Martin Market – Frank McNally on the joys and pains of MartinmasThe continued association of the date with eating and drinkingFri Nov 10 2023 - 18:59
A poet’s last stand – Frank McNally on the death of Dylan Thomas, 70 years ago Even if the 18 whiskeys never happened, Thomas must certainly have set a few drinking records in his short lifeWed Nov 08 2023 - 18:59
Multiple Joyce – Frank McNally on how the author is general, all over IrelandA phantom engagement of sortsTue Nov 07 2023 - 18:59
Ogs and Ends - Frank McNally on Michael Collins’s other nickname, the Liffey on film and a Dublin dialect dysfunctionIt appears the Big Fellow had a funny accent – even by Cork standardsFri Nov 03 2023 - 19:10
“Want flowers, love?” - Frank McNally on the distinctive sounds of DublinThe ould triangle going jingle jangle/All along the banks of Temple BarThu Nov 02 2023 - 19:00
The Greatest Escape? Frank McNally on one man’s mission to make a movie about the Catalpa RescueRollicking true story has been made into a screenplay ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2026Wed Nov 01 2023 - 19:30
All That Glit – Frank McNally on the ancient origins of a slippery wordPatrick Kavanagh may not have used the word in his poetry, but Seamus Heaney didTue Oct 31 2023 - 19:36
Why is it so hard to find the source of the river Liffey?As part of a new feature series, Frank McNally boldly fails where many experts have failed beforeSat Oct 28 2023 - 06:00
Cliffhanger from Cooneen - Frank McNally on the only Irish ghost that ever emigratedIreland and Scotland should have patented Halloween before it went corporateFri Oct 27 2023 - 19:24
Balladeer Diary - Frank McNally on the Dubliners, ‘Tonehenge’ and sculptor Edward DelaneyAnd a lesser controversy, still also lingering, about the lyrics in the third verse of Raglan RoadThu Oct 26 2023 - 19:28
Time waits for Naumann – Frank McNally on a buried tragedy in Joyce’s UlyssesInvestigating a possible allusion to a man not yet deceasedWed Oct 25 2023 - 19:37
Fighting Talk – Frank McNally on the perilous pubs and less-than-mean streets of DublinEnjoying an oasis of calm in the early hours of SaturdayTue Oct 24 2023 - 19:30
The harps, the harps – Frank McNally on the continued revival of two once-doomed instrumentsThe mystic chords of memoryFri Oct 20 2023 - 18:59
Gray Area – Frank McNally on a notorious 19th-century loyalist, ‘Sam Gray of Ballybay’More than once he got away with murder – literally – because he could pack juriesThu Oct 19 2023 - 18:59
New Word Order – Frank McNally on why some neologisms take off while others don’tBig Brother, Newspeak, Double Think, and Thought Police all soon became standard EnglishWed Oct 18 2023 - 18:59
Cultural memory – Frank McNally on remembering and forgetting the murder of Noel LemassA reference in Samuel Beckett’s novel Mercier and CamierTue Oct 17 2023 - 18:59
Garden Home – Frank McNally on the Irish origins of a quintessential American suburbLisburn-born Alexander Turney Stewart and a retail empire that paid for a cathedralFri Oct 13 2023 - 18:59
Lost and found – Frank McNally on literary and alcoholic New YorkOne for the roadThu Oct 12 2023 - 18:59
Manhattan transfer – Frank McNally on a family weekend in New YorkOur B&B was not so much in the middle of nowhere as in its outer suburbsWed Oct 11 2023 - 18:59
Athenry Fields Forever – Frank McNally on the existentialist threat of Zombie and a possible Irish origin for Liverpool’s AnfieldFor one reader, Zombie’s growing dominance in Irish sport represents a kind of Limerick imperialismThu Oct 05 2023 - 18:59
Venice Vigil – Frank McNally on an epic Californian reading of Finnegans WakeThe group was in no hurry, meeting once a month since 1995 to read a page at a timeWed Oct 04 2023 - 18:59
Borstal Boy Meets Butcher Boy (with Blindboy in between) – Frank McNally on the Kavanagh Weekend in InniskeenTrips to Mount ParnassusTue Oct 03 2023 - 18:59
A history of Ireland in 100 goodbyesAn Irish Diary: ‘So I waved goodbye with a wistful eye’, and other Irish farewellsFri Sept 29 2023 - 18:59
Brief Encounter – Frank McNally on sharing the pain of total strangers The encounter reminded me of another stranger whose path crossed mine some years agoWed Sept 27 2023 - 18:59
Motley Loughcrew – Frank McNally joins the crowds celebrating the autumn equinox in MeathThere is no shortage of vocations in Irish paganismTue Sept 26 2023 - 18:59
Fall into line – Frank McNally on St Matthew, Loughcrew, and the autumn equinoxA side-bet on superstitionFri Sept 22 2023 - 18:59
Kruger, the Kop, and the whole Shebeen – Frank McNally on Irish-South African linguistic exchangeThe original Irish sibín meant “a little mug”Thu Sept 21 2023 - 18:59
Tower of Song – Frank McNally on the Joycenights Festival, rude hand gestures, and improving Patrick KavanaghI somehow found a free corner (not easy in a round tower) among the capacity attendanceTue Sept 19 2023 - 18:59
Ireland’s archery festival: ‘For a moment, it feels like we are in the Middle Ages’ Archers had their sights set on Co Laois over the weekend for a festival that celebrated tradition and precisionSun Sept 17 2023 - 21:36
Why runners run — Frank McNally on exercising his inner demonsMuch of the reward in running is that the pain, self-inflicted as it is, stopsFri Sept 15 2023 - 18:59
The enduring fame of Patrick Kavanagh’s doomed affair with Hilda MoriartyA blissful walk among the bluebellsThu Sept 14 2023 - 18:59
High society – Frank McNally on taking drugs at the operaAccording to the jar, the recommended dosage was “half a gummy”Wed Sept 13 2023 - 18:55
Seeds of destruction — Frank McNally on cancer, cold war, and causing a nuclear incident at the airportMy first-ever strip search appeared to be imminentTue Sept 12 2023 - 18:59
A walk on the wild side: foraging for nature’s treasures in the Wicklow countrysideFrom meadowsweet and acorns to sloes and elderberries, Frank McNally plunders Mother Nature’s bounty on a sun-baked Sunday during a foraging adventure in the garden of IrelandSun Sept 10 2023 - 06:00
Cousins Removed – Frank McNally on a Belfast-born writer’s passage to IndiaAmong other activities in Dublin, he founded (with his wife Gretta) the Irish Vegetarian SocietyThu Sept 07 2023 - 18:55
Earning his Spurs – Frank McNally on an unlikely Wexford hero ‘Tottenham in his Boots’How the brave actions of an MP for New Ross became a political sloganWed Sept 06 2023 - 20:07
Negotiating New Ross – Frank McNally on an argumentative weekend in Wexford Town is well qualified to host a summer school on history and politicsTue Sept 05 2023 - 18:56
Old Flames – Frank McNally on a Parisian tribute to Ireland and the tragic saga of Mayo’s Moore HallAn Irish-themed flaring of the Eternal Flame in ParisFri Sept 01 2023 - 18:59
Year of the French (Part 2) – Frank McNally on the colourful career of Fenian general Gustave Paul Cluseret A rebel with many causesThu Aug 31 2023 - 18:55
Boom to Busts – Frank McNally on an Irish-Indian cultural exchangeA tale of two poetsWed Aug 30 2023 - 19:25
French Paradox – Frank McNally on France’s fondness for St Fiacre (except as a baby name)What’s in a name?Tue Aug 29 2023 - 18:59
Goosey Gander – Frank McNally on Donie Anderson’s menagerie, Malachi Horan’s memories, and a Mayo Frenchman in the Wild WestA remarkable spectacle at the parade ringsThu Aug 24 2023 - 18:55
Virginia Show: Fake tan, baby oil, hair extensions – and those were just the animalsFrank McNally goes behind the scenes at one of the Republic’s big four agricultural showsWed Aug 23 2023 - 20:21
French Toast – Frank McNally on a weekend of drama in MayoThe Ballina reenactment was based loosely on the Battle of CastlebarTue Aug 22 2023 - 19:19
Trouble with a capital T – Frank McNally on the Tau Cross of ToryThe cross is an apt landmark for an island called ToryFri Aug 18 2023 - 18:55
Street Theatre - Frank McNally on muggers, mystics, and the Glass MenagerieWas it really possible that I was exuding an aura?Thu Aug 17 2023 - 18:59
Crash Curse - Frank McNally on the still-disputed fate of the HMS WaspThe cursing stone on Tory Island has long disappearedWed Aug 16 2023 - 18:59
Wild Romantic Way – Frank McNally on Christy Moore, Mad Sweeney, and extreme Irish tourismKeep on runningTue Aug 15 2023 - 18:59
