Hogan Magee Ireland Genealogy & Tour Guide

23/11/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends in the USA. It's a day to remember the good things we have experienced over the past year, and to hope we can look forward to many more blessings in the year to come. Have a wonderful day! ☘🦃🇺🇸🤗

12/09/2023

Enjoying the sunshine at the breathtakingly beautiful Killary Fjord on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way. This fjord is over 16km (10 miles) long and up to 45m (150ft) deep in the centre. Often described as Ireland's only fjord, some geologists argue that Carlingford Lough in Co Louth, and Lough Swilly in Co. Donegal are also fjords. I'll leave it to the geologists to debate that one, but what is certain is that all three are stunningly beautiful places!
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16/03/2023

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig - wishing all our family and friends a very Happy St Patrick's Day, wherever in the world you find yourself today! ☘️☘️☘️

10/06/2022

US Ends Requirement for Negative Covid Test from Sunday!
Effective Sunday, the US is ending the requirement for all incoming travelers to produce a certified negative Covid test. This decision will come as a major boost to tourism on both sides of the Atlantic, as many travelers, particularly US residents considering overseas travel, had been put off traveling by the risk they could be prevented from entering the US if they were to test positive before flying home. Tourism in Ireland has been recovering very strongly this year after the 2-year interruption caused by Covid, and guests have been blessed with generally excellent weather in the first half of the season. Fingers crossed the same holds true for the second half, and we can look forward to extending a sunny "Céad Míle Fáilte" (One Hundred Thousand Welcomes) to visitors for the rest of the year! ☘️☘️☘️😁️
Further information available on: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/biden-administration-to-drop-covid-testing-requirements-for-international-air-travel.html

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17/04/2022

Happy Easter to all our family and friends!
I couldn't find a cuter photo than the one I shared last year, so here it is again!
As we emerge from 2 years in the shadow of Covid, it feels like the world is being reborn. For the people of Ukraine, their suffering and loss continues in the form of war. We pray that their troubles will pass quickly, and that soon they too can look forward to rebirth of normal life.

Beannachtaí na Cásca - Easter Greetings from Ireland !
The celebration of Easter has its origins in prehistory, as our ancestors marked the changing seasons which governed the cycles of nature and their lives as hunters and farmers. In nature, Springtime is time of new life, and in the Christian tradition, it is associated with the Resurrection of Christ, but its importance in Christianity is actually a borrowing from the Jewish tradition of Passover. In fact in most European languages, the word for Easter is similar to the word Passover: in Greek the feast is called Pascha, in Italian Pasqua, in Swedish it is Pask, while in French it is Paques. Less obvious perhaps, is the Irish word Cásc, which is simply the same word, but with the initial "p" relaced with the letter "c". This was a common phenomenon in the Irish language in the 5th/6th Century, and there are lots of examples which survive in modern Irish - but that's for a different post !
For today, we can celebrate the new life all around us, so whether we're celebrating Easter, the Passover, or simply the vernal equinox, Beannachtaí na Cásca, or paschal greetings to you !
Photo Credit : mylittlefarmspa.co.uk

16/03/2022

This is a lovely show of support for the people of Ukraine - St Patrick's Day is one of the most important days of the year for Irish people all over the world, and many of the most iconic buildings around the world are illuminated in green at this special time. This St Patrick's Day, many of the most iconic buildings here in Ireland are illuminated in the colours of Ukraine.
While we celebrate St Patrick's Day, we remember also the terrible plight of Ukrainian people, and we offer our support and our prayers for them at this time of great suffering.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig orthu - St Patrick's Day Blessings. ☘️

"In Ireland and abroad, we take pride in the wearing and displaying of the green on St Patrick’s Day. The colour is an intrinsic part of our pride in our roots and the joint celebration of Irishness on our national holiday. Over many years, the Office of Public Works has set the mood for this important day by symbolically ‘greening’ our most iconic heritage sites, government buildings and national cultural institutions.

This year is different, however, and even as we look forward to marking St Patrick’s Day with our friends and loved ones, we think of the people of Ukraine whose lives, safety and sovereignty are at risk. For them and for the eyes of the world, we send a message of solidarity by illuminating 41 Irish landmarks across the country in the colours of Ukraine tonight and over the St Patrick’s Day weekend to underline that the people of Ireland stand with Ukraine." - Statement by Minister Patrick O'Donovan

21/01/2022

Good News from Ireland!! A new day dawns & a fresh era begins, as Ireland announces the lifting of most Covid restrictions with effect from 6am tomorrow, Saturday 22nd of January!
While public health advice continues to encourage the practices to which we've all become accustomed including regular handwashing, cough and sneeze etiquette, social distancing etc, most restrictions will no longer apply. Among the few restrictions still in place are mask-wearing in some circumstances and a Covid Certificate requirement for international travel. Masks continue to be mandatory on public transport, at train stations, airports etc, as well as in retail shops, theatres, cinemas etc. However they are not mandatory for guests in bars and restaurants, and no Covid Certificate is required for admission to bars or restaurants either.
More information is shown on the attached screenshots from the RTE News website, with full details available on https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2022/0121/1275151-covid-ireland-latest/
There may still be twists and turns on the road back to 'normality', but thanks to exceptionally high rates of vaccination here and the fact that the Omicron variant is not resulting in the same numbers of hospitalisations as earlier forms of the infection, these very welcome changes have been made possible.
Ireland is now fully open to visitors, and we can't wait to welcome you back! ☘😁
A new day dawns indeed!

06/01/2022

Happy ‘Women’s Christmas’ to you!
Today 6th January was once known throughout most of Ireland as Nollaig na mBan (Women’s Christmas), or “Little Christmas”.
It was a day when women, on whom the greatest burden of work had fallen during the Christmas period, would meet up with friends to relax and celebrate the end of this busy period.
In many households, the man of the house would do the housework and cook (or burn? 😊) the meals for the family.
It’s not known how far back the tradition goes, but its roots are in the Christian Feast of the Epiphany, the day the Three Wise Men arrived from the East to honour the infant Jesus, and many homes would light three candles in honour of the Wise Men. It was thought bad luck would befall anybody taking down Christmas decorations before today. Another interesting tradition held that the water in every well in Ireland would (briefly) turn into wine at midnight on Little Christmas - testing the tradition by tasting the water would also invite bad luck.
Nollaig na mBan (pronounced “Null-ig na Mon”, with emphasis on the first and last syllables) probably evolved from womenfolk meeting friends after going to Church to mark the Epiphany .
Observed across most of Ireland until the late 1700s, it gradually fell out of practice, and by the mid-20th century it was primarily confined to the southwest of Ireland and to areas settled by Irish emigrants in Newfoundland, Canada and some pockets in the USA. Recent decades have seen a revival, with many women again marking the day by meeting friends.
They might even be sharing stories (real or imagined) of their men-folks’ disasters in the kitchen! 😅
Nollaig na mBan Greetings from Ireland, wherever you are. ☘☘

31/12/2021

Wishing you every happiness throughout the New Year!
Another 'pandemic year' draws to a close. After the almost full-scale lockdowns of 2020, this past year has permitted us all to experience again some of the 'normality' we once took for granted, even if it has been intermittently. There are lots of reasons to be optimistic, and as we step into a new year, we do so with hope and confidence that better times are coming.
The video is of Dublin's Custom House in its 'Winter Lights attire'. I added a little snow to pretend it's Winter, although it's a balmy 14deg Celsius (57deg F) here on the last day of 2021! 😁
Happy New Year everybody!

24/12/2021

Greetings from Ireland at Christmastime! ☘
This is a special time in many cultures across the world, a time when we look back at the past year, and look forward to the year ahead with hope and confidence. It's a time to celebrate with family and friends, even if we have to do so in a socially distant way this year! So whatever it is you are celebrating, whether it's Christmas or Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or the Solstice, I wish you the very best of times for now, and the best of times to come!
Nollaig Shona ! Happy Christmas!
Santa photo is available as a free download from pixabay.com.

25/11/2021

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American family and friends!
It's a time to reflect on all our blessings, especially in this most difficult Covid-afflicted year. We have much to be Thankful for.🙏
(photo is a free download from Pixabay.com)

04/07/2021

Happy Fourth of July to all our family and friends in the USA!