Ireland Travel, Irish Gifts, Celtic Symbols, Irish Festivals and News

A biography called “Dancing Priest" is being launched by (in) famous defrocked priest Neil Horan. This book goes in to detail describing the ex-priest stunt-seeking man’s story from way off predictions of the world ending, to nearly killing himself by attempting to disrupt the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, or tackling a Brazilian marathon runner at the 2004 Olympics.

The author of the book Aidan O’Connor admits that Horan is a “mass of contradictions” as “He finds small talk very difficult but is very much at home when talking about theology, the Middle East or world politics. He’s a scholar and a keen student of the Bible” The book according to O’Connor is to spread the word of God – but the ex-priest’s stunts may be over clouding his message.

Take me to this news item: Neil Horan, stunt-seeking priest to launch his biography >>

The six-part prequel to the Starz series Spartacus is set to begin production this August. The prequel, "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" have already settled on its main cast; Irish American actress Lucy Lawless will reprise her role of Lucretia and Peter Mensah and Manu Bennett are also returning.

Australian actor, Dustin Clare, will play Gannicus, the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua and is the lead role in the prequel. Jaime Murray, will play Gaia, social climber friend to Lawless' Lucretia. Marisa Ramirez is also a new comer, playing Melitta, a slave girl. The six part series will premiere on Starz early next year.

Take me to this news item: ‘Spartacus’ prequel set for production this August >>

Piers Morgan, the British judge on 'America's Got Talent,' is said to be closing in on a deal to succeed Larry King at CNN. If it goes through the deal will vault Morgan in the category of superstar interviewers such as Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters and Katie Couric.

He is well known for being a talent show host, but has past history interviewing politicians and celebrities in his native Britain. Reports early on suggested that CNN (which they denied for several weeks) was looking at Morgan as successor to King; in fact after the reports King had announced his retirement.

Take me to this news item: Piers Morgan planned successor of Larry King >>

Irish beauty and model Coco Rocha has never been one to play by the rules. When she was being denied work because she was a size 4, she decided to strike out on her own fashion line, “Rococo”. Six years later and she has become a force to be reckoned with in the international fashion industry.

Considering that she over the last six years has not fallen into an eating disorder or a string of exes (she married her interior designer boyfriend at the beginning of this past June) Rocha has managed to keep a level head.

Add to her good fortune being named the number nine super model in the world by models.com, being a representative for Rimmel London, speaking out against eating disorders, and a guest-reporter spot at the Grammy’s for “Entertainment Tonight” this once looked over model is riding high.

Take me to this news item: Irish model Coco Rocha riding high on her own terms. >>

It seems the hole Mel Gibson digs grows deeper and deeper by the day. A planned movie chronicling the plundering and killing of Viking warriors had cast Leonardo DiCaprio as the prospective male lead. But like Gibson’s talent agent, DiCaprio has dropped from the project, distancing himself from the troubled star.

The rage-fuelled violent and racist rants leaked to the public on top of the domestic violence probes that continue to unfold in court have made Gibson more of a pariah of late. The thing is, DiCaprio earlier was enthusiastic towards the film as he is a giant history buff. But in light of the sordid details surrounding Gibson, a source has said that “Leo has earned the right to pick and choose who he works with, and Mel Gibson is not one of them."

Take me to this news item: Leonardo DiCaprio quits Mel Gibson’s movie. >>

This past July 13 was the 25th anniversary of one of history’s most famous and influential concerts – Live Aid. The historical concert was put together by Irish campaigner and media mogul Sir Bob Geldof in just ten weeks.

The mogul was so touched by a TV report on the famine in Ethiopia that he decided to do something about it. The globally broadcast concert was launched in an effort to raise money and awareness about the famine in Ethiopia and had attracted the biggest names of the day to deliver its message.

The celebrities appeared on one stage included Elton John, U2, Queen, Madonna and Paul McCartney well as members of the British royal family.

Take me to this news item: 25th anniversary of ‘Live Aid’ >>

The events surrounding the tragic and premature end of both Brittany Murphy and soon after husband Simon Monjack already marred by supposed dug use and heartbreak has yet another mark on it. The business manager for the late Brittany Murphy claims that her late husband had been systematically withdrawing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her accounts – accounts that were to be for her mother’s retirement.

As part of a prenuptial agreement, the bulk of Murphy’s estate was to go to her mother, but 80% of her earnings have mysteriously disappeared without a money trail. The accounts show that Monjack withdrew hundreds of thousands from the accounts, leaving Murphy’s mother financially insecure.

Take me to this news item: Brittany Murphy’s bank accounts are 80% drained months after death. >>

The Discovery program, teamed up with NUI Galway are in the process of doing an in-depth survey of Tara Hill funded by the Irish Heritage Council. The non-invasive geophysical survey of the land will hopefully give up more secrets and information as to why the Hill of Tara held such importance to the many generations of Irish ancestors. The group was also given permission to survey private land adjacent to the monument.

Conor Newman, an expert on Tara and lecturer in archaeology at NUI poses that even though this survey is currently underway, that studying Tara "has the potential to enrich our lives" and he feels the work will go on there for a long time.

Take me to this news item: Tara Hill undergoing a geophysical survey. >>

Fame has its drawbacks – case in point. Irish music mogul Louis Walsh is under siege by a crazed stalker. The woman seems to know his every move. According to the mogul she waits outside his hotel for him in London every night when he is in the city. She seems to know where he is at all times – as soon as he steps foot outside of the door she’s there to jump him till security pulls her off.

He once found it fun, but getting her jumping him three or four nights a week he’s had enough, demanding extra security against the woman.

Take me to this news item: ‘X Factor’ judge Louis Walsh is under siege by a crazy stalker >>

Ireland’s biggest summer music festival Oxygen has always been a big affair. Tickets were always sold out within the hour they become available (four months before the event even), and online bidding wars were the norm. The line up – boasting David Guetta, Jaz-Z, The Black Eyed Peas, and many others – was said to be the best in years. But what is killing sales is mainly the recession.

Many waited till the last minute trying to scale cheaper tickets from eBay, as many found the €224 normal price just too high. Many tickets online are selling for way below the ticket’s face value and were available by the bucket load.

Take me to this news item: Irish music festival hit by recession. >>

It’s been three months since the horrific incident where Natasha McShane and a friend were beaten bloody by a drug addicted hoodlum after walking home from work in Chicago. The rallying and outpouring of support from the Irish Chicago community has been massive raising over $468,000 (and more incoming) to help her in her constant surgeries.

Natasha flew home Friday, July 9, 2010 on a special jet flight so she could fly at a lower altitude to protect her wounds after under going brain surgery in Ireland. Her family, who spent almost the entire time at her bedside, flew home with her.

Many are stepping up to help – A special golf outing at Pheasant Run Resort in St Charles was held August, 2nd, raising more funds for her recovery

Next month Lily Allen is launching her own clothing vintage store. Instead of designer one offs, the singer wishes to encourage less throw-away shopping culture and plans to open a swap shop. In an interview with UK’s Elle the singer said that some of the clothing will come from her own wardrobe.

Allen discussed that “It’s not ethical to do that [toss wearable clothing away], so I’m quite happy to turn it into a business and see other people having enjoyment out of it.” The store will be called Lucy In Disguise and it will debut at the Goodwood festival in August.

Take me to this news item: Lily Allen launches own clothes line Lucy In Disguise. >>

The woman who realized her dreams of stardom in front of millions last year wants to let another unknown to see theirs. Susan Boyle wants to extend her fame out to others to spread the love and fame that she gained after stunning the world on Britain's Got Talent during their audition round.

She has a contest running on her website where hopefuls can upload recordings of themselves singing ‘Silent Night’. The winner will get to be featured on her upcoming follow up CD, The Gift.

Boyle said: 'There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't have the confidence or perhaps the means to enter a big competition like Britain's Got Talent. So this might be a lot less daunting for some people as they can record the song in the privacy of their own home. I'm hoping that people who have always wanted to sing will give it a try. I wish you all good luck.”

Take me to this news item: Susan Boyle is looking for an aspiring vocalist to sing on her upcoming album >>

It seems having back injuries are ‘merely a scratch’ to Edward Grimes, the Edward half of Jedward. Jedward, is the Irish pop sensation that conquered Britain's last 'X-Factor'. Grimes has suggested that U2 canceling his tour dates in order for Bono to recover from serious back surgery was an ‘unprofessional’ move. He goes on to say that Bono should suck it up and that if he could perform on torn knee ligaments for his fans; Bono can work through the pain as well.

It’s worth noting that it was Bono’s doctors who suggested that the singer rest, not Bono himself.

Take me to this news item: Grimes of Jedward says Bono needs to suck it up. >>

A Nazi Germany plan to invade Ireland has recently come to light. Seventy years ago, The Germany military were busying formulating Unternehmen Grün or Operation Green. This operation had plans to attack Dublin; the city was targeted by the Nazis as one of six regional administrative centers for Britain and Ireland.

The fourth and seventh infantry divisions of the Germany Army – equaling to 50,000 troops in total were allocated for the Irish invasion with an initial batch of 4,000 crack engineers, motorized infantry, commando and panzer units to reach the Irish shore after having launched from France. It was planned so that the units could quickly reach Ireland as soon as possible after the initial invasion.

Take me to this news item: Discarded Nazi war plans to invade Ireland revealed. >>

The burial site of 57 Irish workers by a railroad outside Philadelphia is under close archaeological scrutiny. The site said to contain the laborers was supposedly a site of a major cholera outbreak causing the deaths of all of the men. Recent digs though are proving otherwise – that murder, not disease took out all these workers.

In June, 1832, the group immigrants from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry arrived in Philadelphia and brought to Chester County by a fellow Irishman named Philip Duffy to help with the construction of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. But within six weeks all the men were told to be dead by cholera and were buried anonymously in a mass grave – a ditch outside of Malvern.

Take me to this news item: New find at Duffy’s Cut tell a tale of mass murder not disease. >>

The Prince of Wales met Sinn Fein's former director of publicity Danny Morrison in a field at the Glastonbury festival on Thursday, asking former Sinn Fein ad man how the camping was going.

Sinn Fein is the oldest political movement in Ireland. Irish Republicans founded the group in 1905, and since have worked for the right of Irish people as a whole to attain national self-determination. But it seemed unlikely Prince Charles knew who he was talking tents to, and carried on a peaceable conversation with Morrison.

'Yesterday when we were up at the green field, there was a whole bustle, I saw a BBC camera crew and people thought Bono was arriving. When we got up it was Prince Charles. He was the only person out of quarter of a million wearing a shirt and tie. He asked myself and my brother Ciaran did we actually camp out for three days. We come for about six days. He was very personable, ' said Morrison.

Take me to this news item: Prince Charles unwittingly meets Sinn Fein publicity man at Glastonbury field. >>

Some people take tragedy and try to make lemonades with it. But some, like this Titanic Bouncy Castle with inflatable ice burgs, just resulted in lemons. The Belfast built ship, set sail on its maiden voyage to New York in 1912 only to sink drowning 1,517 passengers and crew in one of the worse ocean liner tragedies in history.

And now 100 years later the ‘ship’ has ‘sunk’ at least for the visitors at a toy trade fare in Switzerland.
The bouncy castle version of the famous ship consisted of a 40ft high slide, replicating the ship, tiled and sinking into the sea. Visitors called the slide "sick," “insensitive”; one stated that, "It's pretty sick. It's like having a bouncy graveyard”.

Take me to this news item: Titanic ‘sinks’ again, now with inflateable ice burgs! >>

Did you know that Irish Army officers served in the war-torn African state of the Congo over fifty years ago? The first pioneering batch of Irish troops is to be honored at the Casement Aerodrome in a ceremony held by the Army.

The first contingent from the Irish Army to head into the African jungle-state was notoriously ill-equipped for the mission that lay ahead of them. Despite the lack of preparation, the group headed into the Congo; they being among the first UN troops to arrive in the area to keep the peace.

Trouble was brewing in the area – at the time the area was going through an attempted secession of the Belgian-owned, diamond-rich province of Katanga to become independent Congo in 1960. Over 6,000 Irish troops served in the region of who 24 returned to Ireland dead.

Take me to this news item: Irish Congo vets honored for service in the Congo 50 years ago >>

Ozzy Osbourne is the subject of an upcoming bio pic by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. And who is set to fill the hard rocker? Why reformed Dublin hell raiser, Colin Farrell! Farrell is gearing up to play Black Sabbath’s Prince of Darkness, a Birmingham native.

Many people find the choice a good one as one spokesperson joked “At least Colin and Ozzy are on the same page when it comes to using four-letter words!” Another has been quoted saying “Colin drinks, he smokes, he womanizes. He's just a sleeve tattoo away from being a real rock star.” Ozzy and his wife Sharon have differing opinions on who should get the part – Ozzy wanting a Birmingham native, and Sharon leaning towards actor Johnny Depp.

Take me to this news item: Colin Farrell tapped to play Ozzy Osbourne in upcoming pic. >>

This past July 2nd in the Irish Daily Mail newspaper, the recognition of the sophistication of Neolithic astronomy in Ireland is taking place. A paper correspondent opened up discourse by asking Charles Legge about any links between the ancient sites of Stonehenge and the Hill of Tara.

Legge answers that, 'Little is known of the pre-Celtic Neolithic people who occupied Britain and Ireland around 5,000 years ago, except that they shared an incredibly sophisticated astronomy – far more accurate than, for example, the Ptolemaic system used by the Roman Empire and, later, the Christian Church.'

The statements made here are important as most academic texts do not indicate the astronomical expertise by the mound-builders of either monument. Few works give serious credence to the idea that a sophisticated cosmology underlined the design of these ancient structures.

Take me to this news item: The recognition of the sophistication of neolithic astronomy. >>

The next episode of the 'Twilight' saga, 'Eclipse' opened up on 4,468 theater screens across America – the widest cinematic widest opening on record. This was due to the expectation that the film full of vampires and werewolves are to light up box office numbers. The new film in the franchise sold $68.5 million worth of tickets just this past Wednesday, breaking a record for the biggest mid-week gross in history beating out previous spot holder 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,' which sold $62 million on a Wednesday last summer.

Audiences were expected to be big with the many legions of 'Twi-Hards' rabid for the release, but the hopes of luring newcomers to the franchise with this the newest installment is yet to be seen.

Take me to this news item: Twilight’s newest installment, ‘Eclipse’ breaks box office record. >>

Olivia Wilde, has been named PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian for 2010. Already an Irish-American sex symbol, the actress was named on PETA’s list along with Bob Harper, the U.S TV coach on “The Biggest Loser”; Lisa Edelstein, Wilde’s costar on the show “House”, was named a runner-up.

Wilde is known for playing 'Thirteen' in the medical drama “House”. Outside of the role she is a practicing vegan; that is that she does not use any animal products, including milk, cheese or honey.

PETA, in talking about their vote for Wilde: “Wilde proves that being vegan helps one shine from the inside out. She has saved lives on Fox's hit show "House" and has saved the lives of animals off-screen by choosing a vegan diet.”

Take me to this news item: ‘House’ actress Olivia Wilde named the World’s Sexiest Vegetarian >>

Chris Brown’s Irish and United Kingdom leg of his “Chris Brown’s Fan Appreciation Tour” has been officially canceled due to him being denied a work visa. Citing his guilty plea of felony assault for attacking his then girlfriend Rihanna last year, the British Home Office stated “We reserve the right to refuse entry to the U.K. to anyone guilty of a serious criminal offense. Public safety is one of our primary concerns. … Each application to enter the U.K. is considered on its individual merits.”

His tour was to stop by in Cork and Dublin but he told his fans on twitter about the official cancellation due to the ruling.

Take me to this news item: Chris Brown tour in Ireland cancelled as visa is denied >>

It seems that Irishmen and women are not quite on the same page as to relationships. Researchers at University College Cork did an analysis of 15,000 men and women and found that men are happiest when single. Women on the other hand feel much happier when they were married and have achieved parenthood.

This contradicts earlier surveys showing men happier being married. On top of that, the study found that the average Irish single man is not only happier than his married equivalent but more content than single Irish women.

Lee-Ann Burke, a lecturer in economics at University College Cork said “We don’t know why, but men’s mental health declined when they were married. It could be the stress of having a family or income pressures.”

Take me to this news item: Irishmen prefer to be single accourding to new survey >>