a husband and father, a gangster, a politician, a speakeasy operator, and an author, but first and foremost he was a self-described soldier who was dedicated to freedom.

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Political snowballs

Politics in the north of Ireland are a tricky thing. For generations words, weapons, petrol bombs and more have been tossed from one side of the divide (and the border) to the other in an ongoing struggle for power. On this day in 1967 a different sort of projectile was thrown into the mix (ahem) when Rev. Ian Paisley launched snowballs at Jack Lynch, the Taoiseach of Ireland.

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