An Irishman's DiarySAMUEL JOHNSON, the great writer and lexicographer who was born 300 years ago this month, was English through and throughSat Sept 12 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAMONG MUNICH’S lesser-known tourist attractions is the Schloss Nymphenburg’s “Gallery of Beauties”: a collection of winsome female…Thu Sept 10 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryALTHOUGH the Electric Picnic was otherwise trouble-free, as usual, I have to report one minor stabbing incident on Sunday night…Wed Sept 09 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAT A LOOSE END in Munich the other day, I did what people are often compelled to do when visiting strange citiesThu Sept 03 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWITH THE centenary of his death now peering over the horizon, it looks as if history has been kinder to Tom Kettle than his own…Wed Sept 02 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN A CHIP SHOP in Killybegs last week, the young one behind the counter asked me if I was on holidays in the areaFri Aug 28 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's Diary‘THAT DAY will mark a precedent,” the New Yorker magazine once quipped, “which brings no news of Rockwell Kent”.Thu Aug 27 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryYOU WON’T get far in Glencolmcille, a wildly beautiful valley in west Donegal, without hearing the name of Father James McDyer…Wed Aug 26 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWHEN I received an e-mail yesterday featuring a photograph of the so-called “Nama people”, I thought at first it must be a scoop…Sat Aug 01 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWRITING ABOUT Bastille Day recently, I mentioned the Dublin 4 GAA club Clanna Gael Fontenoy, whose suffix derives from the site…Fri Jul 31 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT’S JUST gone 10.30am at the Mendicity Institution (MI), off Dublin’s south quays, and already the daily dinner operation is…Thu Jul 30 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryMY six per-cent shareholding in a greyhound has held up surprisingly well during the recession so farFri Jul 24 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI CAN’T fundamentally disagree with Bryan Redmond (Letters, July 21st) when, in light of the predicted swine flu pandemic, he…Thu Jul 23 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI SEE that English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to quit test cricket after the current series with Australia because, according…Fri Jul 17 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWRITING ABOUT the culture of political protest in France, Lara Marlowe recalled the case of a “middle-aged, middle-class woman…Thu Jul 16 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryONE OF the lesser misfortunes of the US newspaper crisis is the loss – real or threatened – of the some of the industry’s greatest…Wed Jul 15 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAN INDIAN Sikh named Ungan Singh was the first recorded victim of a pair of serial killers whose inhuman activities terrorised…Sat Jul 11 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIF EVER there can be a happy funeral, it must be something like the one I attended last weekend in the north Monaghan village…Thu Jul 09 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAT A loose end for something to do last Friday night, I read in The Ticket that Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill were playing Dublin…Wed Jul 08 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryThis being the Fourth of July, its worth reminding ourselves that the White House – America’s great beacon of freedom, lighting…Sat Jul 04 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryPlaying the harp in the cause of peace is of course a naive ideaThu Jul 02 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAt the start of his elegy “On the Death of a Late Famous General”, Jonathan Swift expresses mock horror at the unnamed subjects…Wed Jul 01 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiarySURELY FATE WAS having a private joke at Ireland’s expense when it arranged that the name of our de facto national stadium should…Fri Jun 26 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAS A MAN who does advanced Pilates (I’m level 3 now; there’s talk about level 4), it has taken me a while to come fully out of…Thu Jun 25 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryDID YOUR neighbourhood light a bonfire last night at sunset and watch it until the early hours of this morning? If so, you probably…Wed Jun 24 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryFOR A YEAR or two now, I have been passing Sweny’s Chemist shop several times a week, accompanied by my daughter, who in recent…Fri Jun 19 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryBEFORE HE embarked on a career as the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock made a film version of Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the…Wed Jun 17 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT IS ONE of the quirks of freemasonry that while the movement has “sister lodges” and “mother lodges”, actual sisters and mothers…Sat Jun 13 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE NAME “Blackadder” is now indelibly linked to the BBC comedy series in which Rowan Atkinson’s cynical anti-hero sent up several…Fri Jun 12 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryDURING FIANNA FÁIL’S Night of the Long Pencils, I’m told, Brian Cowen stayed up to the very endThu Jun 11 2009 - 01:00
Overnight success comes after epic battle for new Labour MEPCrowley proves the acceptable face of Fianna Fáil as Kelly gets set for a new ball game, and Ferris heads homeTue Jun 09 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryNOT THE LEAST unfortunate aspect of the Leaving Cert English exam mix-up is that it may add further credence to the co-called…Fri Jun 05 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWE HEAR constantly these days about projects being “rolled out”, even when the technology involved is square or rectangular and…Wed Jun 03 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAMONG ITS MANY other distinctions, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham is home to two of Ireland’s oddest gravestonesFri May 29 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN THE CALM before throw-in at Derry’s Celtic Park on Sunday, I drew my nine-year-old son’s attention to the historic backdrop…Wed May 27 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI HEAR THE final session of the outgoing European Parliament in Strasbourg ended earlier this month without the traditional Asparagus…Sat May 23 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryKATRINA COLLINS from Dublin 3 has written to us seeking information about her great grand-uncle: a colourful Irish-American born…Fri May 22 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryACCORDING TO one of his biographers, the young Samuel Beckett hero-worshipped James Joyce to an extent that would have worried…Thu May 21 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWHENEVER I HAVE to attend one of my daughter’s Irish dancing feiseanna – which is whenever I run out of plausible excuses not…Wed May 20 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWHEN THE legendary investor Warren Buffett announced a scheme for choosing his successor a while back, many commentators thought…Sat May 16 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryBRITAIN’S POLITICAL expenses scandal goes from bad to worseFri May 15 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAS HE went about the task of buying Grattan’s Parliament out of existence during 1799, the Irish viceroy Lord Cornwallis had …Wed May 13 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryREADING BILL BARICH'S lament for the traditional Irish pub recently set me thinking about my own favourite drinking establishment…Sat May 09 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryBERATING MY esteemed colleague Sarah Carey for referring to “Blueshirts”, Dr Ann Matthews (on this page, yesterday) writes: “…Fri May 08 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE ANGLICISED “Hooligan” is one of those Irish names that seems to have disappeared from the face of the globeThu May 07 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWRITING ABOUT Bob Dylan’s latest album, and about the way he embodies America, the Observer’s music critic commented: “When he…Wed May 06 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryCAROL REED’S great film The Third Man has a blackly comic scene in which dime-store novelist Holly Martins thinks himself kidnapped…Thu Apr 30 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's Diary‘WE ARE NOT here to laugh,” General Charles de Gaulle liked to say about the responsibilities of public life: his own epic contribution…Wed Apr 29 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT’S NOT every day you get a letter addressed from “Paradise”, and in certain circumstances such an event could be worrying. …Sat Apr 25 2009 - 01:00
