Celebrity astronaut Chris Hadfield has confirmed that it would be impossible to pour a perfect pint of Guinness in space.
And even if it was possible, you would have to drink it with a straw. Just in case you were wondering.
Category: Worldwide
News and videos of events around the world
Two never before seen watercolour paintings by President John F Kennedy were sold at auction in January 2020.
The paintings were part of a lot that contains several pieces of memorabilia relating to the late US president.
When Late Late show star James Corden won an Irish American entertainment award he may have had his dainty footwork when performing with Riverdance to thank for it.
A young family created a heart-warming video of the mother’s pregnancy with their second child.
The 2014 video took nine months to produce, but was worth the wait. It tells the story of the young mum’s pregnancy in a sequence of short video clips from the beginning to the end of her term.
Hollywood superstar George Clooney has released a comical video in which he downplays his own status and suggests it is his wife that has the true star quality.
Clooney’s video, released in 2019, was promoting his charity which was running a competition offering a chance to dine with him and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
US Presidential candidate Joe Biden was full of praise for Ireland during a visit to his ancestor’s homeland, and proudly paid homage to his Irish roots.
In recognition of Biden’s Irish heritage, Ancestor Network pieced together his family tree, to discover just how Irish he is.
Genealogist John Hamrock carried out the research and revealed that Biden is in fact five eighths Irish, with ten of his sixteen great-great grandparents been born on these shores.
Hamrock said: “Biden’s family were labouring people, who came from fairly common stock. They were among a generation of Irish people who emigrated to America at the height of the Great Famine.”
On his trip to Ireland Biden stated what his Irish heritage means a “great deal” to him. He had hoped to make the trip to the home of his ancestors with his son Beau, who died of cancer last year.
Biden said: “My grandfather and grandmother Finnegan, all my mother’s brothers, and my father told us about the courage and commitment it took for our relatives to emigrate from Ireland – in the midst of tragedy to distant shores, where they didn’t know what awaited them. It took great courage.”
Biden’s mother, Jean Finnegan was born to Ambrose Finnegan and Geraldine Blewitt.
Hamrock’s research found that Ambrose’s father, James Finnegan, arrived in New York in 1850 with his mother and two younger brothers when he was just 7 years old. The family was from the Cooley Peninsula in Louth. James’ father had arrived in America a year earlier.
James grew up and married Catherine Roche, whose parents had also emigrated from Ireland.
Geraldine Blewitt, (Biden’s grandmother, if you are struggling to keep up) also had Irish heritage. All four of her grandparents were born in Ireland sometime between 1830 and 1845.
Biden’s father’s side of the family were also from Ireland, with his great-great-great-grandparents, John and Mary Ward, being from Co Galway, according to the research.
Hamrock said researching Biden’s family tree took “quite a bit of detective work”. He said: “It’s more challenging the further back you go. It takes good methodology and perseverance.”
Biden has always proudly celebrated his Irish family background. Prior to his visit to Ireland he wrote this letter to his followers.
I’m leaving for a very special trip tomorrow.
I’m going back to Ireland – the country from which my ancestors hailed, and a country whose independence the Easter Rising set in motion, 100 years ago this year. It is my first dedicated trip to this nation as Vice President – during which I’ll meet with the country’s leaders, discuss issues of trade, economic recovery, migration and refugee policy, and other national security challenges, and celebrate our shared heritage. Our shared values of tolerance. Diversity. Inclusiveness.
And it’s a trip I’m so deeply grateful to be taking alongside my children and grandchildren…
…Over the course of my life, I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve traveled all around the world – more than a million miles on Air Force Two alone. I’ve been honored to have held a lot of titles. But I have always been and will always be the son of Kitty Finnegan. The grandson of Geraldine Finnegan from St. Paul’s Parish in Scranton; a proud descendant of the Finnegans of Ireland’s County Louth. The great-grandson of a man named Edward Francis Blewitt, whose roots stem from Ballina, a small town in Ireland’s County Mayo – sister city to my hometown in Scranton, Pennsylvania. An engineer with a poet’s heart. Months after my mother passed away, I found an old box of his poems in my attic.
In his poetry, my great-grandfather spoke of both continents, and how his heart and his soul drew from the old and the new. And most of all, he was proud. He was proud of his ancestors. He was proud of his blood. He was proud of his city. He was proud of his state, his country. But most of all – he was proud of his family.
And that is America: This notion that home is where your character is etched. As Americans, we all hail from many homes. Somewhere along the line, someone in our lineage arrived on our shores, filled with hope. We are blessed to experience that simultaneous pride in where we’ve found ourselves, while never forgetting our roots.
James Joyce wrote, “When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart.”
Well, Northeast Pennsylvania will be written on my heart. But Ireland will be written on my soul. And as we join the world in celebrating everything that Ireland has become, and indeed everything that she has always been, I could not be more honored to be returning.
You can see what I see right here and across social media.
I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.
-Joe
Written by Andrew Moore
More popular articles and videos
The mystery of what Maureen O’Hara whispered to make John Wayne look so shocked
Meghan Markle can trace her family tree back to Ireland
Matt Damon winning hearts and minds with charm assault on Ireland
Cork trio perform best Irish dance video of the year
Action hero Tom Cruise was once attacked by an old man in a Kerry pub
Celebrate with the top 10 Irish recipes
Liam Neeson speaks about his late wife in emotional interview
Dating site explains why Irish men make wonderful husband material
How to become an Irish citizen
Billy Connolly says public should ignore politicians and listen to comedians
Take a look inside Hollywood star Saoirse Ronan’s stunning Irish home
Pope Francis has encouraged the public to turn its back “the god of money” and focus on serving those less fortunate.
The Pope was speaking at St Peter’s Basilica to mark the Feast of the Epiphany which signals the official end to the Christmas celebrations.
YouTuber Diane ‘Irish Girl’ Jennings has created a video in which she checks out the Irish bars in New York.
She and her companion set out clear categories on which they will be ranking each Irish pub.
A priest has caused some unintended amusement with his parishioners after he livestreamed a mass but had accidentally turned on the filters on his social media recording.
That meant that the priest was delivering his service with all sorts of digital accessories appearing on the broadcast such as funky sunglasses and a bowler hat.
Ireland’s Ultimate Fighting Champion has issued his own message to the public as we face a global pandemic of the coronavirus.
The ‘Notorious’ posted an image of himself kicking an opponent in the Octagon, with a green blob over the face of his opponent symbolising the virus.
