We hope this brief bulletin finds you and yours in good health, good spirits and good company. We were hoping to send out the regular newsletter, but time has gotten away from us and we are about to leave for a family reunion and other R & R until mid August. We hope to send out a big newsy edition complete with all of our regular features when we return. Meanwhile...

 

 

First off, thanks to the literally hundreds of you who took the time to enter  our drawing for a copy of Robert Sullivan’s  “Fun Things You Probably Don’t Know About Ireland.” We wish everyone could be a winner but there were just five copies generously provided by the author and we’d like to congratulate Susan Dougherty, Lorraine Creedon, John Cody, Michael Kelly, and Patricia Jeffrey. We hope you enjoy the read! And if you have any comments, we know the author would love to hear from you:

publisher@irishletter.com

ED. NOTE: We also found a link to an interview with Robert which you might like to take a gander at:

http://voices.yahoo.com/interview-irish-trivia-writer-robert-sullivan-5438155.html?cat=2

 

 

Our niece Maddie O Flaherty has a summer job on Macinac Island in Michigan and  just happened to stop by a Celtic shop called The Jaunting Cart. She told us she was so excited to see  The  Traditional Irish Wedding  on the shelf. Herself is thrilled too, and this has given us an idea. If you happen to see the book on sale somewhere, send us the details  and we’ll give the sighting a mention. We still remember how thrilled we were when someone wrote and told us they saw it in the book shop at Trinity College in Dublin!  

  

 

Our current  poll question is Should the Republic of Ireland or any other country lower the voting age to 16? Thus far, the majority say no. What do YOU think? To share your opinion please click:

http://www.mapyourvote.com/Poll/Lowering-the-voting-age/#tabs=1

 

If, for whatever reason, you think you might not have received one of our previous newsletters, they  are all archived beginning with the newest one first. Here’s the link:

https://ymlp.com/archive_geejhqgjgm.php

 

We wish we could be saying that Ireland is where we will be during the next two weeks, but alas, we will have to content ourselves with dipping our big toes in the Atlantic Ocean  on the US  side of the Big Pond. However, we’re counting our blessings that thanks to the generosity of family & friends, we are able to take any time off at all.

 

So,  we will take our leave with this lovely old Irish blessing:

 

 And, as they say in Ireland, mind yourself.

 

Slan agus beannacht 

 

Get down on your knees and thank God you’re still on your feet. 

Téigh ar do ghlúine is bí buíoch le Dia go bhfuil tú fós ar do chosa.

 

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http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Newsletter.html

 

 

We just couldn’t bring ourselves to go off on holiday without ending our missive on a fun note. So...from our joke archive:

 

The American had been fishing for two weeks at Ballinahinch without getting a bite. On the last day of his vacation he caught a small salmon "Turlough," he said to his gillie as the fish was gaffed, Tthat salmon cost me five hundred dollars." "Well now sir," comforted Turlough, "aren't you the lucky man you didn't catch two?"