Voice from the Grave – Frank McNally on a debut poetry collection from Niall Montgomery, 38 years after his death.A man of many talents he was not only an architect, but a newspaper columnist as wellThu Jun 19 2025 - 19:00
Frank McNally on the Bloomsday fitness progamme (and why Virginia Woolf will never be as popular as Joyce)As readers of Ulysses will know, Bloom had a bit of a bellyWed Jun 18 2025 - 19:00
Bloomsday: Aficionados enjoy a Full Joyce for breakfast then devour extra helpings of UlyssesBut Dorset Street is still too busy being itself to celebrate being immortalised in fictionMon Jun 16 2025 - 20:27
Resurrected Reverend – Frank McNally on the Irish priest who “did a Reggie Perrin”Almost a century earlier, a Catholic priest from Sligo had resorted to the same thingFri Jun 13 2025 - 19:00
Passage from India – Frank McNally on a Delhi journalist and Joyce fanatic in Dublin for BloomsdayThe heat was already oppressiveThu Jun 12 2025 - 19:00
Epistolics Anonymous – Frank McNally on a Joycean mystery wrapped in an enigmaHe is now tramping around Dublin with two lawbooks under his oxterWed Jun 11 2025 - 19:00
Animal Farm – Frank McNally on how “Skin-the-Goat” Fitzharris was radicalised by the killing of a foxThis was bad news for the fox, but also for FitzharrisTue Jun 10 2025 - 19:00
Joyce on Trial - Frank McNally on a landmark libel case of 1954The BBC and the James Joyce libel connection Fri Jun 06 2025 - 19:00
A Phrase that Passeth Understanding – Frank McNally on a rude biblical euphemismI don’t recall ever hearing the last verb there mentioned at MassThu Jun 05 2025 - 19:00
As the Crow Squeals - Frank McNally on a mysterious Irish rhetorical device Men’s coats have gone mysteriously out of fashion in recent yearsWed Jun 04 2025 - 19:00
Only Our Taxis Run Free - Frank McNally on a funny thing that happened on the way to the Goldsmith FestivalHere – give me a tenner back out of that, I tried to insist. But still he refusedTue Jun 03 2025 - 19:00
Picture this: Frank McNally on the sophistication of French scammers If this column can’t help him, he fears the quest is a “lost cause”.Fri May 30 2025 - 19:00
Eager achiever: Frank McNally on introducing the beaver to IrelandThey are not only cute and cuddly, they are also good workersThu May 29 2025 - 19:00
Lives of O’Reilly – Frank McNally on a revelatory history of the north midlandsBook is a meticulously detailed labour of loveThu May 29 2025 - 14:28
Bridge of Sighs (and Laughter) Frank McNally on a hump-backed bridge and a quaint funeral traditionFri May 23 2025 - 19:00
Paul Durcan remembered as ‘Ireland’s poet’ at funeral service in RingsendFamily, friends and locals gather in tribute, pausing at ‘the humpbacked bridge’ Thu May 22 2025 - 19:32
Secluded residence – Frank McNally on the challenge of understanding (or even finding) Eileen Gray’s famous French villaI suppose, as they say, you had to be there. And I haven’t been there yet, only very closeWed May 21 2025 - 19:00
Hachikō the wonder dog - Frank McNally on the devoted pet’s nine-year vigil for his late master Hidesaburō Ueno’s dog could not forget him and, thanks to the dog, neither could JapanTue May 20 2025 - 19:00
McGrath hurrah - Frank McNally on the first Kentucky Derby, 150 years ago‘The same horse always wins the Derby, no matter what name he bears. Always the winner is the ghost of the little red horse, Aristides, who answered his owner’s hat’Sat May 17 2025 - 06:00
Dillon Rediscovered by Kevin Rafter: Daring journalist with a penchant for disguises brought back to life in new accountIrish writer was lauded for his captivating coverage of 1899 Dreyfus retrialSat May 17 2025 - 04:34
Disunited Irishmen - Frank McNally on the year Shankill Road protestants paid tribute in Bodenstown and were attacked by the IRAFirst there were angry words. Then ‘blows were exchanged’ Thu May 15 2025 - 19:00
Red into the record – Frank McNally on Peadar O’Donnell’s libel case against the Irish Rosary magazineThe trial had its origins in the ‘Red Scare’ general election of 1932 Wed May 14 2025 - 19:30
Irish Blood, Irish Heart: Frank McNally on a Mancunian hibernophile, Sir Norman Moore He was struck by, among other things, the level of classical learning in 19th century Ireland, even among the poorFri May 09 2025 - 19:00
Throwing shapes: Frank McNally on the mysteries of the Hiberno-English ‘gimp’Ever since hearing the term applied to myself a while back, I’ve been wondering what it means tooThu May 08 2025 - 19:00
Burning Issues: Frank McNally on an unfortunate metaphor, and the continuing mysteries of the ‘Flannagram’Copies of At Swim-Two-Birds fell victim to the German fire-bombing of a London warehouse in 1940Wed May 07 2025 - 19:00
Holy Irish, partly French – Frank McNally on 800 years of St Laurence O’TooleA shrine in France credited the Irishman with 256 miraclesTue May 06 2025 - 19:00
Academic questions: Frank McNally on Titanic terriers, epic expense accounts and the rise of the ‘full professor’Try claiming for a piano-playing secretary today and see what happensSat May 03 2025 - 06:00
Not so merry - Frank McNally on the month of May’s somewhat ominous reputation Those of cautious temperament urge us to hold on to our overcoats until JuneThu May 01 2025 - 19:00
Farren Away - Frank McNally on how the dreaded phantom ‘Flann’ picture struck againRecurring misidentification is in one way an apt tribute to O’Nolan, who spent his career pretending to be other peopleWed Apr 30 2025 - 19:00
Non Habemus Librum: Frank McNally on Flann O’Brien’s unwritten epic about the election of an Irish popeLike many unwritten masterpieces, the book was born and died in a Dublin pubSat Apr 26 2025 - 06:00
Frightfully unfashionable: Frank McNally on the century-long decline of adverbs‘Beastly’ and ‘ghastly’ were still going strong in the mid-20th century novels of Enid Blyton, but ‘awfully’ and ‘frightfully’ were dying out Fri Apr 25 2025 - 06:00
A count in arrears – Frank McNally on a first-ever solo exhibition of the life and work of Casimir MarkieviczMarkievicz was a prominent figure in Dublin’s social and artistic life for a decade Wed Apr 23 2025 - 19:00
Over on Out: Frank McNally gets to the bottom of a mysteriously familiar phrase`It took out’ was a common phrase among the people of Cullyhanna, Crossmaglen, and CullovilleFri Apr 18 2025 - 19:00
All Yellow - Frank McNally on singing Emily Dickinson, Joyce’s advanced maths, and quantum mechanics in BlackrockI now know, for good or bad, most if not all of Dickinson’s poems can be sung to the tune of a traditional American ballad, The Yellow Rose of TexasThu Apr 17 2025 - 19:00
Out of My Mind? Frank McNally on a search for the sentence-ending superlative, ‘took out’Investigating what I thought was a common figure of speech has led to some bewildering resultsWed Apr 16 2025 - 19:00
A literary stroll: Frank McNally explores the streets of Dublin’s north inner cityI like to imagine Emily Dickinson sitting on the Royal Canal bench discussing punctuation with Brendan BehanTue Apr 15 2025 - 19:58
Confounding Father - Frank McNally on the centenary of a radical Irish-American priest.Fr Peter Yorke played a central role in politics, journalism and labour relations in the San Francisco archdioceseFri Apr 11 2025 - 19:00
The Irish (and Redmondite) origins of the Augusta National ClubhouseDenis Redmond who designed what is now the clubhouse might be baffled by what it has becomeThu Apr 10 2025 - 19:00
Dooley Dooby Doo - Frank McNally with more on the origins of a famous “Joycean” balladSheet music of the Jerome song sold a million copiesWed Apr 09 2025 - 19:00
Child of Prague Spring – Frank McNally on a sun-soaked country weddingThe Child of Prague is a statue of limitations, apparently: its responsibilities begin and end with blue skiesTue Apr 08 2025 - 18:59
A Game of Two Calves (and several cows): Frank McNally on Patrick Kavanagh’s imagination, mysterious street names, and a bovine legendOn the stem of memory . . .Fri Mar 28 2025 - 18:59
Detour de Force – Frank McNally on William Bulfin’s unwitting side-trip into literary historyWe now know that Bulfin was in the Martello Tower at Sandycove, and that his hosts would later be immortalised in Joyce’s UlyssesThu Mar 27 2025 - 18:59
Barroom Bard – Frank McNally on the fictional Mr Dooley, whose thoughts were once required reading in the White House Finley Peter Dunne first adopted the Hiberno-English patois in his newspaper columns as a defensive ruse, to confuse lawyersWed Mar 26 2025 - 18:58
Art Attack – Frank McNally on the dangers of passive exposure to art and culture“Europe’s largest digital art screen” now occupies the front lawn of the Irish Museum of Modern ArtFri Mar 21 2025 - 18:59
No-Ivy Day at the Committee Room - Frank McNally on an Oval Office mysterySomething is conspicuously missingThu Mar 20 2025 - 18:59
Old Mister Brenon - Frank McNally on a remarkable Dublin-born Hollywood director and his even more remarkable fatherOne judge was sufficiently impressed by Brenon snr to issue a backhanded complimentWed Mar 19 2025 - 18:59
Gnomes of Donegal - Frank McNally on William Allingham’s peculiar brand of IrishnessHis verse revealed the temperament and spirit of IrelandTue Mar 18 2025 - 18:59
Trinity College Dublin celebrates renaming former Berkeley library after poet Eavan BolandTrinity Chancellor Mary McAleese said move was part of dealing with ‘colonial legacies’Mon Mar 10 2025 - 21:53
`Alas! I am very sorry to say/That ninety lives have been taken away' Frank McNally on the `famously bad' poet William McGonagallA poet so bad, as the Book of Heroic Failures puts it, “he backed unwittingly into genius”.Fri Mar 07 2025 - 19:00
