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
Moore the Merrier - Frank McNally on the commemoration of a famous Irish garden party from 1902Three hundred invited guests attended a party that seemed to capture the zeitgeist of a new IrelandThu Mar 06 2025 - 19:00
Ché sara, Sara – Frank McNally on a mysterious Irish beauty who turned Casanova’s headIt was a humble barmaid who made the deepest impression on the Italian adventurerWed Mar 05 2025 - 18:59
What’s with the name? – Frank McNally on O’Doul, O’Day, and other nominal oddities of Irish AmericaSome Irish American surnames can seem almost plausible while also making your ears hurtTue Mar 04 2025 - 18:58
Tributes paid to ‘Ireland’s greatest writer' Jennifer Johnston at public memorial she arrangedFamily, friends and literary luminaries read from Samuel Beckett and the Bible at eventSat Mar 01 2025 - 19:12
The BBC’s national question: Frank McNally on Edna O’Brien and ‘the North of Ireland’Author’s 1979 TV appearance included an implicit history and geography lesson for British viewersFri Feb 28 2025 - 19:00
Dictionary on the Double – Frank McNally on the enduring literary life of Patrick DinneenLexicographer was described by profiler as “in some ways, as mad as a March hare”Thu Feb 27 2025 - 19:00
‘This wonderful horse seems to have been as remarkable in death as in life’ – Frank McNally on an unbeatable stallionEclipse was sufficiently revered that his death created a market for relics not unlike that of saints in medieval timesThu Feb 27 2025 - 06:00
Setting the Bar High – Frank McNally on pubs called The Irish Times (and more songs about newspapers)An empire on which the sun never setsFri Feb 21 2025 - 18:58
The Times they are a-name-checking – Frank McNally on songs about newspapersSing all about itThu Feb 20 2025 - 18:59
Lexicographer at Large – Frank McNally on Dinneen’s Dictionary and the Dáil row about unparliamentary IrishMyles na gCopaleen blamed Dinneen’s Dictionary for his decision to stop writing columns in IrishWed Feb 19 2025 - 18:59
For Whom the Bells Toll – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of “sound baths”It’s another organised way to relax, like yoga but without the stretchingTue Feb 18 2025 - 18:58
The Real McCabe - Frank McNally on a great (and much-married) American newspaper columnistHe received the editorial equivalent of a 21-gun salute: “He was six columns ahead at his death”Fri Feb 14 2025 - 19:00
Comic Stripped - Frank McNally on the cancellation of P.G. WodehouseHis presumed crime was to make a series of broadcasts from Berlin in 1941Thu Feb 13 2025 - 19:00
