When it comes to tattooed “fighting Irish”, Conor McGregor is top of the tree. A trawl through his family background shows he didn’t lick it off the stones.

The Taoiseach's department spent more than €12,000 on photography in the first half of the year, it has been revealed.

Mother of seven, Jen Hogan, offers advice on how to keep kids busy this summer, from old favourites to mini cine clubs.

A group of 3rd, 4th and 5th class pupils from CBS Primary Mitchelstown in Cork have won the overall junior prize in the MindRising competition and a €5000 digital refresh for their school.

Consumer advice with Gráinne McGuinness

With 62% of our former prisoners re-offending within three years of release it’s obvious that

A couple from Des Moines, Iowa, recently visited Ireland and they wrote this glowing review online about why other people should follow their lead and visit the Emerald Isle.

Joseph Plunkett’s grand-niece Honor Ó Brolcháin looks back on the life of the youngest Rebel leader to be executed

Campaigners have called on the Government not to try to overturn a judge's ruling which expanded the Moore Street national monument site.

President Michael D Higgins has said the country must continue the work of building a Republic of which the 1916 rebels would be proud.

Why is it necessary for the centrepiece of the 1916 celebrations to be such a military occasion? asks Fergus Finlay

President Michael D Higgins and senior government ministers have led the tributes to the 1916 fallen at the Kilmainham Jail site where they were executed in an emotional reminder of the deaths of the Rising leaders.

One of the key commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising centenary has taken place with President Michael D Higgins honouring all those who fought and died for Irish freedom.

The Government has said the Rising commemorations will be rooted in respect and inclusivity.

On the eve of the 1916 anniversary, Claire O’Sullivan took her kids to Dublin to tour the city’s child-friendly museums.

Visitor numbers to national heritage sites rose 11% last year to more than 4.9m.

A documentary on Máire Mhac an tSaoi gives a rare insight to the poet, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

On May 12, 1916, James Connolly, Labour’s founding father, was taken out into the yard of Kilmainham Gaol, tied to a chair, and shot dead.

Literature, Gaelic games, and Irish classes were all activities in the early 1900s of the young nationalists who would later rally around the Rebellion, writes John Gibney.

The key figure in a charity which is feeding almost 2,000 people a week has issued an impassioned plea to government to divert some of the €22m 1916 commemoration funding to help the hungry and homeless.

The last surviving child of those executed during the 1916 rising has celebrated his 102nd birthday.

Music, poetry, dance, and visual art will feature in projects commissioned as part of the Government’s official Ireland 2016 Centenary programme.

Two projects in Co Kerry and one in Co Cork are among seven nationally to benefit from funding of €350,000 being provided by the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht.

Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol has been named as the best rated landmark in Ireland in the Travellers’ Choice TM awards for Landmarks, announced by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site.

Traditional visitor haven Kerry is faced with a major challenge to reach the top of the tourism ratings.

The cash-strapped Office of Public Works is to open concessions, such as restaurants and playgrounds, at 17 of the country’s most popular heritage sites in order to generate funds to pay for all the heritage locations it operates across the country.

A CLOSE friend’s warning to Michael Collins not to go on that ill-fated visit to West Cork, and a lack of bitterness in ex-taoiseach Sean Lemass following the death of his brother in the Civil War — these are just some of the insights provided in a new series of interviews relating to the struggle for independence.

ARDMORE Studios, which opened its doors as Ireland’s first film studio in May 1958, remains the physical heart of the Irish film industry. Having played host to more than 100 films, the original studios, situated on a 10-acre site, represented an investment of over £500m at the time.

Ten new jobs have been created with the launch of a new digital tourism company.

Everyone loves a good recession-inspired deal, but when it comes to fun days out, people are increasingly shunning visits to free attractions in favour of splashing the cash.

A computer has helped a pensioner discover his father’s amazing role in the 1916 Rising, and now he wants families nationwide to find out more of their own family histories ahead of the centenary in 2016.

Dave Kenny’s family is steeped in Easter Rising history. And, on the anniversary of Eamonn Ceannt’s death, he recalls finding a letter from the executed hero’s son, revealing how he lived his life in his father’s shadow

Discrepancies in the lengths of sentences judges hand down have been decried by many, and lead to a lack of faith in the justice system, writes Michael Clifford

Saving an activity for a rainy day has never been as important as it is this summer.

Hollywood actor Martin Sheen has declared himself proud of his uncle’s IRA past.

Hollywood actor Martin Sheen has declared himself proud of his uncle’s IRA past.

THE busy South Cork guild at Innishannon got the past year off to an altruistic start with two whist card drives which raised proceeds for the Bandon Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber and Rehab.

ONLY a handful of people ever get to see it in its full splendour but Newgrange still remains the country’s best-loved heritage site.