Something special from Catolic Ireland:

The county that’s promising to bring Ireland its first ever installation of the wacky Paddy Games brought together 56 daring cyclists to pedal naked around the streets of Cork in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Co.Cork, proudly and aptly known as The Rebel County, hosted the event to roughly coincide with the Cork Cycling Arts Festival. It got underway at 5:45am, and despite the typically dismal weather conditions and half-frozen participants it was a roaring success by all accounts.

The origin of leprechaun myth - by SEAN O'SHEA - Irish Central

The Tuatha de Danann, the people of the Goddess Danu, were one of the great ancient tribes of Ireland. The important manuscript 'The Annals of the Four Masters', records that they ruled Ireland from 1897 B.C. to 1700 B.C. They became the 'little people' of Ireland and gave rise to the leprechaun legend.

The arrival of the tribe in Ireland is itself the stuff of legend. They landed on the Connacht coastline and emerged from a great mist. It is speculated that they burned their boats to ensure that they settled down in their new land. The rulers of Ireland at the time were the Fir Bolg, led by Eochid son of Erc, who was, needless to say, unhappy about the new arrivals.

By DEBBIE MCGOLDRICK from Irish Central

Though he long ago left Riverdance after a dispute with the producers over creative control, and went on to create the phenomenally successful Lord of the Dance, make no mistake about it – Michael Flatley says that he’s the one who originally brought Riverdance to life in the first place.

“When I created Riverdance, no one had seen anything like it before because it came from inside me,” Flatley told the Birmingham Mail last week. That might come as news to the original producer Moya Doherty, who was commissioned by Irish broadcaster RTE to create the piece for the Eurovision song contest back in 1994 that eventually morphed into the full-length show, but there’s no doubt that Flatley’s electrifying performance catapulted Riverdance into a global force that’s still going strong to this day.

For the past few years, like a lot of people, I´ve been researching my family tree and can go back five generations on both sides. My parents come from the west and eastern counties of Ireland and may never have met if America hand´t brought them together.
My father, Michael Senior, is a giant of a man, who, with his two brothers, was born and raised on a small thatched farm in Sligo. His own father Thomas came from Co Mayo, and married Mary Anne Henry, a Sligo beauty from Battlefield. Like so many others who were finding it hard to make a living, my father emigrated to America in 1947 and despite living there for more than 60 years, still speaks with a strong brogue. It´s because of spending so much time with him as a child and later working with him that I too speak with an Irish accent.

By ANTOINETTE KELLY, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

The fleet footed 50-year-old Michael Flatley, who revolutionized Irish dancing in the 90s with Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, has rediscovered his mojo and will lead his dance troupe again.
This fall, the Chicagoan plans to strap on his dancing shoes for the first time in five years on European soil when The Lord of the Dance kicks off a 22-date European tour on October 30 in Sheffield. The show arrives in Dublin on November 13, with an extra date added on November 14 due to phenomenal demand.

From The Sunday Times - March 14, 2010 - Jan Battles 

Warning: Irish dancing can seriously damage your health. Engineers at Coventry University have discovered that Irish dancers’ ankles have to bear 14 times their bodyweight while executing certain steps and have compared the force with that experienced by fighter pilots.
The load is far greater than a person would experience while running. The researchers said one well-known Irish dancing step, known as the rock move, should be monitored because of its potential to cause injury.

These are the Top 100 Irish surnames as compiled by the website http://www.ireland-information.com, based on census records. Enjoy, and hope you find your family!
1 Murphy ó Murchadhasea battler
2 Kelly ó Ceallaigh bright-headed
3 O'Sullivan ó Súilleabháin dark-eyed
4 Walsh Breathnach Welshman
5 Smith Mac Gabhann son of the smith

They have performed with Sharon Shannon, De Dannan and Altan and now the hugely popular and talented Cunningham family from Connemara are set to take centre stage themselves with a spectacular new music and dance show called ‘Fuaim Chonamara’ (Connemara Sound).

Much confusion has developed over the meaning of the term "polka" and the origin of the dance the term represents. In both instances, the prime contenders for the origin of both the term and the dance are the Poles and the Czechs, counterclaims that are not sufficiently explored even in contemporary works such as Victor Greene’s recent A Passion for Polka: Old-Time Ethnic Music in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992).

The Easter 1916 Irish flag that flew over the GPO during the Easter Rising failed to sell at an auction in New York on Tuesday when it was withdrawn at $400,000, a full $100,000 under its reserve price.
The green, white and yellow-gold Irish Tricolor was initially predicted to fetch up to $700,000, but on Tuesday it was quickly withdrawn when it failed to pass $400,000.
Bloomsbury in New York held the auction in conjunction with Whyte’s, Ireland’s premier auction house for Irish art and collectibles.
The flag was just one of many of the 70 Irish arts and artifacts on offer that did not sell on Tuesday at the auction house in Midtown Manhattan.

   Ian Whyte, Director of Whyte's of Dublin, with the Easter 1916 flag that failed to sell at auction in New York -Photo by Nuala Purcell

The focal point of the auction was the historic Irish Tricolor that flew defiantly over Dublin’s General Post Office (GPO) in the 1916 Rising. The sale attracted many well-heeled bidders to the Bloomsbury Auction House on West 48th Street on Tuesday morning.

The 40th World Irish Dancing championships have kicked off in Glasgow, Scotland with 4,500 competitors from 32 countries all over the world taking part at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
The competition commenced on Sunday morning with an 8 am. start for boys under 11 and 12. A gala opening ceremony takes place at 5pm. local time in the concert hall.
The 4,500 dancers are accompanied by 15,000 parents, teachers families and friends making this one of the largest Irish gatherings anywhere in the world.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ar chlann mhór dhomhanda na nGael, sa bhaile agus ar fud na cruinne, ar ár lá náisiúnta ceiliúrtha féin.

Warmest greetings to everyone who is celebrating Saint Patrick's Day 2010, wherever you are in the world. On this day we set aside our problems and remember the joy in life that comes from good company and the celebration of a great culture. Saint Patrick's Day is a time for fun and laughter, for showcasing the best of the Irish and for demonstrating our pride in homeland and heritage. Saint Patrick's own life story is worth remembering during these tough times for he himself faced and overcame great personal hardship that tested him to the limits. The family of the Gael gathers in his name in Ireland and in many diverse parts of the world. We are lucky to have such a large global family. It has proved itself to be a very precious and important resource in every generation. In recent years it has been an indispensable enabler of the Peace Process which is consolidating and strengthening little by little. Northern Ireland is enjoying the longest continuous period of devolved power-sharing since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The recent Hillsborough Agreement was another significant step in the completion of devolution and represents an important milestone on the path to long-term stability and normalisation. It took considerable generosity of spirit on all sides to secure this historic peace and we can look forward to the many benefits of a rapidly growing culture of good neighbourliness instead of wasteful division.

St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland who is credited for bringing Christanity to the country. Myth also has us believe that St. Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland.
St. Patrick was born in Wales, not Ireland, around 385 AD.
He was called Maewyen by his family, and folklore says he was a pagan until the age of 16.
He was sold into slavery by Irish marauders when they raided his village in Wales. It was during this time he found God.

If you want to know something about St. Patrick´s Day Celebrations in Prague, visit following: http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/czech-culture/st-patricks-day-in-prague-2010/ . You can find information about Irish programm in Prague during next 14 days.
V.B.

By Patrick Cooper from Irish Central

A new movie based on 'The Quiet Man' is to be filmed in Cong, the same village near Connemara where the original took place in 1952.
Former James Bond actor Roger Moore, Aidan Quinn and Geraldine Chaplin will star in the movie called 'Connemara Days,' which will chronicle the arrival of famed Hollywood director John Ford into the little Irish village.

Stacy Keach, star of 'Escape from LA,' will play Ford, who arrived in Cong in 1952 accompanied by John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. The movie, a romantic comedy, will focus on the impact that Ford and his crew had on the local scene.