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And the Beatrices Go On - Frank McNally on the dark-haired beauties of Joyce, Dante, and Patrick Kavanagh

And the Beatrices Go On - Frank McNally on the dark-haired beauties of Joyce, Dante, and Patrick Kavanagh

Mane attraction

Fri Jul 08 2022 - 19:01
Sailing into the sunset - Frank McNally on Shelley’s last voyage

Sailing into the sunset - Frank McNally on Shelley’s last voyage

Poet met his untimely death aged 29, 200 years ago

Thu Jul 07 2022 - 19:01
Noises Off - Frank McNally on opera, snoring, and vintage tractors

Noises Off - Frank McNally on opera, snoring, and vintage tractors

Those chimes so sweetly stealing

Wed Jul 06 2022 - 19:01
Frank McNally on the byways of North Cork

Frank McNally on the byways of North Cork

Grassy Knell

Tue Jul 05 2022 - 19:02
Frank McNally on mural madness (Part 2)

Frank McNally on mural madness (Part 2)

Wall of Unsound

Fri Jul 01 2022 - 19:17
Dogs of War (continued) - Frank McNally on the other four-legged “Convict 224″

Dogs of War (continued) - Frank McNally on the other four-legged “Convict 224″

A pedigree chum

Thu Jun 30 2022 - 19:02
Stone Mad: Frank McNally on the mysterious Irish tradition of wall biting

Stone Mad: Frank McNally on the mysterious Irish tradition of wall biting

Is it only a Meath thing?

Wed Jun 29 2022 - 19:01
Magical Mystery Meath

Magical Mystery Meath

Frank McNally on a weekend in Kells

Tue Jun 28 2022 - 19:02
A Run on the Banks

A Run on the Banks

Saturday Diary

Fri Jun 24 2022 - 19:01
A Hunger for Art

A Hunger for Art

Frank McNally on an extraordinary sculpture garden in West Cork

Thu Jun 23 2022 - 19:01
Hostages to Fortune

Hostages to Fortune

Frank McNally on a radical new production of a classic Irish short story

Wed Jun 22 2022 - 19:01
Noteworthy roads  - Frank McNally on Dublin’s musical streetscape

Noteworthy roads - Frank McNally on Dublin’s musical streetscape

Signs of musical heritage everywhere

Sat Jun 18 2022 - 05:00
Bloomsday: Skeleton onesies, period dress and at least 88 full Joycean breakfasts

Bloomsday: Skeleton onesies, period dress and at least 88 full Joycean breakfasts

Gravediggers Bar deputised for Barney Kiernan’s as backdrop for Bloomsday performance of Cyclops episode

Thu Jun 16 2022 - 20:52
Ulysses and me – Frank McNally and his long relationship with Joyce’s greatest book

Ulysses and me – Frank McNally and his long relationship with Joyce’s greatest book

A diary for Bloomsday

Thu Jun 16 2022 - 05:00
Fair cop? – Frank McNally on the possible real-life model for Joyce’s undertaker

Fair cop? – Frank McNally on the possible real-life model for Joyce’s undertaker

Who was the inspiration for Cornelius ‘Corny’ Kelleher?

Wed Jun 15 2022 - 05:00
Royal flush – Frank McNally on Judy Garland, the Theatre Royal, and Mulligan’s pub

Royal flush – Frank McNally on Judy Garland, the Theatre Royal, and Mulligan’s pub

It’s 60 years since Dublin’s Theatre Royal was demolished

Sat Jun 11 2022 - 05:00
Molly coddled – Frank McNally on the real-life backstory of Joyce’s Molly Bloom

Molly coddled – Frank McNally on the real-life backstory of Joyce’s Molly Bloom

For a novelist James Joyce was notoriously reluctant to make stuff up

Fri Jun 10 2022 - 05:00
Our Daily Dread – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of diary writing

Our Daily Dread – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of diary writing

Some publications get in guest celebrity diarists - not this column which has been on the go since 1927

Thu Jun 09 2022 - 05:42
Feckless father – Frank McNally on the property and paternity portfolios of John Joyce

Feckless father – Frank McNally on the property and paternity portfolios of John Joyce

James Joyce’s father filled his house with children and with debts

Wed Jun 08 2022 - 05:00
Taking the Mick – Frank McNally on racial epithets, dogs of war, and Kipling’s romanticised Irish

Taking the Mick – Frank McNally on racial epithets, dogs of war, and Kipling’s romanticised Irish

Furore over a certain British army regiment and its nickname

Fri Jun 03 2022 - 19:30
Patrick Kavanagh out of the doldrums and back in the drumlins with revamped centre

Patrick Kavanagh out of the doldrums and back in the drumlins with revamped centre

Patrick Kavanagh Centre reopens after €1.2m facelift

Fri Jun 03 2022 - 01:00
On the Road to Nowhere – Frank McNally on being too old to read Jack Kerouac

On the Road to Nowhere – Frank McNally on being too old to read Jack Kerouac

Writer's Hiberno-Breton origins

Thu Jun 02 2022 - 19:30
Baths of My Own Lovely Lee – Frank McNally on a Corkman who revolutionised personal hygiene

Baths of My Own Lovely Lee – Frank McNally on a Corkman who revolutionised personal hygiene

Dr Richard Barter established in the Leeside village of Inniscarra in 1856 a fashion that soon spread to Britain and beyond.

Wed Jun 01 2022 - 19:30
Throwing Lions to Christians – Frank McNally on St Ronan and the cult of French rugby

Throwing Lions to Christians – Frank McNally on St Ronan and the cult of French rugby

Western France has a church dedicated to rugby

Tue May 31 2022 - 19:45
Frank McNally on how Bruce Springsteen concerts became a luxury product

Frank McNally on how Bruce Springsteen concerts became a luxury product

Fill out for subheadline

Fri May 27 2022 - 19:58
Southern Discomfort

Southern Discomfort

Friday Diary

Thu May 26 2022 - 21:00
Just Another Manic Tuesday – Frank McNally on a day of mixed Emos

Just Another Manic Tuesday – Frank McNally on a day of mixed Emos

The Irish origins of “Emo” are mysterious

Wed May 25 2022 - 19:46
Fellow traveller – Frank McNally on the ‘republican widowhood’ of Dervla Murphy

Fellow traveller – Frank McNally on the ‘republican widowhood’ of Dervla Murphy

An Irishman’s Diary

Tue May 24 2022 - 19:34
Ardal O’Hanlon: ‘I have met at least three people who have killed other people’

Ardal O’Hanlon: ‘I have met at least three people who have killed other people’

The comedian on his new ‘crimey’ novel set in an border town that’s ‘not Carrickmacross’

Sat May 21 2022 - 06:00
Freudian slip-road – Frank McNally on ‘Ballyduff’, Percy French, and George Bush’s Lady Macbeth moment

Freudian slip-road – Frank McNally on ‘Ballyduff’, Percy French, and George Bush’s Lady Macbeth moment

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri May 20 2022 - 19:45
Between Foxrock and a hard place – Frank McNally on Samuel Beckett’s Cooldrinagh

Between Foxrock and a hard place – Frank McNally on Samuel Beckett’s Cooldrinagh

An Irishman’s Diary

Thu May 19 2022 - 19:33
Danger Here – Frank McNally on military metaphors in football

Danger Here – Frank McNally on military metaphors in football

An Irishman’s Diary

Wed May 18 2022 - 19:44
Paris Mismatch – Frank McNally on a notorious dinner party of 100 years ago

Paris Mismatch – Frank McNally on a notorious dinner party of 100 years ago

An Irishman’s Diary

Tue May 17 2022 - 19:41
Royal Rail – Frank McNally on the history of ‘Irish State Coach 351’

Royal Rail – Frank McNally on the history of ‘Irish State Coach 351’

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri May 13 2022 - 20:01
Going Loco – Frank McNally on Flann O’Brien and the Inchicore Railway Works

Going Loco – Frank McNally on Flann O’Brien and the Inchicore Railway Works

An Irishman’s Diary

Wed May 11 2022 - 20:05
Counter Culture – Frank McNally on the challenges of trying to watch sport in pubs

Counter Culture – Frank McNally on the challenges of trying to watch sport in pubs

An Irishman’s Diary

Tue May 10 2022 - 20:08
The loneliness of the long-distance Punner – Frank McNally on writers and running

The loneliness of the long-distance Punner – Frank McNally on writers and running

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri May 06 2022 - 19:21
Unholy Sabbaths – Frank McNally on the Phoenix Park Murders and other Irish Times ‘Sunday Specials’

Unholy Sabbaths – Frank McNally on the Phoenix Park Murders and other Irish Times ‘Sunday Specials’

An Irishman’s Diary

Thu May 05 2022 - 20:12
Border Ballads – Frank McNally on the national anthems of Poland, Ukraine, and Monaghan

Border Ballads – Frank McNally on the national anthems of Poland, Ukraine, and Monaghan

An Irishman’s Diary

Wed May 04 2022 - 20:20
Heroic Age – 20th-century survivor Frank McNally on the 21st century’s greatly improved life expectancy

Heroic Age – 20th-century survivor Frank McNally on the 21st century’s greatly improved life expectancy

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri Apr 29 2022 - 19:36
Poles Apart – Frank McNally on new and old Stella Cinemas and Shackleton’s last voyage

Poles Apart – Frank McNally on new and old Stella Cinemas and Shackleton’s last voyage

An Irishman’s Diary

Thu Apr 28 2022 - 19:20
Honoured Guest – Frank McNally on the exemplary death of Major Compton-Smith

Honoured Guest – Frank McNally on the exemplary death of Major Compton-Smith

An Irishman’s Diary

Wed Apr 27 2022 - 19:30
Park Avenue – Frank McNally on the case for a drive-through Dublin Zoo

Park Avenue – Frank McNally on the case for a drive-through Dublin Zoo

An Irishman’s Diary

Tue Apr 26 2022 - 19:33
The Fall of the House of Ulster (with apologies to Edgar Allan Poe)

The Fall of the House of Ulster (with apologies to Edgar Allan Poe)

An Irishman’s Diary: "I wended my weary way through the Dark Hedges of the bleak Ulster countryside, dispirited anew by the dreariness of its steeples"

Fri Apr 22 2022 - 19:40
Fanfare to Boston Common Man – Frank McNally on the first martyrs of the American Revolution

Fanfare to Boston Common Man – Frank McNally on the first martyrs of the American Revolution

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri Apr 22 2022 - 01:00
A further (but not farther) reading from the Stylebook of Leviticus

A further (but not farther) reading from the Stylebook of Leviticus

An Irishman’s Diary

Wed Apr 20 2022 - 19:35
If the Easter Proclamation had been written by management consultants instead of poets

If the Easter Proclamation had been written by management consultants instead of poets

An Irishman’s Diary

Tue Apr 19 2022 - 18:58
Between Plymouth Rock and a hard place – Frank McNally on a Sunday night in Boston

Between Plymouth Rock and a hard place – Frank McNally on a Sunday night in Boston

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri Apr 15 2022 - 19:48
Bound for Glory – Frank McNally on the lost and re-found art of bookbinding

Bound for Glory – Frank McNally on the lost and re-found art of bookbinding

An Irishman’s Diary

Thu Apr 14 2022 - 19:50
At Swim-two-bards – Frank McNally on a long literary week in Boston

At Swim-two-bards – Frank McNally on a long literary week in Boston

An Irishman’s Diary

Wed Apr 13 2022 - 19:19
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