An Irishman's DiaryWHEN I read about that newly Michelin-starred restaurant in Galway being a “terroir-based” establishment, I was forced – not …Sat Sept 29 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWE HAD some shock news about our old cat recently, the effects of which our household is still trying to absorb.Fri Sept 28 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryON FOOT of my mentioning James Joyce’s The Dead here last week, reader Niall Walsh wrote with a question that has puzzled him…Thu Sept 27 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN HIS HISTORY of the game in Ireland, Green is the Colour, this paper’s long-time soccer correspondent Peter Byrne mentions …Sat Sept 22 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHERE CAN’T BE anyone alive now who is not familiar with the concept of a “window of opportunity”Fri Sept 21 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryANOTHER Patrick Kavanagh Weekend looms, and still there is no sign of a resolution to the sad stand-off that surrounds the poet…Thu Sept 20 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAN ALERT READER inquires whether I noticed the reference in a Letter to the Editor on Monday to the “self-depreciating” songs…Wed Sept 19 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN A CAFE recently, I got talking to a Canadian woman – a painter – whose work involves curating an exhibition for the annual…Sat Sept 15 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHERE was a poignant moment in the McNally household recently when, after five years of shared suffering, I formally accepted…Fri Sept 14 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE BEST THING about the part of Dublin I live in is the Royal Hospital KilmainhamThu Sept 13 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryOF ALL the Dublin venues temporarily lending themselves to theatre over the next month, none surely is as well-qualified as Green…Wed Sept 12 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTWO HUNDRED years ago this morning, Napoleon watched the sun rise over a village in western Russia and declared it was the “sun…Fri Sept 07 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIF NOTHING ELSE, tomorrow night’s World Cup qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Kazakhstan makes for a fascinating …Thu Sept 06 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAT SANTRY’S Morton Stadium on Saturday, I got talking to a man who, like myself, is a born-again runnerWed Sept 05 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE SLUGGEROTOOLE blog is undoubtedly one of the better things on the Irish internetSat Sept 01 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI HAVE MET them at close of day, coming with vivid faces from counter or desk among grey Eighteenth-century housesFri Aug 31 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHAT HARBINGER of autumn, a flier for the Monaghan Harvest Blues Festival, arrived in my letter box recentlyThu Aug 30 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryDRIVING ALONG a wet road in Tipperary recently, I narrowly avoided crossing what looked like a piece of turfWed Aug 29 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryGUSTAVE COURBET, mentioned in passing yesterday, was a revolutionary on canvas as well as in real lifeFri Aug 24 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryW HENEVER POSSIBLE, I like to read books in their historic or geographic contextThu Aug 23 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIF YOU haven’t already seen it, you should mark a certain anniversary today by Googling a small but extraordinary piece of Irish…Wed Aug 22 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryA CANADIAN reader I just invented wrote to me recently asking if it’s true what an Eskimo told her in a bar once, ie: “that the…Sat Aug 18 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT DIDN’T go unnoticed – I have spies everywhere – that during my recent absence from this space, the term “iconic” appeared …Fri Aug 17 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAS PLANNED earlier in the year, I used my holidays to launch another attempt at reading War and Peace in time for the bicentenary…Thu Aug 16 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI HAD TO LAUGH – albeit a little bitterly – when the success of our boxers in London led certain people to revive stereotypes…Wed Aug 15 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE Louth village of Greenore, which we mentioned here yesterday, has an unusual claim to fame among Irish sea portsThu Jul 26 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT’S HARD to believe now, but lobster used to be a poor man’s foodWed Jul 25 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryA small but interesting art exhibition in Kilkenny caught my eye recentlySat Jul 21 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiarySTROLLING ALONG Johnson’s Court – an alleyway off Dublin’s Grafton Street – one Sunday morning recently, I found myself eavesdropping…Fri Jul 20 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI HAD TO VISIT a dentist in Carrickmacross the other day and emerged from the experience with a temporary but severe speech impairment…Thu Jul 19 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryREVELATIONS that Erwin Schrödinger had a dog during his Dublin years (Letters, Wednesday), and that it was a “nasty mongrel”, …Sat Jul 14 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryBY ONE MEASURE, at least, the modern world could be dated from an event that happened 50 years ago this week: the launch into…Fri Jul 13 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIt will be 70 years this weekend since a 21-year-old pilot met his premature end just off the coast of northern FranceThu Jul 12 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI WAS wrong when, in yesterday’s diary, I described Erwin Schrödinger as an “Austrian Jew”Sat Jul 07 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI WAS struck yesterday by the poetic-sounding surname of that scientist who made the first announcement of a breakthrough on …Fri Jul 06 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE SEARCH for currency stability in Europe has a very long historyThu Jul 05 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE BATTLE of Waterloo was, among many other things, a conflict between beer and wine drinkersWed Jul 04 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryHAVING VISITED the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam recently, en route to Poland, I made a vague promise to go to Auschwitz later…Sat Jun 30 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryDURING an idle moment on Wednesday, I briefly considered compiling “a History of Ireland in 100 handshakes”.Fri Jun 29 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIF THE GERMANS win Euro 2012, as is quite likely, it will be their seventh success in a European or World championshipThu Jun 28 2012 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT’S NOT JUST the FAI that needs to have a review of Euro 2012Wed Jun 27 2012 - 01:00
Famous Euro 2012 flag could prove very best work of its student instigatorsTHEIR COVER was blown two weeks ago thanks to a picture on the front page of Germany’s best-selling newspaperTue Jun 26 2012 - 01:00
Irish fans and camper vans finally reach end of the roadEURO 2012 ROAD TRIP: DAY 14: IF GROUP C was a Polish road, Ireland’s position would not have been hopeless going into last night…Tue Jun 19 2012 - 01:00
Singing fans limber up for last big performanceEURO 2012 ROAD TRIP DAYS 12-13: WITH FIRST place in Group C all but assured, Irish fans are bracing themselves for one last …Mon Jun 18 2012 - 01:00
Streets not so green as fascinating city reveals true colours to recovering fansEURO 2012 ROAD TRIP: DAY 10: GDANSK THE morning after felt like a wakeSat Jun 16 2012 - 01:00
Back on the green jersey trail thanks to stranger's kindnessEURO 2012 ROAD TRIP: DAY 9 : ON THE outer approaches to Gdansk, we turned off the main road in search of our campsiteFri Jun 15 2012 - 01:00
Slick Spain put Ireland to the sword but fans sing onMAYBE, IN retrospect it wasn’t the wisest thing for us to be singing “olé, olé, olé, olé” beforehand to a team of Spaniards…Fri Jun 15 2012 - 01:00
