The Engaging Ireland Podcast

The Gobbins is a cliff-face path on IslandMagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, northeast of Belfast. Unlike many other costal paths that just follow close along the top of an ocean-side cliff, the Gobbins first descends down to sea level, then winds along he base of the cliff, up and down steep cut stone stairs, across bridges from sea-stack to cliff face and island to island, past caves and through a narrow tunnel. Though it was long inaccessible to the public because it fell into disrepair after World War II, it has been rebuilt within the last several years and re-opened to the public as of Summer 2015.     Start out at the beautiful visitor’s center for a walk through the interpretive display to learn about the history of the path, the wildlife that abounds in the surrounding area, and the astounding effort that it took to reconstruct the path in its current incarnation.     If you’d like to check out some parts of the Gobbins path from the comfort of your own home, take a look at the 360 degree pictures of the Gobbins on VirtualVisitTours.com:   http://www.virtualvisittours.com/gobbins-cliff-path/   Walking the Gobbins path is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience…though we’re already looking forward to the next time we get to walk the Gobbins! We highly recommend a visit!   Check out the official Gobbins Path website at:   http://www.thegobbinscliffpath.com/

In this episode, we bring you more sites associated with the Patron Saint of Ireland. Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Balintubber Abbey Website: www.ballintubberabbey.ie/ Tochar Phadraig Website: www.heritagecouncil.ie/landscape/initiatives/the-pilgrim-paths/tochar-phadraig/ The Western Way: www.irishtrails.ie/trail/western-way--gal-/37/ Christopher Sommervile Walk of the Week: www.independent.ie/life/travel/ireland/walk-of-the-week-mamean-connemara-co-galway-26574913.html Altadaven Wood: www.voicesfromthedawn.com/st-patricks-chair-and-well/   The Rock of Cashel: www.cashel.ie Saint Patrick's Well: pilgrimagemedievalireland.com/2014/04/12/st-patricks-holy-well-at-marlfield-clonmel         The closing song, sung by Kathy, is "May the Road Rise to Meet You" by Denes Agay.

During this, the last of our special Halloween-week episodes, we are taking a look at some contemporary ways to observe Samhain/Halloween.

Our Halloween-week episodes are nearly done. In this episode, we talk about two supernatural creatures of Ireland: the Pooka and the Banshee.

We've talked in a previous episode about the tradition of carving turnips to carry home an ember from the communal Samhain bonfire.  But where does the term Jack o' Lantern come from? In this episode, we tell the tale of Stingy Jack.

It is said that Finn Mac Cumhal fought a goblin of the fairy folk on Samhain-eve on the hill of Tara. In this special Halloween-week episode, we tell the story of Finn and how he became the captain of the Fianna of Erinn. This story is from "The High Deeds of Finn and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland", By T.W. Rolleston, Illustrated by Stephen Reid, which can be found on Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.org

This is the first of a special Halloween series, where we explore the history of contemporary Halloween traditions and observances, such as bonfires, jack o'lanterns, costumes and trick or treating.

We're back! Sorry to have been gone for so long! In this small episode, we talk about what we've been up to and what our plans for new episodes. We also mention the Thin Places tours led by our friend Mindie Burgoyne. You can check out her website at http://www.thinplacestour.com/ Please follow us on FaceBook!

In this episode, we talk about a request we got from the folks over at Infinite Ireland (http://www.infiniteireland.com/), which prompted us to reminisce about all of the Irish “firsts” we experienced during our first trip to Ireland. We hope that you enjoy reliving the joys of our first days in Ireland with us! Here are some of the places we remembered from that first trip: Fairymount Farm - http://www.fairymountfarm.com/ The Rock of Cashel - http://www.cashel.ie/ Clonmacnoise - http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/midlandseastcoast/clonmacnoise/ The Clonfinlough Stone - http://www.megalithicireland.com/Clonfinlough%20Stone.html Bunratty Folk Park - http://www.shannonheritage.com/Attractions/BunrattyCastleandFolkPark/ Ailwee Cave - http://www.aillweecave.ie/aillweecave.html Birr Castle - http://www.birrcastle.com/ Poulnabrone - http://www.megalithicireland.com/Poulnabrone.htm Craggaunowen - http://www.shannonheritage.com/Attractions/CraggaunowenTheLivingPastExperience/ The Cliffs of Moher - http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/

In this episode, we follow in the footsteps of Saint Patrick, paying a visit to a few of the key sights connected with Ireland’s patron saint.