🇮🇪 Your Weekly Dose of Irish ☘️ 💕
Mar 27, 2026 5:36 pm
Hi everyone,
Welcome back to your Weekly Dose of Irish.
Before we start, a small personal update. I have been working away on a music album for a long time, and it is finally being released on March 31st. It is electronic/dance music, so I know it will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I am glad to finally get it finished and out into the world. You can pre-save the album here or listen to some of my songs on Spotify here. It took me a long time to finish this, so I am glad to finally get it out into the world.
If you’re new here, this email is a small mix of Ireland each week. A bit of history, a bit of humour, a few Irish words, and the odd story or two. Something you can read with a cup of tea or a coffee and feel a small bit closer to home, wherever you are in the world.
I started writing this because Irish people are everywhere. Australia, England, America, Canada, Dubai, Spain, Portugal, building sites, hospitals, pubs, offices, farms, mines, you’ll find Irish people in every corner of the world.
But no matter where we end up, we all still share the same humour, the same sayings, the same stories, and the same way of looking at the world.
And that is actually what my upcoming book Daily Dose of Irish is all about. But more on that below.
First, let’s start with a quick quiz.
Let’s see how Irish you really are this week. No Googling now.
- What Irish county is known as the “Rebel County”?
- What does the word “craic” mean in Ireland?
- What is the capital of County Kerry?
- True or False: Halloween originated in Ireland.
- What Irish county is known as the “Garden of Ireland”?
- What does it mean if someone says “I’m only after doing that”?
- What Irish city is known as the “City of the Tribes”?
- What does “grand” usually mean in Ireland?
- What Irish festival did Halloween come from?
- What is the smallest county in Ireland?
Answers at the end. No cheating.
IRISH JOKE OF THE WEEK(an old one)
A man walks into a pub and orders three pints.
The barman brings them over and the man drinks all three, one after the other.
He comes in the next day and does the same thing. Three pints.
After a week of this, the barman says,
“You know, the pints would taste nicer if you drank them fresh. I can keep an eye on your glass and bring you a new one when you finish each pint.”
The man says,
“No, you don’t understand. One pint is for me, one is for my brother in Australia, and one is for my brother in America. We said we’d always have a drink together.”
The barman says,
“That’s actually lovely.”
A few weeks later, the man comes in and only orders two pints.
The barman says,
“Ah no… don’t tell me… did something happen one of your brothers?”
The man says,
“No, they’re grand. I just gave up drinking.”
Irish Poem of the Week
One of the most famous Irish poems in the world is The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore, written in the early 1800s.
It tells the story of a young Irish musician who goes off to war carrying both a sword and a harp, symbolising Ireland’s long connection to both music and conflict, and the idea that even in war, Ireland’s culture and identity should never be lost.
Here are the opening lines:
The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you’ll find him;
His father’s sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him.
“Land of song,” said the warrior bard,
“Though all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee.”
For many Irish people who left Ireland over the centuries, songs and poems like this became a way of carrying Ireland with them, no matter where they ended up in the world.
ON THIS WEEK IN IRISH HISTORY
This week in 1900, the Irish Guards regiment was formed by Queen Victoria to honour Irish soldiers who fought in the Boer War.
They went on to become one of the most well known regiments in the British Army, and every St Patrick’s Day, they are presented with shamrock, a tradition that still continues today.
History is complicated, especially Irish history, but wherever you stand on politics or the past, it is another reminder that Irish people have been involved in major events all over the world for a very long time, often far from home.
IRISH WORD OF THE WEEK
Banjaxed
Pronounced: ban-jaxed
Meaning: Broken, ruined, or absolutely exhausted.
Example:
“I tried to fix the washing machine and now it’s completely banjaxed.”
A very important Irish word, because at some point in life, every Irish person has described something as banjaxed.
IRISH SAYING OF THE WEEK
“May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.”
DAILY DOSE OF IRISH – BOOK UPDATE
A lot of people have been asking about the book, so here is a proper update.
The book is called Daily Dose of Irish, and the idea is simple.
365 entries, one for every day of the year.
Each day will include something Irish, like:
An Irish word
A short story
A historical fact
An Irish joke
An old saying or blessing
A myth or legend
Or just something that is very Irish that we all understand
It is not a heavy book. You will not need to sit down and read it for hours.
It is the kind of book you leave beside your bed and read one page a day.
Something small each day that makes you smile, makes you think, or reminds you of home.
To be completely honest, the book has been delayed much longer than I expected.
Life and work got busy, and the book took a back seat for a while. But it is now well underway.
My goal is to have the pre-order page ready very soon, and the official launch is planned for next month.
If you are on this email list, you will be the first to hear about the pre-order, and I will do a few small extras for the early supporters because you are the people who have been here from the start.
Also, this Weekly Dose of Irish email is actually what inspired the book in the first place. So in a way, you are already part of the book.
That’s all for this week.
Wherever you are in the world, I hope this email brought you a small bit of Ireland this week.
Thanks
Stephen
P.S. On a completely different note, I also make music in my spare time, and I have finally finished an album that is coming out on March 31st. It is electronic/dance music, so I know it will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are curious, you can pre-save the album here or listen to some of my songs on Spotify here. It took me a long time to finish this, so I am glad to finally get it out into the world.
ANSWERS
- Cork
- Fun, gossip, news, a good time
- Tralee
- True
- Wicklow
- It means “I just did that” (very Irish way of speaking)
- Galway
- Fine / okay / not bad (not necessarily amazing)
- Samhain
- Louth