Keyword "irish-diary" - List of latest news (608 results)

20:17 Celebrating 200 years of Ireland’s oldest provincial newspaper

The Impartial Reporter ran stories of the Great Famine, the Home Rule crisis and covered the Easter Rising of 1916

21/04 Gone but not forgotten: final beats of the Dublin Metropolitan Police

Force that had policed the capital for almost 90 years vanished 100 years ago this month

20/04 The Green Road on Clare Island isn’t really a road

The island in Clew Bay was purchased by the Congested Districts Board in 1895

18/04 Over on Out: Frank McNally gets to the bottom of a mysteriously familiar phrase

`It took out’ was a common phrase among the people of Cullyhanna, Crossmaglen, and Culloville

17/04 All Yellow - Frank McNally on singing Emily Dickinson, Joyce’s advanced maths, and quantum mechanics in Blackrock

I now know, for good or bad, most if not all of Dickinson’s poems can be sung to the tune of a traditional American ballad, The Yellow Rose of Texas

16/04 Out of My Mind? Frank McNally on a search for the sentence-ending superlative, ‘took out’

Investigating what I thought was a common figure of speech has led to some bewildering results

15/04 A literary stroll: Frank McNally explores the streets of Dublin’s north inner city

I like to imagine Emily Dickinson sitting on the Royal Canal bench discussing punctuation with Brendan Behan

14/04 Sherlock Homes and a curious tale of fiddles, bagpipes and the trees of Cremona

Famous literary detective had an intriguing knowledge of Italian violin manufacture

13/04 Broad church – Alyson Gavin Lysaght on the Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist in Sandymount

Before the first World War it was the target of riotous demonstrations by members of Dublin’s Orange Order protesting at its ‘Romish’ liturgy

11/04 Confounding Father - Frank McNally on the centenary of a radical Irish-American priest.

Fr Peter Yorke played a central role in politics, journalism and labour relations in the San Francisco archdiocese

10/04 Green Building - Frank McNally on the Irish (and Redmondite) origins of the Augusta National Clubhouse

Diary

09/04 Dooley Dooby Doo - Frank McNally with more on the origins of a famous “Joycean” ballad

Sheet music of the Jerome song sold a million copies

08/04 Child of Prague Spring – Frank McNally on a sun-soaked country wedding

The Child of Prague is a statue of limitations, apparently: its responsibilities begin and end with blue skies

07/04 “Put him in to get him out” — Brian Maye on Easter Rising veteran Joe McGuinness

His byelection victory in 1917 was an indication of a profound change in the direction of Irish politics

07/04 ‘I’m from The Irish Times,’ I said. ‘This is massage parlour,’ she replied

Colm Keena: My professional life has been spent wandering the city, poking into places I might not be welcome

06/04 Knock, knock — Colm Keena on reporting on life in a city

“I’m from The Irish Times.” “This is massage parlour,” she said in response

04/04 War and diplomacy – John Mulqueen on how Anglo-Irish relations deteriorated during the Falklands conflict

Following the crisis, Thatcher remained angry with Haughey

03/04 Music to our ears – Paul Clements on 150 years of the Belfast Philharmonic Society

The Phil has survived two world wars, the Spanish flu pandemic, the partition of Ireland, three decades of the Troubles, and Covid-19

02/04 Shades of Gray — Brian Maye on pioneering idealist Sir John Gray

He was knighted for his contribution to the Vartry water scheme in 1863

01/04 No expenses spared – Alison Healy on a journalistic tradition

Expense claims were always ripe for a little embellishment

31/03 Early bird special — Alison Healy on a reign of aerial attacks

The car resembled one of Jackson Pollock’s finest abstract works

30/03 Escape artist — Harry Houdini in Ireland

Houdini confided to his wife Bess that his Belfast performance of 1909 was the toughest of his career to date

28/03 A Game of Two Calves (and several cows): Frank McNally on Patrick Kavanagh’s imagination, mysterious street names, and a bovine legend

On the stem of memory . . .

27/03 Detour de Force – Frank McNally on William Bulfin’s unwitting side-trip into literary history

We now know that Bulfin was in the Martello Tower at Sandycove, and that his hosts would later be immortalised in Joyce’s Ulysses

26/03 Barroom Bard – Frank McNally on the fictional Mr Dooley, whose thoughts were once required reading in the White House

Finley Peter Dunne first adopted the Hiberno-English patois in his newspaper columns as a defensive ruse, to confuse lawyers

25/03 The definite article – Brian Maye on Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, The O’Rahilly

Tragically, he was shot while leading a charge up Moore Street to protect the evacuation of the GPO

25/03 Into the light — Paul Clements on photographer Alexander Hogg

Hogg’s work stretched from the days of Victorian horse-drawn ambulances to the arrival of motor cars and aircraft

23/03 Friends in high places – John Mulqueen on Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington’s American tour

In addition to Eleanor Roosevelt, Sheehy-Skeffington met a number of prominent women during her coast to coast US tour, including three Congresswomen

21/03 Art Attack – Frank McNally on the dangers of passive exposure to art and culture

“Europe’s largest digital art screen” now occupies the front lawn of the Irish Museum of Modern Art

20/03 No-Ivy Day at the Committee Room - Frank McNally on an Oval Office mystery

Something is conspicuously missing

20/03 Old Mister Brenon - Frank McNally on a remarkable Dublin-born Hollywood director and his even more remarkable father

One judge was sufficiently impressed by Brenon snr to issue a backhanded compliment

18/03 Gnomes of Donegal - Frank McNally on William Allingham’s peculiar brand of Irishness

His verse revealed the temperament and spirit of Ireland

18/03 ‘A feeling of confidence that I might one day be president’ – An Irish Diary on George Francis Train

Businessman was an inveterate traveller and thought to be the inspiration for Phileas Fogg

16/03 An Irish Diary on the days when one-third of Toronto’s population was born in Ireland

Diary

15/03 An Irish Diary on the ‘different dimension of historic awareness’ unique to Wexford

Here you can understand why the Normans became attached to a new and bewildering culture

13/03 An Irish Diary on memorable gigs from John Denver in the RDS to Bruce Springsteen in Slane

'I lived in Navan, seven miles up the road from Slane, which officially made us the rock ‘n’ roll centre of the universe on June 1st, 1985.'

13/03 An Irish Diary on Edward Despard: the Irish officer who served in the British army but was executed as a revolutionary

A campaign by Despard’s wife, Catherine, ensured his imprisonment became the subject of a three-week debate in the House of Commons

11/03 Remembering Davoren Hanna: the work of the young disabled poet gave a sense of his wonderment with the world

Gifted Dublin writer had enormous charm and a `rascally sense of humour'

10/03 ‘The worst mob scene I ever witnessed’ - Alison Healy on the chaotic opening of the Shamrock Hotel in Heuston

A Time magazine reporter said the party “combined the most exciting features of a subway rush, Halloween in a madhouse and a circus fire”

09/03 An Irish Diary: How James Bond maligned Shannon Airport duty free

Ian Fleming wrote that Bond took a glance at the ‘junk’ in the airport shops including the ‘Brass Leprechauns’

07/03 `Alas! I am very sorry to say/That ninety lives have been taken away' Frank McNally on the `famously bad' poet William McGonagall

A poet so bad, as the Book of Heroic Failures puts it, “he backed unwittingly into genius”.

06/03 Moore the Merrier - Frank McNally on the commemoration of a famous Irish garden party from 1902

Three hundred invited guests attended a party that seemed to capture the zeitgeist of a new Ireland

06/03 Ché sara, Sara – Frank McNally on a mysterious Irish beauty who turned Casanova’s head

It was a humble barmaid who made the deepest impression on the Italian adventurer

04/03 What’s with the name? – Frank McNally on O’Doul, O’Day, and other nominal oddities of Irish America

Some Irish American surnames can seem almost plausible while also making your ears hurt

03/03 Far away, so close – Fionnuala Ward on measuring distance

It seems that distance, like time, is entirely measurable and yet also oddly subjective

02/03 The Derry man who influenced George Washington and Alexander Hamilton - Brian Maye on Hercules Mulligan

Tailor’s catering for officers and men in the British army gave him an access he would use to help the cause of American independence

28/02 The BBC’s national question: Frank McNally on Edna O’Brien and ‘the North of Ireland’

Author’s 1979 TV appearance included an implicit history and geography lesson for British viewers

27/02 ‘This wonderful horse seems to have been as remarkable in death as in life’ – Frank McNally on an unbeatable stallion

Eclipse was sufficiently revered that his death created a market for relics not unlike that of saints in medieval times

26/02 ‘Ireland, more than other countries, ought to be a country of trees’

As chatelaine of Coole Park for decades, Lady Gregory nursed and nourished the demesne’s extensive woodlands

25/02 ‘The whole position in Europe is one of uncertainty and of menace’ – John Mulqueen on Éamon de Valera’s foreign policy

The Government’s prioritisation of peaceful co-existence echoes the position adopted by de Valera in 1932 when he became acting president of the Council of the League of Nations

23/02 The “shipyard poet” – Oliver O’Hanlon on playwright Thomas Carnduff

Born in Belfast’s Sandy Row, he was very proud of his Ulster roots but also proud to be Irish

21/02 Setting the Bar High – Frank McNally on pubs called The Irish Times (and more songs about newspapers)

An empire on which the sun never sets

20/02 The Times they are a-name-checking – Frank McNally on songs about newspapers

Sing all about it

19/02 Lexicographer at Large – Frank McNally on Dinneen’s Dictionary and the Dáil row about unparliamentary Irish

Myles na gCopaleen blamed Dinneen’s Dictionary for his decision to stop writing columns in Irish

18/02 For Whom the Bells Toll – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of “sound baths”

It’s another organised way to relax, like yoga but without the stretching

18/02 All fired up – Ita O’Kelly on keeping the homes fires burning

Looking back, I marvel at the sheer work of simply staying warm in an old house

16/02 “A man of remarkable presence” – Brian Maye on George Sigerson

A physician, biologist, poet, author and cultural activist

14/02 The Real McCabe - Frank McNally on a great (and much-married) American newspaper columnist

He received the editorial equivalent of a 21-gun salute: “He was six columns ahead at his death”

13/02 Comic Stripped - Frank McNally on the cancellation of P.G. Wodehouse

His presumed crime was to make a series of broadcasts from Berlin in 1941

12/02 Signifying Nothing - Frank McNally on a new linguistic plague

A little bell had started to ring in my head every time he said ‘very significant’ again

11/02 Thrilling tales – Oliver O’Hanlon on novelist Katherine Thurston

Her best-selling novels dealt with various themes, including love, addiction, adultery and gambling

09/02 Assurance and zeal – Brian Maye on trade unionist Séamus Redmond

Redmond played a key role in the Marine Port and General Workers’ Union

07/02 Hardebeck Edition – Frank McNally on an Anglo-German musician who became the “blind bard of Belfast”

He travelled widely in the Gaeltacht areas of Ulster on a mission to save traditional airs from oblivion

06/02 Anti-social climber – Frank McNally on the pioneering cat burglar Robert Augustus Delaney

Handsome, charming, and well-dressed, Delaney was a popular figure in the West End of London

05/02 Digging Up History – Frank McNally on the McMahon, and other once-famous spades

You didn’t call a spade a spade – you called it a “McMahon”

04/02 In the name of the father – Frank McNally on the waning tradition of family nicknames

There was a “Boss”, a “Yankee”, “Pipes”, “Mick Miley”, “Wee Mick,” and “Slasher”, among others

03/02 Princess Margaret’s Galway island visit: ‘By the cut of you, you’re a lady. Will you take a drink?’

Éamon de Valera and Princess Margaret were in the same room of a cottage on Tawin Island - just not at the same time

02/02 Saoirse Ronan has died only six times, Liam Neeson 31

When it comes to the deaths, or near-deaths, of fictional characters, JR Ewing of Dallas fame must surely be one of the most memorable

31/01 Power ballad – Frank McNally on the case for an Irish ‘Wichita Lineman’

Has anyone ever composed a musical eulogy, country or otherwise, to Ireland’s electrical repair crews?

30/01 A Tale of Two Richards – Marc McMenamin on two oft-confused Limerick men

Richard Francis Hayes and Richard James Hayes

29/01 Last Poll and Chorus – Frank McNally on the end of 400 years of Trinity College elections

Dublin University can claim to have elected Jane Austen’s Mr Darcy, or a bit of him

28/01 Hit (and miss) parade – Frank McNally on the mixed fortunes of a who’s who list from 40 years ago

These lists always give hostages to fortune

27/01 Glad rags – Colm Keena on clothes and society

So many people in the wealthiest, most free, most democratic societies in human history opt to wear what is comparatively drab clothing

26/01 Nato and Irish neutrality – John Mulqueen on a vexed political issue

For some, neutrality became a sacred cow associated with high moral purpose

24/01 Cardinal Red – Frank McNally on a cultural history of wind colour

The concept of a Dulux-style wind-colour catalogue was well established here and elsewhere

23/01 Poison Pen – Frank McNally on the late-blooming Violet Needham, children’s novelist extraordinaire

She had spent a long apprenticeship as a storyteller to nieces and nephews

22/01 From here to Timbuktu – Alison Healy on a byword for the most remote and distant place imaginable

Thanks to globalisation, Timbuktu is not so remote any more

21/01 Arsenic and Old Books – Frank McNally on a reader’s literary cry for help

An unusual problem

20/01 Physician, soldier, explorer and naturalist – Marc McMenamin on Maj Richard WG Hingston

His life’s passion was the study of natural history

19/01 The beat goes on – Alison Healy on Holocaust survivor and musician Saul Dreier

“I am very happy when I play . . . music is life”

17/01 Pointed reference – Frank McNally on the importance of being salient

Peace explains why the term “Monaghan Salient” has fallen out of use

16/01 Small Potatoes – Frank McNally on A History of Ireland in 100 diminutives

Number 70: Drisheen (stuffed small intestines of sheep, considered food in Cork)

15/01 (Southern) Cross Country – Frank McNally on Argentina’s 150-year-old Irish newspaper

The world’s longest-running Irish newspaper produced outside Ireland, and among the oldest of any kind in Argentina

14/01 Funny Peculiar – Frank McNally on the unhilarious St Hilary and the legal term named after him

The ancient Romans used to host Hilaria: public holidays marked by ceremonial rejoicing

13/01 Comrades – John Mulqueen on the price of a divided left

Petty differences should be resolved quickly, as Labour discovered just one year after its first breakthrough in a general election

12/01 The father of Irish surgery – Brian Maye on Robert Adams

Adams published extensively in such medical areas as heart disease, arthritis and gout

10/01 House Private – Frank McNally on the apparent occupation of 15 Usher’s Island

The short manifesto in the window has more than twice as many full stops – five – as Molly Bloom’s entire soliloquy

09/01 Mapped Out – Frank McNally on a wealthy namesake’s mansion, destroyed in the Los Angeles fires

The house was built in 1887 for the Armagh-born multimillionaire Andrew McNally

08/01 Sculptor Exculpated – Frank McNally on the forgotten Irish creator of one of England’s most infamous statues

John Cassidy’s gravestone, in the Catholic section of Manchester’s Southern Cemetery, makes no mention of his Irish origins

07/01 Just a tweak, mid-winter – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of Christmas

They say mishaps come in threes so now I’m waiting for the next one, which is the worst part

06/01 Tower of strength – Brian Maye on Sinéad de Valera

She proved a prolific author of children’s books in later life

05/01 Oranges in winter – Noel Costello on Valencia

‘It’s winter here, Noel,’ was the succinct reply to a question regarding a choice of attire

03/01 New light on The Dead – Ray Burke on John Huston’s classic film

Hollywood film distributors had a ‘complete aversion to the title’, according to the production notes

02/01 Lord of the Ring – Tim Fanning on pioneering boxing writer Pierce Egan

The publication in 1813 of the first volume of Boxiana marks an important moment in the history of modern sports journalism

01/01 Independent thinking – John Mulqueen on the power that Independent TDs can wield

Throughout the 1980s, when FitzGerald and Haughey vied to be taoiseach, Dáil divisions could be very narrow indeed

31/12 Ghosts in the machine – Colm Keena on hovering spirits from the past

When you reach a certain age, the world can seem to be populated with ghosts

30/12 Spreading the News – Ray Burke on a play by Lady Gregory that resonates to this day

The leading actor, Willie Fay, said that the cast had put tremendous pace into the comedy – ‘the pace of a hard football match’

29/12 The oldest working building in Belfast – Paul Clements on Clifton House

Clifton House is one of the city’s finest Grade A-listed Georgian buildings, but the stylish exterior belies the social deprivation that brought it into existence

27/12 Memory lanes – Paul Clements on the broad history of narrow thoroughfares

Ireland’s ancient laneways threading their way through towns and cities are staging a revival

26/12 In a good light – Áine Ryan on candlelight reflections

In the third power cut of this winter, I was prepared for some enforced introspection

23/12 Councillor Claus of Alaska – Alison Healy on the other Santa

Elves he can deal with, but trolls are on his naughty list

23/12 A rebate Christmas – Alison Healy on the surprising ways people spend their time on the big day

Think of those who were faffing around on the Revenue website last year instead of chopping onions for the stuffing

20/12 Name Shame – Frank McNally on the continuing tragedy of the forename “Kevin” and a bad night for “Shamrock” in London

A dramatic decline in a name’s prestige

19/12 Kiss of Death? – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of mistletoe

The plant and its associated kissing custom continue to be rare here

18/12 O Holy Fright – Frank McNally on an “uplifting” carol service

The world premiere of David Stifter’s hymn, set to music by Ryan Molloy, was a triumph

17/12 Keeping it lit – Frank McNally on attending the global premiere of Gloomsday

The chronological aphelion of Bloomsday

16/12 Pages from history – Felix M Larkin on the Freeman’s Journal

It’s a century since the final edition appeared on December 19th, 1924

15/12 Robert Armstrong: Ronan McGreevy on a gardener whose life was disrupted by two world wars

The proud, stubborn and courageous Monaghan man chose a path which led to his premature death

13/12 Decayed Centenary - Frank McNally on the history of Irish brain rot

A rather uninspired choice as Oxford University Press word of the year? Maybe not

12/12 The Eyes Have It - Frank McNally on the feast day of St Lucy

The name Lucy shares its origins with the word lux, Latin for light, so it’s no coincidence her feast day coincides with the darkest time of the year

11/12 No Bloom at the Inn – Frank McNally on the delayed debut of a new (and old) Dublin pub

I just hope the ghost of Burton’s most famous non-customer has not entered an objection

10/12 The last seanchaí – Marc McMenamin on the life of Seumas MacManus

The life of Seumas MacManus, author and dramatist

09/12 Feargus O’Connor: Irish leader of one of the world’s first major working-class movements

Chartism got its name from the People’s Charter, and aimed to give ordinary working-class citizens a voice in a reformed political system

08/12 Ol’ Man River – John Mulqueen on singer and activist Paul Robeson

As a musician he had one great ambition – to explore the origin of African-American songs

06/12 Leap in the dark — Frank McNally on the obscure origins of an Irish religious insult

Religious ‘jumpers’ seem to have been largely associated with the far west of Ireland

05/12 Prose and Con — Frank McNally on the rise and fall of a famous local newspaper

In its brief existence, The Taxpayers’ News achieved the distinction of giving John B Keane his print debut

04/12 Souper imposed - Frank McNally on Famine insults and Flann O’Brien’s debt to Con Houlihan

Under the influence

03/12 Pint of order – Frank McNally on getting to the ballot box

At 9.30pm, mid-pint – and mid-point too – I tore myself away to vote

02/12 Form and function – Brian Maye on architect and novelist James Franklin Fuller

He oversaw the building and renovation of churches all over Ireland

01/12 Belleek prospect – Brian Maye on pottery entrepreneur Robert Williams Armstrong

Armstrong’s drive, vision and hard work were poorly rewarded

29/11 For the birds — Frank McNally on folklorist and freedom fighter Ernie O’Malley

An evocative writer

28/11 Swift justice – Frank McNally on the height of the Drapier’s Letters controversy

Swift also fanned the flames with songs and poems written for a popular audience

27/11 Parallel projection – Frank McNally on watching Gladiator II and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat back-to-back

Extreme violence and European imperialism

26/11 When hospitality begins at home – Frank McNally on having a great welcome for yourself

The great self-extended welcome seems relatively modern

25/11 Revving up the Shamrock – Alison Healy on the car that never quite got motoring

Wilbur Curtis did not have the luck of the Irish as he tried to get his project up and running

24/11 Innocence and mischief – Desmond O’Neill on the humorist and social commentator Erich Kästner

A gift for the absurd

22/11 Rhyme and reason — Alison Healy on Longfellow’s Wreck of the Hesperus

How did the wreck of an obscure US boat gain such a foothold in our lexicon?

21/11 Poet of the Troubles – Oliver O’Hanlon on Padraic Fiacc

When the Troubles broke out, he would come to refer to his native city as “Hellfast”

20/11 Hitler’s Irish volunteers – John Mulqueen on two Irish POWs who volunteered for the Waffen-SS

Irish POWs were isolated in a special camp near Friesack, where they were bombarded with anti-British propaganda

19/11 Sharpened pens – Alison Healy on the cattier side of writers

Writers seem to relish eviscerating their fellow artists whenever they get a chance

18/11 “I remember” – Tim Fanning on the power of cinema to unlock the secrets of memory and nostalgia

Cinema-going in Dublin was a less luxurious affair in the 1980s

17/11 Prince of the church – Brian Maye on Cardinal Michael Logue

His life spanned the land war, the Home Rule campaign, the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, partition and the Civil War

15/11 Conflict of many colours – Frank McNally on a finely illustrated atlas of the Civil War

On a colour-coded map, Kerry’s grim ratio of deaths is represented by a shade that looks like dried blood

14/11 Lunar quest – Frank McNally on moon missions, misinformed quiz questions, and mountweazels

Revenge of the anoraks

13/11 The Dromcollogher cinema fire disaster – Frank McNally on a fateful day in 1926

The death toll of 48 represented a tenth of the village’s population

12/11 The spirit of 1965 – Kevin Rafter on Ireland’s first television election

Seán Lemass regarded Telefís Éireann with suspicion

11/11 Grief and remembrance – Ronan McGreevy on Dublin’s Armistice Day in 1924

The crowds that descended on the city took everyone by surprise, not least the Dublin Metropolitan Police

10/11 The Night Mayor – Oliver O’Hanlon on Jimmy Walker, New York’s colourful political kingpin

He promoted a raft of popular legislation to appeal to the masses

08/11 A Head of its time – Frank McNally on the bicentenary of Howth Road and more about wakes

I now belatedly realise that the road starts in London

07/11 Alive and kicking – Frank McNally on the continued survival of the great Irish wake

There were of course mountains of food brought by friends and neighbours

06/11 Ogham thoughts – Frank McNally on a new artwork, an old alphabet, and the longest word in Irish

The scribes of medieval Ireland, unlike Sinatra, never found their regrets too few to mention

05/11 Presidential bearing – Brian Maye on Erskine Childers

The first and only president of Ireland to die in office

04/11 Geography and destiny – Ronan McGreevy on the Boundary Commission

Northern nationalists felt abandoned by process

03/11 Magic and enchantment – Pádraigín Riggs on Traveller and storyteller Tomás Ó Cathasaigh

The stories contain clear traces of antiquity, and many focus on natural events

01/11 Imposter Boy – Frank McNally on another appearance of the Flann O’Brien who wasn’t

A case of mistaken identity in the Devonshire Arms

31/10 Push notification — Frank McNally on an “offensive” cycling term that refuses to die

There is, for some cyclists, a principled objection to the term “push-bikes”

30/10 Dare-devil parliamentarian – Tim Fanning on the O’Gorman Mahon

One of the most colourful characters to roam the corridors of Westminster

30/10 Pork scratchings – Frank McNally on racist piggy banks, the decline of thrift, and the joy of building playgrounds

As he swallowed the money, Paddy rolled his eyes in delight

28/10 Live from the GPO – Brendan Balfe on making waves at Radio Éireann

Terry Wogan was in the studio to mind me, as he said. This entailed pouring a jug of water over my head as I made my first live announcement

27/10 Seán MacBride: Despite the Nobel prize winner’s warning, the possibility of facing ‘the indescribable’ is greater than ever

‘Taboo’ against the use of nuclear weapons has come ‘under pressure’ in ongoing warfare once again

25/10 Anyone for Tennyson? Frank McNally on the lesser-known Charge of the Heavy Brigade, 170 years ago this weekend

Unlike the celebrated catastrophe later the same morning, that was a success, although whether it was a charge at all is debatable

24/10 Skeleton service - Frank McNally on why horses’ heads (and the occasional saint) used to be buried under buildings

The foundation sacrifice

23/10 Red Letter Day — Frank McNally on the Zinoviev Letter, an “October Surprise” of 1924

How decisive the letter really was is still debated

22/10 Schmuck spreader – Frank McNally on the unholy resonance of an old Christian hymn

Schmuck was once considered so offensive that people had to invent a politer alternative

21/10 War and remembrance – Ronan McGreevy on the Battle of Le Pilly

A dark time for the 2nd Royal Irish Regiment

20/10 Bridges to the past – Brian Maye on architect John Benson

An impressive and lasting impact on the cityscape of Cork

18/10 Old Haunt - Frank McNally on the sinister past of a Dublin street garden

A part of Ballybough that was once shunned by superstitious locals

17/10 Head over heels – Alison Healy on cupid’s arrow

While the ship was going nowhere, it was full steam ahead for a love affair

16/10 Going Undercover – Frank McNally on an exhibition about the Irish of the French Résistance

A fitting venue

15/10 Apostrophe catastrophe – Frank McNally on a vexed punctuation mark

Squares and hardliners

14/10 Philadelphia bound – Brian Maye on scientist and politician James Logan

In 1699, he sailed with William Penn to America to what became known as Pennsylvania

13/10 Life skills – Fionnuala Ward on essential knowledge

Some home truths that have never made it into any official educational material

11/10 Pavement pinball – Frank McNally on the perils of rush-hour running

Even pedestrians are less predictable than before

10/10 All agreed – Frank McNally on the surprise success of a play about the Good Friday Agreement

Agreement is a funny and moving drama

09/10 French connection – Frank McNally on how Percy French continues to unite Ireland, by peaceful means

A now-rare outing for the third verse of The Mountains of Mourne

08/10 Red into the record – Frank McNally on why Maxim Litvinov’s Irish years were forgotten, and correcting a confusion of Joycean plaques

The saga continues

07/10 The Metal Man of Tramore – 200 years of solitude on the Waterford coast

A childhood chant went: “Keep far, keep far, keep far from me for I am the rock of misery”

06/10 Ted Kennedy vs the Trinity Maoists – John Mulqueen on fiery student debates

Kennedy had been invited to deliver the College Historical Society’s bicentenary address on the theme of Edmund Burke

04/10 Poison Ivy – Frank McNally on the controversial origins of an annual Parnellite commemoration

Women were prominent in promoting the ivy tribute

03/10 Rocky Road to Russia – Frank McNally with more about Maxim Litvinov, the Cobblestone bar on tour, and the Battle of Balaclava

I peeped into the front room where, sure enough, there was a mass session in progress

02/10 Red lines – Frank McNally on the little-known story of an Irish translator in 1920s Moscow

Perhaps the greatest legacy of May O’Callaghan’s communist sojourn was a story of enduring friendship and eventually love

01/10 Litvinoff the land – Frank McNally with more on a Russian revolutionary’s Irish past

The plot thickens

30/09 A matter of perspective – Colm Keena on lessons from a trip to Vietnam

I was the best show they’d seen for quite some time

29/09 A tale of two harps – Tim Fanning on Paraguay and the harp

The Paraguayan arpa has become the unofficial national folk instrument

27/09 From Russia with question marks — Frank McNally on a famous revolutionary’s mysterious sojourn in Ireland

Maxim Litvinov and the Inniskeen conundrum

26/09 Duke of Hazard – Frank McNally on the literary pubs (and restaurants) of Dublin 2

A new bar and a nod to Joyce

25/09 Look Behind You – Frank McNally on the surprising second life of a 1980s suit

I’m proud that, helped by a long sabbatical, its working career has now spanned over 40 years

24/09 Breffni Benefactor – Frank McNally on the revolutionary largesse of Edgar Allan Poe’s Irish ancestor

Conspicuous generosity

23/09 Goodness and Guinness – Tony Corcoran on pioneering doctor Sir John Lumsden

Guinness chief medical officer was a determined and courageous leader

22/09 Coughing up: Alison Healy on the strange and surprising world of online marketplaces

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s half-eaten lozenge is one of many curious items that have been advertised

20/09 Much Ado About Nothing – Frank McNally on the Shakespearean subtext of a great Anglo-Irish battle that never happened

This month, 425 years ago, marks a pivotal non-event a few miles from Carrickmacross

19/09 Field Outing – Frank McNally on an impromptu trip to the National Ploughing Championships

It was a jaunt reminiscent of the inaugural Bloomsday, albeit with more speed and less alcohol

18/09 Beetlemania – Frank McNally on Edgar Allan Poe, Cavan stereotypes and the storytelling insects of Fishamble Street

An unlikely quest involving cryptograms, pirates and six-legged residents

17/09 From Tipperary to Texas and the Great Storm of 1900

Galveston hurricane killed thousands of people, including an Irish nun

16/09 ‘Dressing above her station’: Alison Healy on gowns and garda skirts

Men have been policing women’s clothes since Adam looked askance at Eve’s fig leaf

15/09 Identity and politics – Brian Maye on Ulster Protestant and avowed Irish nationalist Denis Ireland

He founded the anti-partitionist Ulster Union Club in 1941

13/09 Paws for thought – Alison Healy on writers and their pets

At various stages in his life, Byron kept monkeys, goats, a crocodile, eagles, horses and badgers as pets

12/09 ‘Buses are for losers’: A short history of traffic congestion in Dublin

How the “cyclingist city in the world” yielded to the rule of the car

11/09 Royal Bounty – Oliver O’Hanlon on a discretionary payment for mothers

The payment came from the privy purse, the British sovereign’s private income

10/09 Captain Molly – Tim Fanning on Margaret Corbin, heroine of the American Revolution

She kept the cannon firing in the face of the British and Hessian onslaught

09/09 On the air – Paul Clements on the BBC’s centenary year in Northern Ireland

News, entertainment, influence and popularity

08/09 Revolutionary sister – Brian Maye on Sydney Gifford

Journalist, broadcaster and labour and nationalist activist

06/09 Emerald aisles – Alison Healy on cinema etiquette

Two hours beside a crisp-munching, cola-slurping loud talker

05/09 Sting in the tail – Tim Fanning on Hollywood director George Roy Hill and the Gaiety Acting School

Hill appeared in a number of Gaiety productions, often as part of Cyril Cusack’s company

03/09 On the money – Alison Healy on the curious case of the £1,000 note and the sacked servant girl

A tiny suspect

02/09 The ‘Girl from Donegal’ – Brian Maye on singer Bridie Gallagher

One of Ireland’s first international pop stars

01/09 A rite of passage – Fionnuala Ward on the first day of school

They’ll find their feet and their voice and they’ll make friends, quite possibly for life

30/08 Dutch Courage – Frank McNally on Irish echoes in an infamous battle of the second World War

The advance on Nijmegen

29/08 Missing Link – Frank McNally on the new Fomorians, a race of people who always fear they’re missing out

When they are in exotic places, they are haunted by pictures of friends having more fun at home

28/08 A test of metal – Frank McNally on the mysteries of the eponymous adjective

What’s in a name?

27/08 Visions of Mangan in the 21st Century – Frank McNally on a new book about the “Baudelaire of the Liberties”

James Clarence Mangan was a rock star before his time

26/08 Right, left and centre – John Mulqueen on reactions to the rise of fascism in Europe

Ominous directions

25/08 Hero of the Press – Kevin Rafter on the jailing of Joseph Dennigan for refusing to disclose a source

First Irish journalist to be imprisoned for refusing to reveal his sources

23/08 Tattoo-for-three Special – Frank McNally on becoming the father of an all-tattooed family

Congratulations, the WhatsApp message said: ‘ur kids are all officially tatted’

22/08 To boldly go – Frank McNally on Star Trek’s prediction of a united Ireland

A Data-driven approach to unity

21/08 Strangman, Strong Woman – Frank McNally on the life and times of a pioneering Waterford doctor

Mary Strangman was the first elected woman member of Waterford Corporation

20/08 Electromagnetic Picnic – Frank McNally on a weekend of music, madness, and MRIs

A festival of distraction

19/08 From Éire to Everest – Marc McMenamin on George Mallory and Ireland

Mallory’s affection for Ireland began long before he set foot on the snows of Everest

18/08 Never miss a trick – Alison Healy on the endangered art of jig-acting

Some of my Dublin compatriots favour cod-acting over jig-acting

16/08 Forty Step Programme – Frank McNally on how to cross Dublin without passing a pub

The mystical attraction of the number 40

15/08 A History of Ireland in 100 Journeys – Frank McNally

On the road again

14/08 Rise of the seaside sauna: ‘Sitting semi-naked with people I didn’t know was out of my comfort zone’

The mobile sauna is a positive result of the pandemic, the surge in sea-swimming and a new focus on health

13/08 Altius, Citius, Hibernicus – Frank McNally on an ambitious Irish sequel to the 1924 Paris Olympics

The revival of the Tailteann Games was designed to emphasise Ireland’s ancient sporting lineage

12/08 Murder triangle – Pádraig Ó Macháin on a mass execution in Kilkenny in 1824

Within a few weeks, the six primary suspects had been rounded up and an informer recruited

11/08 Last days at sea: Alison Healy on retiring to the high seas

The Fair Deal scheme should be extended to include cruise ships

09/08 A Fair Fouled? – Frank McNally on the case for returning Killorglin’s King Puck to his lofty platform

Getting the goat up on his platform has proved controversial in recent years

08/08 Jump Around - Frank McNally on the other James Connolly

Writer, athlete, and first champion of the modern Olympics

07/08 Great Leap Backward – Frank McNally on the continuing decline of the ‘Jumping Irishman’

What a pity there’s no Hibernian high jumper in Paris

06/08 Claims to flame – Frank McNally on yet another Dublin siege and the story of the Catacombs, now and then

The burning question behind the city’s castles emblem

05/08 Servant of a new Ireland: Brian Maye on former unionist John Bagwell

The Seanad member survived gun shots, a kidnapping and the burning down of his ancestral home at Marlfield

04/08 Gentle giant – Oliver O’Hanlon on John O’Grady, Ireland’s flag bearer at the 1924 Olympics

A champion weight-thrower

02/08 Troy, Troy, and Troy Again – Frank McNally on an explanation for Dublin’s burning castles logo

Seal of approval

01/08 By a lonely prison wall – Frank McNally on digging up Mountjoy’s forgotten past

Archaeological forensics

31/07 Tribal trauma – Frank McNally on the terrors of being a pedestrian in Galway

I had to walk on the hard shoulder, nervously, and hope for the best

30/07 War veteran, doctor and newspaper tycoon – Oliver O’Hanlon on William Lombard Murphy

As well as supporting charities and charitable causes, he played an active role in Dublin business life

29/07 Bold moves – James Mason and William Pollock, two Irish chess masters

A degree of posthumous fame

28/07 Big Benn – Brian Maye on Belfast philanthropist and antiquarian Edward Benn

The philanthropy of Edward Benn and his brother George greatly benefitted the city of Belfast

26/07 All fired up – Frank McNally on the questionable wisdom of Dublin’s logo

Mystical and metaphorical meanings

25/07 Out and proud – Frank McNally on being “horrid happy” and other Hiberno-English states of mind

Happy out in Spiddal

24/07 Soldiers Are We (Not) – Frank McNally on the beauty of Brian Boydell’s Amhrán na bhFiann

Maybe the music itself is enough

23/07 Making waves – Guglielmo Marconi and three generations of Irish-Italian women

Marconi had invented a simple radio transmitter and receiver and the first person to see it was his proud mother

22/07 Reel-life pioneer – Mary Rose Callaghan on Ellen O’Mara Sullivan, a trailblazer of Irish cinema

The Film Company of Ireland and the new artform of cinema

21/07 Sound reasons – Colm Keena on music and meaning

The restless standard setter inside all of us

19/07 ‘An old man in a hurry’ – John Mulqueen on Seán Lemass

The 1960s were socially and economically transformative years

18/07 Trial by Drury – Frank McNally on how a small Dublin street became a flashpoint for debate on the city’s future

Many young socialites – undeterred by a lack of street furniture – were sitting on the ground

17/07 Blast from the past – Frank McNally on the shock of a 1965 recording of the national anthem

A short drum-roll, followed by about 300 voices mounting an air-and-land assault on the anthem’s opening word

16/07 Ostentatiously discreet – Frank McNally on the French honours ribbon

Coveted threads

15/07 The spirit of Dublin – Beatrice M Doran on distiller and lord mayor George Roe

“A gentleman and a citizen”

14/07 A giant of the stage – Gerard Smyth on Donal McCann

In the melancholy of that life-worn voice could be heard the cadences of a lyric heart

12/07 Centre of excellence – Frank McNally on Irish literature’s most famous phrase and the rise of Gallic football

Another cameo for Macintosh Man

11/07 Man behind the wire – Frank McNally on the incarceration of Dublin’s Grand Canal

A symphony of JCB engines and jack-hammers

10/07 Darkness into light – Frank McNally on a celebratory funeral with a bleak backstory

Harry Gleeson was brought back to his home village 83 years after he was wrongfully executed

09/07 Benighted opera – Frank McNally on a rare performance of a 19th-century classic

William Vincent Wallace’s Lurline has a colourful past

08/07 A legacy set in stone – Brian Maye on Dublin-born sculptor Albert Bruce Joy

His subjects included Gladstone and Salisbury

07/07 Bossy technology – Alison Healy on the rise of the smart machines

Even the washing machine barks orders these days

05/07 In memory of my mother – Frank McNally on a painful epiphany

Powers of intervention

04/07 Birds of a feather – Paul Clements on avian delights

A new exhibition, Birds Brilliant & Bizarre, is at the Natural History Museum in London

03/07 Arms and the woman – Frank McNally on Irish-American writer Kathleen Norris’s controversial salute

Saluting the flag

02/07 Them Too? – Frank McNally on the Joyce studies scandal

Trigger warnings

01/07 Right on Q – Paul Clements on a capital letter

Irish townlands website lists an inventory of more than 60 places starting with Q – from Quigley’s Point to Quilty