The mystery of flying ships in ancient Meath that ended up in a Texas newspaper
Perhaps the strangest twist in the tale’s evolution is the one by which it turned up in 1890s Texas
High-level hyperbolics: Frank McNally on the Irish approach to bigging things up
Be it song lyrics about a beautiful place or the fight to rebuild a public toilet, use of language is always key
I was thankful I had filed away the obscure detail of who finished second to Ronnie Delany in 1956
Not that The Irish Times team needed any help crossing the finish line first to claim victory in the annual Dublin Rape Crisis Centre corporate quiz night
‘Die roaring’: What we can learn from the demise of Doran’s bull and Orwell’s elephant
Orwell’s account was partly corroborated by a police colleague of the time
Double trouble: Frank McNally on the dramatic effect of saying the same thing twice
An ordinary person might ask you to ‘cease’ doing something. A lawyer will require you to ‘cease and desist’, and then you’re in trouble
Frank McNally on a posthumous anthology from a ‘reluctant businessman’ and literary wit
Intrepid investigation reveals Frank O’Dowd and I did indeed cross paths
The long and melodious trail from a sweet English barmaid to a former Irish finance minister
The long and colourful path from a sweet English barmaid to a former Irish finance minister
Frank McNally on the lasting legacy of George Boole, a celebrity victim of the Irish climate
He walked the three miles from home to university during a downpour, and then delivered a lecture in drenched clothes
‘You have mocked God,’ Enoch Burke tells judge after jailing of his mother and sister
Judge notes we live in a democracy, not a ‘theocracy governed by the Burke family’
Voices from the Grave: The mixed paternal legacy of ‘Irish tenor’ Jeff Buckley
The other big influence, on the last two members of the family at least, was the absence of a loving father figure
Getting our oar in: Frank McNally on the perils of linguistic imperialism
Their eccentricity might be charming if it wasn’t for the assumption that everyone else speaks that way
Ernie O’Malley’s century-old memoirs now read like a nature writer at war
In his memoirs, the former IRA organiser wrote in unique detail about the Irish landscape as he travelled the country
Haunted by Hamlet: The sad story of Ireland’s greatest Shakespearean scholar
When Belfast-born William John Lawrence died in penurious English exile at the start of the second World War, his manuscript on the origins of Hamlet was lost too
Why experts believe Shakespeare may have had an ‘Oirish’ accent
Linguistic detectives believe Shakespeare would have said ‘divil’ instead of ‘devil’ and would have drunk a cup of ‘tay’
‘O, the drenching grey weather’: Irish rain in 40 wonderful phrases
From October to April, the walls of Limerick glistened with the damp