03/31/2026
NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE:
☘️The St. Patrick’s Day Season is over for another year, but April begins with its own of Irish tradition. In Ireland, April 1st was not “April Fool’s Day,” instead it was known as Lá na gCuach — Cuckoo Day. People watched for the first cuckoo coming back in spring, and there was an old belief that if you had money in your pocket on April 1st, you’d have money all year.
Dúchas.ie — Ireland’s national folklore archive, built from stories gathered in schools in the 1930s — includes an entry from Sarah Jane Tutty of Hacketstown, Co. Carlow, writing about the birds around her home. She describes how the cuckoo, an opportunistic bird, returns to Ireland in early April, leaves her egg in another bird’s nest, and lets the foster parents rear the chick until it grows big enough to take over the whole nest.
There was a rhyme that nearly everyone knew:
“The cuckoo comes in April,
She sings her song in May,
She changes her tune in the middle of June,
And then she flies away.”
We hope you had a wonderful March. Here is a little reminder that Irish of New York City is here all year, bringing you the best of all things Irish in New York City and beyond.
We hope you will continue to Like, Follow, and Share. 💚☘️🗽
