During this last month or so Aisling has had to wear a suit as we have had to do a good bit of fine dining and dancing in some of London’s top hotels. This is the kind of thing that Aisling has to do more frequently these days with myself and John Glynn tripping the... Read More

We had a great night out at our annual comedy benefit this year with loads of great laughs from new Kerry comic Bernard Casey, Camden Irish funny girl Roisin Conaty, hyperactive and hilarious stand up Jason Byrne and Ardal O’Hanlon, our patron in top form. We followed up with a party in the bar of... Read More

The sun is shining in London and on our last two trips to Donegal and Waterford the same good weather followed us across the Irish Sea. This is true almost always on Aisling trips that we are generally blessed with the weather when we are in Ireland. Everyone knows that the weather in the south-east... Read More

This has been a busy few weeks and only the second time I have physically posted anything on the website and it is a very rewarding and exciting experience. As I wrote in the welcome message to readers last month, for many years we have been blessed to have Jim McCool as our editor and... Read More

Thanks to Kainos, their team in Belfast and in particular the hard work of web developer Michael Kemp we have been able to give our website a substantial overhaul. Everyone at Aisling is very happy with it and we hope that you will be too and that you enjoy using the site and finding out... Read More

The London Irish Vintage Clun named Aisling as one of their favoured charities for last year Irish Vintage Rally at the grounds of Tir Connail Gaels GAA club at Greenford last June. It was an enormous success with many thousands turning out for a great day in the sunshine(see earlier posts). The event raised a... Read More

Punters and patrons, friends of Aisling and regulars at London’s best Irish sports bar will be delighted to know that pub racing season is starting on Saturday June 4th at the Sheephaven Bay pub in Mornington Street, Camden Town, London NW1. Pat Logue the guvnor of the famous pub said: ‘This is one of the... Read More

I had been sceptical about the approaching centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916, the opening salvo in the war of independence and the date that rings loudest in our national psyche. Mostly because I believed that the main political parties in Ireland have seemed to find the whole thing a bit of an embarrassment... Read More

Tom Murphy used to come to see me when I worked in the Arlington Day Centre in Parkway about 20 years ago. I worked mostly in the Big House Arlington House hostel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_House and spent one day a week giving advice in the Day Centre which was housed in a Portakabin on Parkway, one of... Read More

Two men died last month, they both lived in Arlington House though one was recuperating from a serious illness in an assessment centre. They were both Irish emigrants in their 60’s and they were both long term heavy drinkers whose bodies had suffered terribly as a result. Each had lived in their own single room... Read More

During this last month or so Aisling has had to wear a suit as we have had to do a good bit of fine dining and dancing in some of London’s top hotels. This is the kind of thing that Aisling has to do more frequently these days with myself and John Glynn tripping the... Read More

I had been sceptical about the approaching centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916, the opening salvo in the war of independence and the date that rings loudest in our national psyche. Mostly because I believed that the main political parties in Ireland have seemed to find the whole thing a bit of an embarrassment... Read More

Sometimes I think we go on too much about drink in these pages so in this one it is all about the lack of the stuff. On our June trip all the returners are ex–drinkers, ex–alcoholics and ex-hung-over–feeling–sick-and-sorry-for-themselves-the-next-day kind of people. There’s nothing new about this of course we have been running ‘dry’ trips for... Read More

When Tom left Dublin 25 years ago he came straight to London and went straight on the drink and straight onto the streets. Since then Aisling has seen Tom in various hostels throughout London and he is now in a small, supported shared house in Ealing where his drinking is limited to three cans of... Read More

Some emotional homecomings on Aisling’s first visit to Leitrim, but for how long will its wild beauty remain unspoiled? By Alex McDonnell.Aisling will be 20 next March (2014) and for most of the last two decades we have known Frank well, first when he lived in Arlington House where he spent a lot of his... Read More

It must have felt a far cry from Camden Town and the cottage ahead chimney puffing smoke from it, a world away from Arlington House. But they came slowly up the path, some on crutches, some halting, to drink in the view and others chatting to new acquaintances. All moving towards the warmth of the... Read More

A memorable time was had by (almost) all on Aisling’s annual ‘dry’ trip to Waterford. Report by Alex McDonnell We had some of the hottest weather in Irish history on the first couple of days of our trip to Waterford this year. We arrived in sweltering heat and booked into the holiday homes high on... Read More

Rob Newman was one of the best performers to come out of the golden age of comedy as a mainstay of the Mary Whitehouse Experience in the days when comedy was referred to as ‘the new rock n’ roll’. A versatile writer and performer appearing in his own plays and TV shows, Rob Newman is one of... Read More

HOORAY! Aisling is proud to present its TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY comedy spectacular on Sunday May 25th. Featuring a truly startling line-up of comic talent, including Aisling patron Ardal O'Hanlon, Dara O'Briain, Ed Bryne and many, many more, the night is sure to be an absolute blast. Full details, including the killer line up, can be found... Read More

London's Evening Standard gave the recent Aisling benefit gig a great review - with especial praise for our patron (saint) Ardal O'Hanlon. The review was published in the paper and on their website (scan of the newspaper article above). O'Hanlon's stand-up is as original and offbeat as ever, says Bruce Dessau

As always our patron Ardal O'Hanlon will be mastering the ceremonies with Milton Jones 'the funniest man on the telly', hilarious actor/comedian Brendan Dempsey making his return to Aisling, something different from 'genuinely alternative' comedian Sara Pascoe and very talented Drogheda native writer actor and performer Yasmine Akram all working for free for the Aisling... Read More

This is the 14th annual charity fundraiser organised by the Aisling Project's patron Ardal O'Hanlon and Noel Faulkner of the Comedy Café in Shoreditch. Ardal will be the host for the evening with the superb line-up of Ed Byrne, Andrew Maxwell and Ian Stone on hand to provide a great night's entertainment. Sun 12th Feb... Read More

We are having a Fundraising Race evening on Sunday 13thNovember at 4 p.m. at the Sheephaven Bay pub, poster attached. It is £50 to sponsor a race for which you will get good publicity or £10 to sponsor a horse and you will get a bottle of champagne if it wins. If you or anybody... Read More