Frank McNally

Frank McNally

Frank McNally is an Irish Times journalist and chief writer of An Irish Diary.

High on life – Frank McNally on Aldous Huxley, psychedelic drugs and why artists love depicting drapery

For the artist or mescaline taker alike, Huxley concluded, ‘draperies are living hieroglyphs’

Frank McNally: A heart-stopping epitaph on the grave of a little-known teenager

A stone in Rome’s ‘Protestant Cemetery’ commemorates Rosa Bathurst, who drowned in 1824, aged 16

‘That’s the wrong Ireland’: The eternal quest to find a pub showing Czechia v Ireland in Rome

After finding myself lost in translation, it didn’t help that every available TV was showing Italy v Northern Ireland

Plaques broad and narrow – Frank McNally on Dublin street honours big, small and missing

City keen to celebrate citizens and even daft causes, but one omission needs correcting

Born-again poet – Frank McNally on the confused centenary of Frank O’Hara

New Yorker had two ‘birthdays’, one of which was to spare his parents’ blushes

Pidgeon homed – Frank McNally on the repatriation of an Old IRA man from 1970s London

Souvenirs from traditional military salute for veteran at Glasnevin risked an awkward explanation or two

The Irish airman who survived one of the most dangerous jobs of the second World War

O’Dwyer and his colleagues were on the front line of an intelligence war

The mystery of flying ships in ancient Meath that ended up in a Texas newspaper

Perhaps the strangest twist in the tale’s evolution is the one by which it turned up in 1890s Texas

High-level hyperbolics: Frank McNally on the Irish approach to bigging things up

Be it song lyrics about a beautiful place or the fight to rebuild a public toilet, use of language is always key

I was thankful I had filed away the obscure detail of who finished second to Ronnie Delany in 1956

Not that The Irish Times team needed any help crossing the finish line first to claim victory in the annual Dublin Rape Crisis Centre corporate quiz night

‘Die roaring’: What we can learn from the demise of Doran’s bull and Orwell’s elephant

Orwell’s account was partly corroborated by a police colleague of the time

Double trouble: Frank McNally on the dramatic effect of saying the same thing twice

An ordinary person might ask you to ‘cease’ doing something. A lawyer will require you to ‘cease and desist’, and then you’re in trouble

Frank McNally on a posthumous anthology from a ‘reluctant businessman’ and literary wit

Intrepid investigation reveals Frank O’Dowd and I did indeed cross paths

The long and melodious trail from a sweet English barmaid to a former Irish finance minister

The long and colourful path from a sweet English barmaid to a former Irish finance minister

Frank McNally on the lasting legacy of George Boole, a celebrity victim of the Irish climate

He walked the three miles from home to university during a downpour, and then delivered a lecture in drenched clothes

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