Dia Duit!

Preserving Irish Heritage: Mucros Weavers

Preserving Irish Heritage: Mucros Weavers 

Mucros Weavers was formed out of a conscious movement to develop and promote traditional Irish crafts, like weaving. Located at the Muckross House on the grounds of Killarney National Park, Mucros Weavers draws upon the magnificent scenery to inspire its designs, which are created under the eye of Master Weaver, John Cahill. 

Will You Marry Me? The Irish Tradition of Bachelor’s Day

Will You Marry Me? The Irish Tradition of Bachelor’s Day

 It’s that year! Yes, that crazy year where we’ve got twenty-nine days in February instead of twenty-eight. But it’s also that year where we may see a few more marriage proposals, because single ladies no longer need to wait for their slow-to-propose men to get down on one knee. The Leap Year proposal is an Irish tradition, referred to as Bachelor’s Day, where women were encouraged to initiate dances and propose marriage on February 29th.

Irish New Year Traditions

Celebrating The New Year In Ireland, we do welcome in the new year, but our traditions are a bit different than how you celebrate in the U.S. You’re aware of our Irish hospitality, and New Year’s is no exception when it comes to inviting family and friends to our homes to welcome the new year ahead with some drinks and food, of course. If you’re not at someone’s home, chances are you’re at a local pub.  As you may expect, we do have some centuries-old traditions of welcoming the year ahead. CLEAN HOMES In many parts of Ireland it was...

Irish Christmas Traditions

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES IN CLONMEL In Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, where I grew up in the early 70’s, darkness fell very early in the early days of winter, just about 4 pm. You’d know it was almost dark because the shop windows and streets would illuminate from the lights-a very pretty site.  We rarely got snow, but you knew Jack Frost was always nearby, especially on those crisp mornings when the citizens of Clonmel would be scurrying about scraping their windscreens (you know them as windshields) or pour kettles of hot water on them to get rid of the frost. Very few...

Meet Biddy Murphy Supplier, Naomh Padraig

Namoh Padraig At Biddy Murphy, our authentic Irish goods and gifts are made by hand-picked artisans from Ireland, guaranteed to delight. We want to share the story of our supplier partner, Naomh Padraig.  We have been working with the delightful Patricia O Flaherty, the owner of Naomh Padraig for more than 15 years.  Patricia hand weaves St. Brigid Crosses and has been doing so for 20 years. I first met Patricia in 2004 at Showcase, the Irish gift show in Dublin.  Naomh Padraig in Gaelic means St. Patrick- the patron saint of Ireland, person who came to Ireland and converted...