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
‘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
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
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
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
Adolf Mahr: Frank McNally on the confused reputation of an Austrian Nazi in 1930s Ireland
When he tried to resume his old job in Dublin after the war, he was no longer welcome
Thwarted hotel development keeps doors closed at Dublin pub
121 years after Leopold Bloom ‘pushed in the door of the Burton’, public house doesn’t know where it stands
Flying columnist – Frank McNally on a lightning visit to Leeside
He studied me a second, as if trying to assess if I was a Dublin jackeen out to make a feck of him
The Death of Reilly - Frank McNally on the demise of ‘Reilly, Ace of Spies’ 100 years ago
Russian-born intelligence agent who called himself Sidney Reilly, and inspired James Bond, made use of several Irish cover identities
Daily Telegraph’s agony aunt faces a conundrum – a mother worried that her son is turning ‘Irish’
We are well used in this country to visitors outdoing us in the performative aspects of Irishness
‘This is a godforsaken place’: A despairing letter from a garda stationed in Tipperary in 1940
Written in the outpost of Rearcross, the letter is a bleak portrait of human misery worthy of Samuel Beckett
Camera Obscura: An exhibition of ‘secret’ photography at Kilmainham Gaol
The Prisoners’ Lens shows theatrical staged scenes which remind us that the events of 1916 were inspired by playwrights and actors as well as poets