Josef Ryzec - Czech artist with Irish roots This month we feature a Czech artist, Josef Ryzec, whose love for Ireland and things Celtic have been a main driving force in his life. The Wild Geese Historical Society of Czechia published his painstaking researches into his Irish roots earlier this year, revealing that his famous ancestor had played a pivotal part in European history. Indeed the Society argues, admittedly with tongue in cheek(!), that his daring deed in 1634 was

Maurice enjoying a cup of tea on his balcony in Vršovice Tell us a little bit about yourself, Maurice I'm from a little village in the north of Kerry, called Ballyheigue, a coastal village. I left Ballyheigue when I was in my early 20’s. I went off to Scotland for a couple of years to study and then I moved to Prague. I go back home about once a year. It's a lovely place to visit during the summertime. My family is still there so it’s nice to go back from time to time. I cam

Simon Rawlence enjoying a Guinness at The Three Fiddles Simon, can you tell us a little about yourself and your Irish connection? It was not until I had been living in Prague for several years that I discovered my Irish origins. Up until then I had considered myself British, but “British” in a colonial sense, both sides of my own and my wife’s family were born overseas in India, Japan, Cyprus etc. Growing up, my son Ben had been very influenced by this history and he himself

Eoghan O'Reilly Eoghan, can you tell us a little about yourself? I’m a singer-songwriter and musician living in Šumperk in North Moravia. I’ve been part of the Celtic music scene here since its emergence in the nineties and I’ve played concerts and festivals all across the Czech Republic as well as in Poland and Slovakia, mostly with a band (Happy to Meet, The Bottlewash Band, Ceol Flies and now Bar Fast the Door) or occasionally as a guest or soloist. Before moving to the Cz

Isara on stage [česká verze níže] For those who don't know your music, how would you describe yourselves? We named our musical style Celt-Folk-Rock and I dare say that even after more than 20 years it still holds true. We are based on the traditional music of the British Isles - Ireland, Scotland and England. We don't just try to copy original patterns, but bring our own ideas and arrangements from other genres that we enjoy. Lyrics are very important to us - we sing in Czech

Sláinte! Daniela Vránová with a perfect pint at Sally O'Brien's Daniela, tell me a bit about yourself. By profession, I'm a certified English translator and interpreter, and I have been doing it as a freelancer for the last 15 years; before that, I was working as a translator for the Embassy of Malaysia, which was really convenient since I love travelling. However, music is my life! I come from Valašské Meziříčí and studied at the music conservatory in Ostrava first. After ga

Ask me anything! Darragh in front of a frothy pint in a Prague 6 pub Tell us a bit about yourself, Darragh I'm from Portmarnock, North County Dublin. If you're familiar with Malahide, or Howth, it's in between. I grew up there and stayed there until 2020, and that's when I came to the Czech Republic. I was following closely the COVID pandemic and watching various borders across Europe close. My wife Martina and I and our son (who was not even two at the time) were living in P

Chip sits in his creative loft at home in Tuchoměřice William F. Doehring III (a.k.a. “Chip”), tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m a baby-boomer born in 1964, and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and except for some holidays and U.S. Army camps and schools, I remained a resident Baltimorian until I was 22 years old. In classic American fashion, my ancestry on my mother’s side is Irish, my father’s side being German. While attending the Maryland Institute College of Art (MI

Off duty - Marie Gavláková relaxes with a Guinness outside The Three Fiddles Marie, can you tell us something about yourself? I'm a twenty-three-year-old medical student from Prague, currently in my fifth year at the Second Faculty of Medicine, and in less than two years I hope to become a qualified doctor. But at the same time, a big part of me is an Irish dancer and manager of the Irish dance group Rinceoirí, which is by the way the oldest Irish Dance group in the Czech Rep

Man in charge - Alan Gibbons in his office at the Embassy of Ireland. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Thanks, and it's a pleasure to meet and to have a chat. I am the Irish Ambassador here in the Czech Republic, and have been for the last two years. 
I'm the youngest of 12 children, I grew up in County Kilkenny, on a farm in the countryside between the village of Bennettsbridge and Kilkenny City (or town as Kilkenny people call it). 
It was a mixed farm, so it was alway

Tereza at the Kerry Bog Museum with her husband and son. Tereza, tell us a little bit about yourself. I was born in Prague, my parents were born here and my grandparents too – so I'm really, really a true Prague native. I studied Civil and Roads Engineering in high school, and then I continued to university, but I didn't finish the course because I had discovered and fallen in love with Irish dance and I decided to make it my profession. So I stopped studying one year before

A family affair - Paul Dubsky with his father (Paul senior) in front of the pot still used to create the first in the Ulysses Whiskey series at the Old Kilbeggan Distillery So Paul, tell me a bit about yourself. Well, I was born in Dublin in 1978. I moved to Prague in 1992 with my family, and attended the German School for the first couple of years, and then I spent a year at the English College of Prague, the first year that it opened. It was a lot of fun. I don't think tha

Radvan Markus - at home in Prague 7 Radvan, can you tell us a little about yourself - maybe starting with your name, which is not a typical Czech name? 
 My surname is connected with my father’s family, who were actually Jewish. My father came from Vienna to Prague, where he married my mother. 
His native tongue was German, but I was not brought up bilingually - I was raised through Czech. 
Despite this, German was very much present in in the family. My parents quite often re

Man in charge - Michael Begley behind the bar at Sally O'Brien's. I'm sitting here with Mike Begley of Sally O'Brien's, the newest Irish pub in Prague, right? Well we opened New Year's Eve 2023. So we've been open like a year and pushing on four months. And will you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in Prague and what gave you the idea to open an Irish pub? Myself and my best friend Liam, we own the pub [Sally’s] together. We moved to England when we w

Man in his native habitat - Seán O'Sullivan about to enjoy a Pint of Plain at the Three Fiddles. So today I'm with Seán O'Sullivan, sitting at The Three Fiddles - so Seán, tell me a little bit about yourself, where are you from and how did you end up in Prague? Originally I'm from Dublin, and I ended up in Prague in a rather roundabout way, like I'm sure so many others have. I had been working in EU affairs and had been posted to Belfast consequent to the Good Friday Agreemen

For this edition, we talked to Tereza Bernardová, director of inSpiral Dance Company. Tereza told us how she became interested in and involved with Irish Dance. Tereza, you are the director of one of the leading Irish dance schools in the Czech Republic – inSpiral Dance. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into Irish dance? I got into Irish dancing thanks to my father. My dad was always interested in different cultures like Scottish, Irish, English, especially thei

For this edition, we sat down with Adam Volf, founder of Gaeltacht Prág. Previously labelled as a Pop-up Gaeltacht, Adam explains why he has decided to truncate the name, making it more of a permanent feature in the Prague landscape. Click here for the Czech version of the interview. Q: Tell our readers something about yourself. I was born in Ireland, in Limerick, I'm Irish-Czech, my mother being Irish and my father Czech. My mum is an Irish language teacher - and the Irish

This month we virtually met Ambassador Cliona Manahan to talk about Prague, her job at the Embassy, and the presence of Irish businesses in the Czech Republic. We would like to thank the Ambassador for always being available to listen, answer and support. 1.Mrs. Ambassador, what brought you to Prague and when did you arrive? I was appointed to the Czech Republic in 2019 and arrived last autumn from Denmark. Previously, I was Ambassador to Denmark and Iceland and during my ca

Enterprise Ireland is a government organization that supports Irish business development abroad. We have asked Ladislav Muller, manager of the organization, about what they do and what has changed in 2020. 1. What is the scope of Enterprise Ireland in the Czech Republic? Enterprise Ireland offices in Prague and Budapest help Irish client companies (small and medium-sized businesses that export their products or services) in Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Croat

Erin Swan arrived in Prague in August 2019. This is her first posting with the Department of Foreign Affairs. Until then, she worked on International Security Policy issues in DFA Headquarters, Dublin. Erin has studied languages, literature, and translation. She loves to travel and to read. Q: Do you like living in Prague? A: Yes, very much although unfortunately almost half of my time here has been spent in lockdown! One of the favorite things about Prague is the abundance o