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
An Irish Diary
An Irish Diary
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
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
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
No-Ivy Day at the Committee Room - Frank McNally on an Oval Office mystery
Something is conspicuously missing
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
Gnomes of Donegal - Frank McNally on William Allingham’s peculiar brand of Irishness
His verse revealed the temperament and spirit of Ireland
‘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
An Irish Diary on the St Patrick’s Day riots in 19th-century Toronto
Remembering the days when one-third of Toronto’s population was born in Ireland
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
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.'
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
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'
‘The worst mob scene I ever witnessed’ - Alison Healy on the chaotic opening of the Shamrock Hotel in Houston
A Time magazine reporter said the party “combined the most exciting features of a subway rush, Halloween in a madhouse and a circus fire”
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’
`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”.
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
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
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
Far away, so close – Fionnuala Ward on measuring distance
It seems that distance, like time, is entirely measurable and yet also oddly subjective
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
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
Dictionary on the Double – Frank McNally on the enduring literary life of Patrick Dinneen
Lexicographer was described by profiler as “in some ways, as mad as a March hare”
‘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
‘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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
‘A man of remarkable presence’: The physician and poet who gave his name to the Sigerson Cup
A physician, biologist, poet, author and cultural activist
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”
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