Articles on Ireland

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The Celtic festival of Samhain celebrates a time of year when the division between Earth and the otherworld collapses, allowing spirits to pass through. Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The ancient Irish get far too much credit for Halloween

Folklorists created a through line from the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain to Halloween. But the Halloween we know today has more to do with the English, a 9th century pope and American consumerism.
The Irish Homespun Society, a female-led craft advocacy group, set out to ‘keep women spinning in their homes’ in the 1930s and 40s in the decades after textile labour shifted towards industrial production. (The Photographic Collection, B063.29.00014/by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection)

‘We knew she was a fairy when we saw her:’ How Irish folklore around spinning instructed women artisans

A look at Irish folklore surrounding women’s craft in time for Halloween, a time of the year when boundaries between worlds are said to be thin.
Donald Trump gestures as he departs after speaking during a campaign event in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s abortion flip‑flops: Lessons from Ireland on why reasons‑based access to abortion doesn’t work

Abortion rights issues could decide the U.S. presidential election. Here’s what Ireland did wrong, and how voters successfully demanded a dramatic change in course for women’s health care.
If elected – and her father’s account of the family’s history is correct – Kamala Harris would become the 24th U.S. president of Irish heritage. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Kamala Harris’ purported Irish ancestry highlights complicated backstory of identity and enslavement

Presidential candidate’s potential ties to an Irish slave owner complicate narratives around colonial legacies and the proper place of Black Irish identity in history.

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