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So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back on this fair Friday, bringing you whatever wee gems we could unearth concerning the Irish at home and abroad. Like this newsletter just a bit? Send friends this way to sign up, please. Oh, and if you want to see/hear/inhale the latest podcast from The Craic with Paul and Patrick, check the lads’ new episode here.

News from Home

Alexander McCream. The Craic makes no pretense of understanding high fashion, but we know class when we see it, and who could fail to be impressed with the latest Kerrygold-inspired masterpiece above? Designed by Kimberly Tino for the Maya Grisham brand, the clutch purse that’s turning heads will cost you just over 400 bucks. Alright, alright, it does look like something you’d find on Temu, or in a fridge in the current Oval Office, come to think of it, but it did tickle us. And we will always cheer on anything that celebrates Irish icons in this unashamedly hibernophile newsletter.

Irish Succession. A new Netflix drama is set to premiere in the fall, inspired by true events around the Guinness Family (yes, that Guinness🍺). While we don’t know all the details of the House of Guinness, it seems the plot revolves around the scramble to succeed as head of the family after the death of patriarch, Benjamin. The very good news is that the show is helmed by the man behind Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight. Yay. There are big expectations for this one.

Grid Eireann. Ahead of next month’s historic NFL game at Croker, a reminder that there are other routes to bringing the passion of the pigskin to Ireland. The 2025 College Football Season will officially get underway tomorrow in Dublin, as Kansas State take on Iowa State in the next chapter of the ‘Farmageddon’ rivalry. While the football will take center stage, there’s a whole weekend of festivities to welcome 24,000 US football fans to the city. Temple Bar’s going to be packed. Cead Mile Failte, folks.

The Craic Recommends. We are a nation of storytellers, but sometimes it’s the “way that we tell them.” If you want to understand what makes a yarn compelling, be it written prose or the spoken word, then we would recommend Sean O'Faoláin’s – a great writer in his own right – new book, The Short Story. It’s a great asset for aspiring writers or anyone with an interest in how to tell a good story. Check it out here.

The Irish Influence

If you know what a landline is, there’s a fair chance that you’ll have never heard of Chris O’Neill, but the Irish YouTuber is a celebrity in the worlds of gaming, animation, and whatever else makes Gen-Z tick. O’Neill has one of those typical Bill Gates-esque college dropout stories, being so ridiculously talented at everything that he was destined to be a success. He’s a musician, video game designer, animator, cartoonist, and a big hit on the old YouTube, with millions of subscribers. He has kind of lost his Wexford accent, though.

Cúpla Focal

Peil {PELL} – Football. As Dublin is being invaded (in a good way) by American football fans this weekend, we thought we would look at the Irish word for football, peil. We would say Peil Ghaelach to distinguish what we play (Gaelic Football), and American football, well, that’s Peil Mheiriceánach.

Blast from the Past

24 years ago this weekend, U2 rocked up to Slane Castle to play one of the most legendary gigs in recent Irish history. Bono and the lads were clearly emotional, returning to the venue for the first time since being a little-known warm-up act for Thin Lizzy twenty years beforehand. U2 were at the height of their powers here, but look at that sea of people, and look at the stunning venue in the video of Beautiful Day below. And hats off to Bono for getting in a sneaky mid-song reference of Jason McAteer’s ‘beautiful’ goal against the Netherlands that helped us qualify for the 2002 World Cup. The game had been played in Dublin earlier in the day. A Beautiful Day, indeed. Take us back.

And One Last Thing….

How rich are we? There’s an interesting debate going on over Ireland’s economic health at the moment. By some measures, we are among the world’s richest countries, up there with the Switzerlands, Qatars, and what have you. Yet, a ranking of nations’ wealth by the Economist excluded Ireland, claiming the data is “polluted” by our GDP calculations. We won’t get into all the reasons, nor will we go deeper into the argument that some economic publications have an ax to grind with Ireland due to its tax policies, but it’s enough to say that the article has caused some reflection, with many questioning the true aspect of wealth in this country and, more importantly, how that wealth is divided up.

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].