ON THE night of Saturday March 11, 1923, more than 100 Irishmen and women across Britain were rudely awoken by police, arrested, before being bundled into train carriages and taken to ports across the country. Amid much confusion, these men and women were transported by boat (above) to Ireland and imprisoned. Their crime: anti-Treaty activities committed against the newly established Irish Free State, during the height of the Irish Civil War.

PETROGRAD in 1920 was alight with revolutionary excitement. Representatives from around the world gathered to discuss major questions about Nationalism, Imperialism and revolution, and to bear witness to the new Soviet state. Formed to promote international revolution in 1919, the Communist International or Comintern was meeting for its Second Congress, with more than 200 delegates meeting at sessions in Petrograd and Moscow.

MY DAUGHTER, Roisín asked me recently what I thought was a fairly logical question. Why does the date that Easter falls on change each year? And the answer is simple; because it’s a ‘moveable feast’ based on the lunar calendar and not a fixed date like Christmas.

Neither Here Nor There Written by CG Docherty Published by Levenford Publishing Price: £12.99 WHEN studying local history and creating family trees has never been so popular, it is often said ‘you have to know where you came from in order to know where you are going.’ Some questions people ask regularly here in Scotland: “Who do you think you are?” Are you somebody? “Who were your parents?” “Where did they work?” What is really surprising is that so many people haven’t a clue

IT WAS a tournament that encapsulated everything that makes Irish rugby both thrilling and agonising. Andy Farrell's side finished second in the 2026 Guinness Six Nations, claiming a Triple Crown, but ultimately falling just short of the championship title in the most dramatic fashion.

CHRIST the King Hall in Glasgow’s southside was filled to capacity recently as An Evening with Pearse Doherty TD brought together generations of the Irish community in Glasgow for a warm, engaging and memorable celebration.

THE relationship between Ireland and Scotland has long been an important part of the cultural, political and economic life of the two countries, and looking ahead to 2030 it now has a new framework to expand the impact of the relationship and encourage its good health.

LONG before the age of instant messaging, online shopping, or next-day delivery, Christmas in Ireland carried a quiet magic of its own. But for countless families across the country, nothing compared to the thrill of receiving a parcel from the US, a tangible, festive connection to loved ones who had crossed the Atlantic in search of a better life.

DUBLIN—a city once described by novelist Brendan Behan as holding ‘familiarity without friendship’—now finds its residents asking the haunting question: ‘Why me?’ This comes in the wake of a series of violent attacks targeting members of Ireland’s immigrant communities throughout the summer of 2025.

IRELAND made it a double celebration as their hurlers and camogs took on their shinty counterparts in a return of the Ireland-Scotland international fixture.

THE life and times of the publisher, home-ruler, land reformer and radical, John Ferguson (1836-1906), were brought to life in a fascinating presentation by social historian Sean Thomas McDonagh, in Grace’s Irish Centre late last month.

EDINBURGH'S Irish community will have another chance to celebrate its culture and heritage—and the chance to avail of some free pints—thanks to a special event being held this month in Malones Bar in Leith.

IRELAND'S Hidden Heartlands stretch across nine unmissable counties, each with its own history, heroes—and, of course, heart. We’ve chosen five great towns and villages you simply can’t miss. The only question is: which one will you visit first?

LIKE the Emerald Isle, Edinburgh is a very green place. Though this is on the more local scale of a city, just how many green spaces and gardening initiatives, both large and small are present within the city has always impressed me. Scotland as a whole, like Ireland, also has a rich botanical cultural history.

THIS month, I sat down with the King of Glasgow, the guru of the city’s live entertainment and hospitality sector—not to mention one of the funniest guys you’ll ever meet—Donald MacLeod. I asked him about his 40 years of work in the industry, his fight to save hospitality and of course his love of Ireland. Here’s what he had to say.

Tánaiste SIMON HARRIS looks forward to Ireland assuming its eighth presidency of the EU in 2026.

WHEN Glaswegian Paul O’Donaghue ends up in lockdown after travelling to a small village on the north coast of Donegal for his mother’s funeral, he’s not unduly worried.

THE hopes of Palestinian children planning to travel to Ireland for a summer of sport amid the destruction and devastation surrounding them have been dashed after their visa applications were rejected.

Twenty years ago, I was with colleagues in Dublin for a once -per-term meet-up of participants in a postgraduate psychotherapy course. It was organised across Northern Europe with students from Britain, Denmark, Iceland and Ireland.

LEADING voices in Gaelic and Gaeilge from Ireland and Scotland came together in Aberdeen recently to examine some of the key challenges and opportunities facing Gaelic and Irish-speaking communities today.