Classic jingle: How a US suburb provided the setting for one of the world’s most famous Christmas tunes
As with much local history, discrepancies have emerged
An Irish Diary
An Irish Diary
Love Lee: Colette Sheridan on a new exhibition celebrating Cork’s river
Artist and Buddhist nun Mary P O’Connor doesn’t sugarcoat the history of the river Lee
Frank McNally on 19th century engineering project that linked Tipperary with ‘civilisation’
Fr Edmond Walsh was a late vocation, having previously worked as a carter
A Passage to Innocence – Frank McNally on an anthology of old school routes remembered
Routes described range geographically from Caherdavin to China
Craicing the Case – Frank McNally on the origins of a cultural and linguistic phenomenon
I also lamented that the compunction to do things for the craic was not yet recognised as a defence in Irish courts
Frank McNally on a grand stretch in the evenings, a new Dublin restaurant and ‘Gloomsday’
Strung-out Joyceans will use any excuse for a hit
Drum role: Alison Healy casts an incredulous eye over a much-loved Christmas carol
By all accounts, the stable in Bethlehem was busier than Heuston Station following Jesus’s birth
Kindred spirit: Áine Ryan on the joys of reliving a Christmas childhood through her grandchildren
To be fair to his mammy, Saoirse, she did express trepidation when I sent her a picture of my Christmas tree
The woman who enchanted Proust – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of Gladys Marlborough
Gladys, meanwhile, entertained herself and guests with memories of countless former lovers
‘He never said that’: Frank McNally is tired of hearing a phantom WB Yeats quote
It was a week of oral exams as the art of storytelling excelled at parties and awards ceremonies
Fighting Farney – Frank McNally on the battle for his hometown’s ‘western front’
Carrickmacross's lopsided pub distribution seems to be indirect effect of a deeper division
Monumental misstep: Frank McNally on the ‘tragedy’ of a great Irish sculptor, John Hughes
What should have been the peak of the sculptor’s career was doomed to coincide with what the Chinese call interesting times
Royal visit: Queen Victoria’s many connections to Ireland
She first set foot in Ireland not long after the worst years of the famine on August 2nd, 1849, at Cobh
Kerry colossus: Denis McClean remembers Con Houlihan, a giant of Irish journalism
Waiting for Houlihan to reach his destination was part of the pleasure of reading the Castle Island native
Frank McNally: Investigating the mystery of the black stork’s Irish roots
This beautiful and shy bird is a rare visitor now, but that may not always have been the case
Bognor Bodies – Frank McNally on the Irish literary connections of an English seaside town
Its English origins stem from a holiday James Joyce and his family spent there in the summer of 1923
High note: Colette Sheridan on a unique exhibition celebrating 170 years of Cork Opera House
About 280 shows a year now take place at the venue, making for a quick turnover of acts
‘The cadet was now descending rapidly towards Cavan without any training in the use of a parachute’
The lesson for the day in question was how to deal with an aircraft when it stalled and went into a spin
Alison Healy on some regrettable wedding celebration traditions
Pelting newly married couples with cabbage stalks never seemed like the best idea
Ray Burke on the legacy of multi-talented doctor and author Oliver St John Gogarty
He and his wife ran Renvyle House near Clifden for 35 years, a labour of much love
Bitter Harvest – Frank McNally on the darker side of farming in Flanders and the Somme
Body parts are still being found, exhumed, and if possible identified
Fields of Gold – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of a colourful Monaghan family
Theirs was an old English surname, derived from proximity to cornfields or work as a harvester
Is Slowvember the solution to the Black Friday shopping frenzy?
There may be another way to support the local economy while not becoming a Christmas grinch
A stranger in a pub in Spain hugged me like we were old friends after Parrott’s heroics
In the ensuing mayhem, a man I’d never met before hugged me like we were old friends
Smug in the snug: Why November brings me back to early evening pints in cosy Dublin pubs
I was obviously not the first person to think like this
You know you are getting old when... Alison Healy on life’s reminders of age
Some of us prefer to ignore those little signposts that we are hurtling along the highway of life
An Irish Diary on the Jacobs Awards and Gabriel Byrne’s service to sheep farmers
Awards were sponsored by a biscuit bakery and presided over by broadcaster and agony aunt Frankie Byrne
Nature shows us the world is what we perceive it to be
It is possible to be upside down and downside up at the same time
Irish couple to stage six-hour-long Beckett play with no punctuation at Venice Biennale
Husband-and-wife duo, actor Conor Lovett and director Judy Hegarty Lovett, will bring 10 performances at the 18th century Palazzo Diedo
Ronan McGreevy on the most damaging leak in Irish history
The Morning Post’s scoop on the Boundary Commission was a profound shock to the Free State government
The strange case of Dr Achmet Borumborad and his Dublin-based Turkish baths
By all accounts, he was a likable chap and women compared their husbands most unfavourably to him
Firm friends: Finola Kennedy on a remarkable friendship between the founder of the Legion of Mary and former president WT Cosgrave
Frank Duff never forgot Cosgrave’s support for the lay Catholic organisation he founded in 1921
Ring of untruth – Frank McNally on how the Irish language gave ‘phoney’ to English
A link with telephones was also suspected
Rock of Ages – Frank McNally on the shock of punk turning 50
Sid Vicious had been included in the Sex Pistols mainly for his comic-scary appearance
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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