Birthday Craic 🎂🇮🇪

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back and in fine form, delivering bits of news concerning the Irish at home, away, and those in between. Know an inbox that deserves to have this email each week? Ask them to sign up here.

News from Home

Anniversary. The first-ever edition of The Craic went out a year ago, so it’s our sort-of birthday. Fifty-two emails and a handful of podcasts over pints later, we’ve grown at a steady old clip. Things are getting exciting here at Craic Towers, too, as we are getting ever closer to the big launch of Shift. The last year has been a blast, allowing us to fall back in love with Ireland as we celebrate its people and culture at the end of the working week. We’ll keep going, too, for as long as you lovely people keep reading.

Plough On. The Ploughing, AKA The National Ploughing Championships, took place this week. It is considered Europe’s largest outdoor event, drawing hundreds of thousands of farmers and fans of farmers for a range of agricultural-related events. There’s something quintessentially Irish about the Ploughing, perhaps best summed up by the national news coverage given to Mayo woman Maureen Igoe, who won the 2025 title in the Brown Bread Baking Contest. Where else would you get it? Fair play, Maureen.

Big Kim’s Approval. We wouldn’t cite Kim Kardashian as an authority on most things, but we are sure she knows her way around a luxury hotel suite or two. Anyway, the reality star and inexplicable billionaire was asked to name the best hotels she ever stayed in, and she picked the Ballyfin Demesne Hotel in County Laois as one of the best. Kim and Kanye West honeymooned here after marrying in 2014.

Craic Defenders. Tonight is Culture Night across Ireland. Thousands of artists will be putting on free shows and exhibitions in towns and cities across the island. It’s rare aul craic, as you might encounter a new-age rock band on one street corner, only to be confronted by a mime artist or juggler on the next. Oh, and our favorite event this year? It’s the “craic defenders” workshops, which will be popping up in Belfast this evening.

The Craic Recommends. We love watching documentaries about Ireland from a fish-out-of-water point of view. One of the best we’ve seen in a while is MarShawn Lynch’s recent episode of N Yo’ City, where the former NFL star visited Ireland to explore some of its culture and history, with a bit of football thrown in. The episode is deeply funny and warm, and well worth checking out, even if it’s just for Lynch’s reactions when arguing with an Irish farmer about herding sheep. The whole show is on YouTube, or you can just watch it all below.

The Irish Influence

James “Jimmy” Nesbitt has been blessed/cursed with the most Northern Irish accent ever bequeathed to a human being, and he rarely drops that accent, regardless if he’s playing a serial killer or a hobbit, so it can be difficult for some of us to suspend our disbelief when we see him on screen. Nonetheless, Jimmy is fairly close to national treasure status, and he knows how to laugh at himself. He’s apparently going ‘Full Nesbitt,’ playing an exaggerated version of himself for the upcoming comedy, The UnHolyLands, which is set in South Belfast’s notoriously-raucous student housing area. The movie is coming out on October 3rd.

Cúpla Focal

Boycott – An act of voluntary abstention from a product or person. You all know, of course, what boycott means, but did you know the word came from Ireland? In 1880, an English landowner in Ireland, Captain Charles Boycott, refused to lower rents for tenants, so the community got together and ostracized and isolated him, later leading to the adoption of the word ‘boycott’.

Blast from the Past

The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival has been going on for over 180 years now, and it remains the world’s biggest event of its kind. Tens of thousands of matches have been made down the decades, with many having a happy ending. What we love about it is that there is no judgment and no pretense that it’s a beauty contest. Currently, the 2025 festival is in full swing, pairing up singletons from all four corners of the world once again. This week, we thought we’d have a look back at the 1991 event. There’s some great aul heads on show in the vox pops, and an absolutely deserved 10 out of 10 for yer man giving his interview from the bathtub about 1:25 into the video. Wonder what he’s up to now?

And One Last Thing….

One of our favorite bars, the Dead Rabbit NYC, has opened a new venue, San Patricios, in New Jersey. Doors will open in the Jersey City establishment for the first time this evening. We know this one will be a success, but we are absolutely fascinated by the bar’s Mexican-Irish theme, as well as the ‘sponsorship’ deal between the bar and Los San Patricios GAA – Mexico’s only Gaelic football club. We did a little digging, hoping to answer the question, “As Mexico’s only club, who do they play games against?” and we found an answer. San Patricios is hosting the Copa Azteca next weekend, inviting teams from around the world to participate in the tournament. Looks like there is a boozy party organized for after, too. We understand that it's short notice for a trip to Mexico City, but if you’re involved with a GAA club, check out the Copa Azteca information here for a future trip, or even just give their social media page a wee like and follow here.

Oh, and a little post scriptum for this week’s newsletter. Since we are talking birthdays and all, look who popped up at the Solas Nua 20th birthday party. Shift co-captains Patrick and Paul. The two lads scrub up well, don’t they? The big pair of rides.

Go on ya good thing! You made it to the end. If you enjoyed The Craic, remember to share the love. Everyone who gets The Craic will get early access to the Shift mobile app, which is coming very, very soon! And if those friends or family are doing alright for themselves, if ya know what I mean, let them know we’re still looking for investors to help us come out of the traps roaring ike a Celtic Ti- eh… Horse. 🐎 Hit us up on [email protected].