Hi there,

Here's your weekly dose of Irish for May 7th, 2021...

• I have been talking about making more YouTube videos for a while now and finally created one for my latest post on the Irish poem "June". A great poem by Francis Ledwidge. You can watch the video on YouTube here. I hope you enjoy it and please give it a big Like.
• I was thinking about doing a few Irish jokes videos as well.
• Have a great Friday!

Five Irish facts for your Friday:

1. In 1853 Dundalk man named John Coffee built the Dundalk Jail. However, he encountered some financial troubles while building the prison. He ended up going bankrupts and becoming the first inmate in his own prison. 
2. The novel Dracula was written by an Irish man! Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Born in Clontarf, Dublin. 
3. The song “When Irish Eyes are Smiling,” was written by two Americans, George Graff and Chauncey Olcott, in 1912. But no records state that they ever visited Ireland. 
4. Ireland was the last country in the European Union without a postcode system. 
5. The oldest hotel in Ireland is in Co. Wicklow. The Woodenbridge Hotel opened in 1608

Read More Irish Facts here.

This week's posts:

☘️ An Irish Drinking Joke…

There is no shortage of Irish jokes on my site.

But this week I found a lovely clip from Mike Dunafon.

He is a great storyteller and I love the …

The post An Irish Drinking Joke… appeared first on Irish Around The World.

Click here to read more

☘️ “June” – An Incredible Poem By Francis Ledwidge

Another week another great Irish poem.

As we come into May I felt a poem about summer or at least the start of summer would be the best fitting.

 Summer …

The post “June” – An Incredible Poem By Francis Ledwidge appeared first on Irish Around The World.

Click here to read more

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This week's Irish joke: Mick on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"

Mick, from Dublin, appeared on ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ and towards the end of the program had already won 500,000 euros.

“You’ve done very well so far,” said Jeremey Clarkson, the show’s presenter, “but for a million euros, you’ve only got one life-line left, phone a friend. Everything is riding on this question. Will you go for it?”

“Sure,” said Mick. “I’ll have a go!”

“Which of the following birds does NOT build its own nest?

a) Sparrow

b) Thrush,

c) Magpie,

d) Cuckoo”

“I haven’t got a clue.” said Mick, ”So I’ll use last lifeline and phone my friend Paddy back home in Dublin ..”

Mick called up his mate, and told him the circumstances and repeated the question to him.

“Fookin hell, Mick!” cried Paddy. “Dat’s simple it’s a cuckoo.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fookin 100% sure.”

Mick hung up the phone and told Jeremy, “I’ll go with cuckoo as my answer.”

“Is that your final answer, for 1 million Euro?” asked Jeremy.

“Yes, I am sure of it. I trust my friend Paddy.”

There was a long, long pause and then the presenter screamed, “Cuckoo is the correct answer!

Mick, you’ve won 1 million euros!”

The next night, Mick went round to Paddy’s to buy him a drink and celebrate with him.

“Tell me, Paddy? How in Heaven’s name did you know it was da Cuckoo that doesn’t build its own nest?”

Paddy looked back at Mick and said

“Because he lives in a Fookin clock!”

This week top Irish poem:

“June” – An Incredible Poem By Francis Ledwidge

Another week another great Irish poem. As we come into May I felt a poem about summer or at least the start of summer would be the best fitting. 

Summer of course officially starts in June but it feels earlier this year. 

Francis Ledwidge comes in at number 38 in the list of top 100 Irish poems. In this poem, “June” Francis talks about the lovely beauty of Ireland as it comes into the summer. 

I have been debating about recording these lovely Irish poems in video form and I will start with this one. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for when that comes out. Update: I have created the video. Hope you like it! Watch it here. Please give it a like if you enjoy it. 

June

Broom out the floor now, lay the fender by,

And plant this bee-sucked bough of woodbine there,

And let the window down. The butterfly

Floats in upon the sunbeam, and the fair

Tanned face of June, the nomad gipsy, laughs

Above her widespread wares, the while she tells

The farmers’ fortunes in the fields, and quaffs

The water from the spider-peopled wells.

The hedges are all drowned in green grass seas,

And bobbing poppies flare like Elmo’s light,

While siren-like the pollen-staind bees

Drone in the clover depths. And up the height

The cuckoo’s voice is hoarse and broke with joy.

And on the lowland crops the crows make raid,

Nor fear the clappers of the farmer’s boy,

Who sleeps, like drunken Noah, in the shad

And loop this red rose in that hazel ring

That snares your little ear, for June is short

And we must joy in it and dance and sing,

And from her bounty draw her rosy worth.

Ay! soon the swallows will be flying south,

The wind wheel north to gather in the snow,

Even the roses spilt on youth’s red mouth

Will soon blow down the road all roses go.

See my top Irish poems list here.

About the founder of Irish Around The World: 

Okay, some of you might be wondering.

Just who runs this Irish Around The World website?? 

Or maybe you don't care, haha. 

My name is Stephen Palmer from Co. Cork and I have been involved in many Irish related projects over the years. 

While it may seem this website is run by a whole team of highly skilled Irishmen, it is just run by myself. 

So I want to thank you again for taking the time to subscribe and being a part of the community. 

So how did you start a website about Irish people around the world Stephen?

Where it all began: 

I created a website in 2013 to help Irish people who are moving to Australia and recently a new group to help Irish ex-pats who are returning to Ireland.

I have always enjoyed reading about Irish heritage and how connected Irish people are around the world.

But I felt that the websites out there did not connect the people to the information. Instead, they just published daily articles regardless if people cared about them or not. 

So I decided to change it and create my own Facebook community called Irish Around The World.

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Many of you have probably seen me popping in, and out of our Facebook group has been amazing to see the interaction with each member. 

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Stephen Palmer

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