The varieties and traditions of music in Ireland run long and deep. Musicians who draw on the heritage and history of music in Ireland for their ideas find as many different ways to take those things forward as they do to connect them with the past.

Music runs deep in Ireland and Scotland, in the landscape, the history, the legends, the stories, and the lives of the people. Though each is a small country, geographically, they both have sent, and continue to send, mighty amounts of music out into the world. Here are three recordings which offer very different gateways into Ireland and Scotland.

Irish music has a way of touching emotions and reaching hearts across time and place and language.

The west coast of Ireland: from the mouth of the Kenmare River in west Cork in the south up to Banba’s Crown at the top of Donegal in the northwest, the length of Ireland’s Atlantic seaboard is framed in the Wild Atlantic Way, a driving route where, as the folk at Failte Irel

Irish cooking - it's incredibly delicious. This month and next, we've got several recipes to share from The New Irish Table: Recipes from Ireland’s Top Chefs. Be sure to read our interview with editor Leslie Conron Carola - and then check back for more great recipes!

Irish cooking - it's incredibly delicious. This month and next, we've got several recipes to share from The New Irish Table: Recipes from Ireland’s Top Chefs. Be sure to read our interview with editor Leslie Conron Carola - and then check back for more great recipes!