Some Don’t Like It Hot 🥵☘️

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic returns, lacking air-conditioning, but ready to deliver news and views of the Irish into your inbox before drying off with a towel. The Craic is the weekly newsletter from Shift, our app for connecting the Irish around the world. Not got Shift yet? What are ya like? Get it here. And if you want someone else to have The Craic each week, ask them to sign up here.

News from Home

Record-Breaking. Ireland sweltered and sweated this week as we broke the all-time May temperature record – thrice, we believe. Now, if you’re from Texas or some other state that doubles up as a pizza oven in summer, you’ll think, “no big deal,” but remember, we aren’t built for this, nor are our homes. Thankfully, it’s cooled down a bit now, but June looks foreboding. Without any exaggeration whatsoever: Some of us could literally melt.

Par Rankings. Golf Digest has published its annual list of the world’s top 100 golf courses. How many do you think are on this island? A record fourteen, no less, including what GD considers to be the crème de la crème de la crème, Royal County Down, Newcastle, taking the no.1 spot. It is, indeed, lovely, all nestled between the Mournes and the Irish Sea. Also, Newcastle does the best ice cream in Europe (we’ll fight you and your gelatos, Italy), so come for the golf ⛳️, stay for a poke🍦.

Game On. Turns out the most-anticipated video game of the year is not Grand Theft Auto VI, well, at least not among GAA-heads. After about two decades without one, a major Gaelic sports video game has hit the shelves. Gaelic Football Laochra, by the brilliantly named Belfast studio Buck Eejit Games, has been released for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation this week. GAA games have had a long history of being crap, like, really crap, but the signs are good for this one.

Champions. Social media was ablaze this week when the Irish Army beat the US Army. No, we aren’t at war: It was the Sullivan Cup, where the Irish Army’s Cavalry Corps beat the US teams in the operation of M2 Bradley armored vehicles. Basically, we won the ‘tank games’ and, as social media braggards were keen to point out, our army doesn’t even have any tanks, nor ‘tracked vehicles,’ if you want to be pedantic about it. Indeed, none of the Irish crew had even seen an M2 Bradley before. So, there you have it.

The Craic Recommends…Thirst Trap. The Kerry Irish Novel of the Year Awards, as well as the accompanying literary festival, are a brilliant way to keep your pulse on contemporary Irish writing, featuring both up-and-coming and established authors. The brilliant Gráinne O’Hare is part of the former, but the newcomer to the Irish literary scene scooped the top prize for Thirst Trap, winning Irish Novel of the Year. It’s a big deal, and it means Gráinne follows in the footsteps of luminaries like Sebastian Barry, Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín, and many others. Check it out here.

The Irish Influence

Sean Fitzgerald is going somewhere where no GAA man has gone before – Love Island. The Galway defender, and primary school teacher, is heading to the island of Mallorca to take part in the hit UK reality show, where (we are told) groups of good-looking young people isolate in a villa in a bid to find love. Sean certainly fits that bill, but we wonder whether he will regret leaving the football behind to pursue a career in whatever it is that reality stars do. Anyway, good luck, Sean! And remember, if things go well, you’re representing Ireland. If you make a complete arse of yourself, you’re representing County Galway.

Cúpla Focal

Laochra {LAY-ukh-ruh} – Heroes/Warriors. We mentioned the new GAA game above, so we thought we’d better tell you what the aul “Laochra” bit was about. It means heroes or warriors. Thus, you might see on memorials an inscription like “Laochra ar lár,” meaning “fallen heroes.”

Blast from the Past

On May 27th, 1936, Aer Lingus made its maiden flight to Bristol, England, in what would be the first of many for the airline that would become our national carrier. It has had ups and downs aplenty, notably its privatization (it’s now owned by a Spanish-British conglomerate), and we have to say it lost some of its prestige in response to Ryanair's ultra-cheap fares. Yet it still occupies a special place in the hearts of the Irish, perhaps due to the romanticism we still place on traveling to foreign lands, while never, ever forgetting home. Anyway, we digress. Happy Birthday, Aer Lingus. Here’s to 90 more.

And One Last Thing….

We know we do a lot of ‘an Irish X was voted world’s best Y’ in this email. You can call it a mix of chest-thumping Irish pride and genuine enthusiasm. Anyway, we wanted to finish with another one of those this week, but we’ve given it a special place at the end of this email (because you all read to the end, right?) because it’s so uniquely Irish. Bar 1661, Dublin, has been nominated for a second year running for Cocktail Menu of the Year in the globally renowned Spirited Awards. And the reason it’s on our radar? The menu celebrates that most Irish of drinks. No, not Guinness, nor whiskey, but poitín. The folks at Bar 1661 have made a real art of this, so stick it on your to-do list the next time you visit Dublin.