Rules of Three – Frank McNally updates the ancient Triads of IrelandWith apologies to the ninth-century monks who wrote the originalFri Oct 21 2022 - 19:00
Breaking Bad – Frank McNally on Irishmen who went over to the dark side during the American Civil WarA gang called the “Raiders” preyed on weaker inmates in Georgia’s Andersonville prison campThu Oct 20 2022 - 19:00
Fatal Frontier – Frank McNally on the sinister origin of deadlinesA notorious Confederate prisonTue Oct 18 2022 - 19:00
Fluther’s Theses – Frank McNally on the curious evolution of a drunken adjectiveIreland’s countless euphemismsFri Oct 14 2022 - 19:00
Kentucky Fried Irish – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of one of America’s greatest small newspapersThe Kentucky Irish American animated US journalism for 70 yearsThu Oct 13 2022 - 19:00
To Russia with love – Frank McNally on the Irish heritage of the ‘father of Russian journalism’Pyotr Vyazemsky had the questionable fortune of outliving most of his contemporariesWed Oct 12 2022 - 19:00
Warped Logic – Frank McNally on how a great Polish philosopher spent his final years in IrelandCentral to Lukasiewicz’s thought was the idea of breaking with Aristotle’s bivalent logicTue Oct 11 2022 - 19:00
Cycle of life and death: Frank McNally on an unlikely Flann O’Brien tribute and a tale of two TurnersBrian O’Nolan’s remains have resided in Deansgrange Cemetery since his death in 1966Fri Oct 07 2022 - 19:10
Poison Ivy: Frank McNally on how the deaths of two English monarchs caused legal issues for Joyce‘Vulgar expressions’ in Ivy Day in the Committee Room made publishers nervousThu Oct 06 2022 - 19:07
Rolling in the aisles – Frank McNally on how a ‘bad’ Irish habit conquered AmericaR-rolling was vital to perceptions of social standingWed Oct 05 2022 - 19:05
Metaphorical Manouevres – Frank McNally on Patrick Kavanagh’s all-conquering army of poetsA prize worth fighting forTue Oct 04 2022 - 19:00
In search of lost time - Frank McNally on horology, folk-music, and the campaign to ban ‘iconic’Time for actionFri Sept 30 2022 - 19:00
Through a Glass, Berkeley – Frank McNally on eccentric English pronunciationsWhat’s in a name?Thu Sept 29 2022 - 10:16
How Ireland got Fluthered – Frank McNally on Seán O’Casey’s real and fictional Fluther GoodA day in courtTue Sept 27 2022 - 19:10
Imperfect Recall – Frank McNally on the sad story of a half-remembered neighbourA man we’ll call JoeFri Sept 23 2022 - 19:10
The Height of Vulgarity – Frank McNally on San Francisco’s Nob Hill James Flood, the king of the castleThu Sept 22 2022 - 19:14
Joint Project - Frank McNally on the great Limerick-born engineer MM O’ShaughnessyAs chief engineer in San Francisco at the start of the last century he designed much of that city’s infrastructureWed Sept 21 2022 - 19:00
Quaking in their boots - Frank McNally on one of the world’s most precarious football stadiumsA “tectonic time-bomb”Tue Sept 20 2022 - 19:01
Whistle, stop! Frank McNally on the downside of a great American traditionTrain of thoughtFri Sept 16 2022 - 19:01
Milking It - Frank McNally on the ups and downs of diary farmingIn one way, diary farmers have it worse than dairy onesFri Sept 16 2022 - 14:16
Cross Lines - Frank McNally on a royal wrong number that led to a libel case“Sandringham here. May I speak to Her Royal Highness?”Tue Sept 13 2022 - 19:01
By royal disappointment - Frank McNally on an Irish clergyman who picked the wrong sermon for a change of English monarchThe seeds of Thomas Sheridan’s downfallFri Sept 09 2022 - 19:01
Line mismanagement - Frank McNally on the stresses of trying to catch a Dublin taxi in the rainJoin the queueThu Sept 08 2022 - 19:00
Shelf-raising flour - Frank McNally on a literary facelift for an old Dublin flour millSpeaking volumesWed Sept 07 2022 - 19:00
Shifting Sands - Frank McNally on the dramatic real-life plot twist of Erskine ChildersA personal transformation that even a good spy novelist might struggle to make credibleTue Sept 06 2022 - 19:01
Mobbed – Frank McNally on the image and reality of the Sicilian MafiaA martyred duoFri Sept 02 2022 - 19:10
Port in a Storm – Frank McNally on the strange story of the Sicilian EmmetsA striking resemblanceThu Sept 01 2022 - 19:10
Dead Central Sicily - Frank McNally on the Capuchin Catacombs of PalermoTales from the cryptWed Aug 31 2022 - 19:01
Tyred and Emotional - Frank McNally on the ups and downs of driving in SicilyAn offer I couldn’t refuseTue Aug 30 2022 - 19:15
Madonna è mobile – Frank McNally on a Sicilian tale of two MadonnasMiraculous sightingsFri Aug 19 2022 - 19:01
No Flowers, Please - Frank McNally on the etymological ambush of Beal na BláthDisputes over placenamesThu Aug 18 2022 - 19:01
Frank McNally on the Dublin-born newspaper mogul, Lord Northcliffe, who died 100 years agoThe most successful newspaper publisher of his timeWed Aug 17 2022 - 19:01
Fan Fiction - Frank McNally on football’s fondness for the ‘unbelievable’The thesaurus of incredulityTue Aug 16 2022 - 19:02
Take me to chapel - Frank McNally on why traditional Catholics never went to churchA crucial distinctionFri Aug 12 2022 - 20:01
Out With a Bang - Frank McNally on the cult of the newspaper “knock-down”A time-honoured ritualThu Aug 11 2022 - 19:01
Rough Justice - Frank McNally on the unlikely romance between Eoin O’Duffy and Micheal MacLiammóirThe odd coupleWed Aug 10 2022 - 19:20
Put Out by Putin - Frank McNally on the perils of undiplomatic language It may be time for an audit of all body-based metaphorsTue Aug 09 2022 - 19:01
A quarter of two halves: Frank McNally on tourism, homelessness and Emily in ParisPilgrims pose for selfies around the area featured in the hit TV seriesFri Aug 05 2022 - 19:36
Was Gustav Holst German or English? Frank McNally on ethnic confusionEnglish composer grew up within the furlongs of the famous Cheltenham racecourseThu Aug 04 2022 - 19:34
The Life of Oreille: Frank McNally on a famous French anthropologist with a very Irish nameThe ‘missionary-ethnographer’ amassed a huge collection of artefacts and documentsWed Aug 03 2022 - 19:32
Cultic Mist: Frank McNally on the weirdness of watching Irish sport in ParisGAA in such circumstances seems to imply almost religious devotionTue Aug 02 2022 - 19:20
Holed Up – Frank McNally on escaping the apocalypse in West CorkSwiss role in cold war “funk hole”Thu Jul 14 2022 - 19:01
Revolutionaries and inmates: Frank McNally on the Irish and the storming of the BastilleA Dubliner among the prisoners defied the law of probabilityWed Jul 13 2022 - 19:01
Who’s bringing the horse to France? A history of Ireland in 100 questions Riddle me thisTue Jul 12 2022 - 19:01
And the Beatrices Go On - Frank McNally on the dark-haired beauties of Joyce, Dante, and Patrick KavanaghMane attractionFri Jul 08 2022 - 19:01
Sailing into the sunset - Frank McNally on Shelley’s last voyagePoet met his untimely death aged 29, 200 years agoThu Jul 07 2022 - 19:01
Noises Off - Frank McNally on opera, snoring, and vintage tractorsThose chimes so sweetly stealingWed Jul 06 2022 - 19:01
