Blackwater Distillery, based in West Waterford, was one of just five companies worldwide short-listed for the International Gin Producer of the Year Award at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC), held in London recently. The annual IWSC awards are judged by industry professionals and Blackwater is the first Irish distillery to rate so highly…
Category: Ireland
Tones that are tender
Could I find again the woodland Where I loved to lie and dream, While Dragon flies were dancing To the rippling of the stream. (“Retrospection” by Percy French) In the 1960s when my contemporaries were listening to Radio Luxemburg and singing (and talking about) “a Whiter Shade of Pale,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” and…
Inheritance Tax has forced straight Irishman to marry
Two straight Irishmen have announced their intention to marry in an effort to avoid Ireland’s large inheritance tax. Eighty-five-year-old Matt Murphy and his best friend and care giver, Michael O’- Sullivan, have gotten married even though they are not gay. The reason is because of the high inheritance tax on a single person. They have…
Exploring the mysteries of Ireland
I am a great believer in invitations, particularly ones that take us out of our ordinary and habitual way of perceiving the world and our connection to it. Ireland — its landscape, history, people, culture, and flora and fauna — extends a particularly strong invitation that has called to me so thoroughly and repeatedly through…
Bombs thrown at Gerry Adams, Bobby Storey homes
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reported that bomb-like devices were found at the homes of Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey, two prominent republican leaders, causing serious dam ages to the structures. The attacks came after six successive nights of violence in Derry and other areas in the North of Ireland, marking the Twelfth…
Ireland’s discovery of 5000 year old Megalithic Tomb making history
The unearthing of a significant passage tomb cemetery in County Meath, Ireland, is being rated as in the “top 10” world’s greatest archaeological mysteries. The current drought conditions in the Boyne river valley made it easier for aerial reconnaissance to further expose features that were captured by historian Anthony Murphy’s drone. This discovery is in…
Humanist weddings now recognized in NI
A Derry woman and her fiancé are the first couple in the North of Ireland to have a humanist wedding following a court ruling that they must be legally recognized. A court order of the Belfast Court of Appeal ruled that humanist marriages must be legally recognized in Northern Ireland. Quite simply a humanist wedding…
Michael Flatley to try his hand at the movies
While he will be forever known as the Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley is out to make his mark in the movie business. Flatley is the writer/producer/director and star of his first full length film. Blackbird made its debut at the recent Raindance Film Festival in London. The film co-stars Eric Roberts, Patrick Bergin…