Coining Irish Icons 🪙☘️

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic returns this Friday, stuffing a bit of news and a few views of the Irish around the world into your inbox. What’s The Craic? We are the weekly newsletter from Shift, our app for connecting the Irish around the globe. If you don’t have Shift yet, find it here. And if someone dear to you wants The Craic every week, pop their email in here.

News from Home

Going Out In Style. Katie Taylor delivered in her final bout, treating the 80,000+ Croke Park fans to one last bit of magic in her unanimous decision victory over Flora Pili. We’ll not go over everything, but we will pose the question that was doing the rounds on Irish socials all week: Is she Ireland’s greatest ever sports star?

Euro the Real Thing. Speaking of stars – should Katie Taylor be put on a coin or banknote? The reason we ask is that the Central Bank of Ireland is releasing new 2 Euro coins featuring U2 and Maeve Binchy (not on the same coin, obviously). We gather they are more of a collector’s item than the cash you use to pay for your latte, but still, it’s quite the honor.

That’s My Troy. Irish soccer hero Troy Parrott has a new home after signing with Spanish side Real Betis, and he has hit the ground running. Parrott scored on his Champions League debut this week, and he also scored the winning goal against the mighty Real Madrid at the weekend. He’s loving life in Spain, and let me tell ya, Real Betis are loving the attention they are getting from Irish fans on social media.

Slangers. Maxxing, Gooning, 6-7, mogged, Unc – does your teenager speak like an alien/idiot? Well, Irish Central has a neat little story covering all the internet slang Irish kids use and, presumably, many other kids in the Anglosphere. As an aside, Patrick reckons he’s fluent in this teen-speak, as his boy, Liam Óg, is 17.

The Craic Recommends…..Logan Sounds Off. The Craic only learned to drive at 30, and still can’t work the microwave, so we were somewhat envious of the fact that Logan Kelly, known as the world’s youngest independent music podcaster, seems to have life worked out at the ripe old age of 14. The podcast, where young Logan interviews rock stars, with past guests including Dave Grohl and Billy Bragg, is brilliant. Did you know that we will soon - like, really soon - be adding podcasts to Shift? Be sure to check out Logan Sounds Off as soon as it lands on the app!

The Irish Influence

The 2026 Irish Open is now in full swing, and while plenty of cameras will be focusing on Rory McIlroy and a certain presidential visitor on Sunday, we have to say the fans favorite is Shane Lowry. Now, Lowry, no offense to him, looks proper, proper Irish, as if he swam out of the peat bogs (in a good way). Unlike many golfers who spend a lot of time in the US, he doesn’t have that American twang (see Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell for reference), preserving his wonderful County Offaly accent for the world to hear. He’s also pretty good with a club, too. At the time of writing, he’s at the top of the leaderboard. We all love Rory, but there would be no more popular winner than Shane Lowry this weekend.

Cúpla Focal

Siopa Leabhar {SHUP-ah LYOW-er} – Book Shop. We wanted to use this space this week to highlight An Siopa Leabhar, a Dublin bookstore that specializes in Irish-language books. It’s a really cool resource, especially if you’re trying to get the kids interested in learning a Cúpla Focal. Their online site is here, but note that US delivery is currently suspended for some reason (tariffs on Irish books?). 

Blast from the Past

Ask any Irish person (of an age), and they’ll likely be able to tell you exactly where they were at the moment news broke of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. It’s etched indelibly on our memories. An American tragedy, yes, but one we all share. 18 Irish citizens were killed in the attacks, and a further 1,000 – a third of all victims – were of Irish descent, something that our Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, spoke of a few hours ago as he prepares to welcome the US President to Ireland. Indeed, according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, around 200 Claddagh rings were found in the rubble of Ground Zero. Of course, citizenship and ancestry matter little in the face of such an atrocity, but it drives home what we all felt then and now: that it wasn’t an attack on the United States, but on all of us.

And One Last Thing….

Kansas City Irish Fest was amazing last weekend, and we are continuing our fest odyssey this weekend at PGH Irish Fest. It starts today at Carrie Blast Furnaces, Pittsburgh, and will run right through to Sunday evening. Ticket info is here. And, yes, once again, if you see us (you probably won’t miss us in our tees), come and say hello. Next weekend, we are going on to Naperville, Illinois, so, yeah, it’s busy, busy. Oh, you want our latest “Green Wave” playlist for Pittsburgh Irish Festival? Course you do. Find it here.