An Irishman's DiaryIT IS ONE of the quirks of freemasonry that while the movement has “sister lodges” and “mother lodges”, actual sisters and mothers…Sat Jun 13 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE NAME “Blackadder” is now indelibly linked to the BBC comedy series in which Rowan Atkinson’s cynical anti-hero sent up several…Fri Jun 12 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryDURING FIANNA FÁIL’S Night of the Long Pencils, I’m told, Brian Cowen stayed up to the very endThu Jun 11 2009 - 01:00
Overnight success comes after epic battle for new Labour MEPCrowley proves the acceptable face of Fianna Fáil as Kelly gets set for a new ball game, and Ferris heads homeTue Jun 09 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryNOT THE LEAST unfortunate aspect of the Leaving Cert English exam mix-up is that it may add further credence to the co-called…Fri Jun 05 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWE HEAR constantly these days about projects being “rolled out”, even when the technology involved is square or rectangular and…Wed Jun 03 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAMONG ITS MANY other distinctions, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham is home to two of Ireland’s oddest gravestonesFri May 29 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN THE CALM before throw-in at Derry’s Celtic Park on Sunday, I drew my nine-year-old son’s attention to the historic backdrop…Wed May 27 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI HEAR THE final session of the outgoing European Parliament in Strasbourg ended earlier this month without the traditional Asparagus…Sat May 23 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryKATRINA COLLINS from Dublin 3 has written to us seeking information about her great grand-uncle: a colourful Irish-American born…Fri May 22 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryACCORDING TO one of his biographers, the young Samuel Beckett hero-worshipped James Joyce to an extent that would have worried…Thu May 21 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWHENEVER I HAVE to attend one of my daughter’s Irish dancing feiseanna – which is whenever I run out of plausible excuses not…Wed May 20 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWHEN THE legendary investor Warren Buffett announced a scheme for choosing his successor a while back, many commentators thought…Sat May 16 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryBRITAIN’S POLITICAL expenses scandal goes from bad to worseFri May 15 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryAS HE went about the task of buying Grattan’s Parliament out of existence during 1799, the Irish viceroy Lord Cornwallis had …Wed May 13 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryREADING BILL BARICH'S lament for the traditional Irish pub recently set me thinking about my own favourite drinking establishment…Sat May 09 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryBERATING MY esteemed colleague Sarah Carey for referring to “Blueshirts”, Dr Ann Matthews (on this page, yesterday) writes: “…Fri May 08 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE ANGLICISED “Hooligan” is one of those Irish names that seems to have disappeared from the face of the globeThu May 07 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryWRITING ABOUT Bob Dylan’s latest album, and about the way he embodies America, the Observer’s music critic commented: “When he…Wed May 06 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryCAROL REED’S great film The Third Man has a blackly comic scene in which dime-store novelist Holly Martins thinks himself kidnapped…Thu Apr 30 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's Diary‘WE ARE NOT here to laugh,” General Charles de Gaulle liked to say about the responsibilities of public life: his own epic contribution…Wed Apr 29 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT’S NOT every day you get a letter addressed from “Paradise”, and in certain circumstances such an event could be worrying. …Sat Apr 25 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryA THING CALLED “World Book and Copyright Day” happened yesterday, largely unnoticed in these partsFri Apr 24 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE “JESUS DIET” threatened to become all the rage a few years ago, at least in AmericaThu Apr 23 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI SEE THAT Noel Dempsey’s plans to revolutionise Ireland’s cycling policy include a promise to introduce “widespread traffic …Wed Apr 22 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryMAYBE George Orwell was exercising the sense of humour some people think he didn’t have when he called Barcelona’s most celebrated…Thu Apr 16 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI GRASPED a nettle once, in the interests of research, and it stung like hell. So much for folk wisdomWed Apr 15 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI HEARD THE first ice-cream van of spring during the week, while attending my son’s Under-10 football training in DrimnaghSat Apr 04 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN ONE of his madder incarnations, Myles na gCopaleen used to pose as an obsessive railway veteran with such an encyclopedic …Fri Apr 03 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryI SEE London is having a “Slow Down Festival” later this month: 10 days devoted to slow food, slow walks, poetry readings, etc…Thu Apr 02 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE “last of the great Irish harpers”, like the Last of the Mohicans, is a somewhat disputed titleWed Apr 01 2009 - 01:00
An Irishman's DiaryLITERARY prize juries could learn something from the Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal, which, as reported yesterday, is awarded…Sat Mar 28 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryAPART from boxing and Brazilian football, the profession in which nicknames are closest to being a formal entry requirement is…Fri Mar 27 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryWHATEVER ABOUT nude taoisigh, one of the sub-genres that the National Gallery could usefully add to its portrait collection is…Thu Mar 26 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryNOT the least remarkable thing about Bernard Dunne’s world title win on Saturday was that he did it without having a properly…Wed Mar 25 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryTODAY’S reading is from the Second Letter of Herr Pauls to the Hibernians: The peace of the Lord and the fellowship of the European…Sat Mar 21 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryIN A report on the White House autocue mix-up, the London Times reminded its readers that Brian Cowen was known to his friends…Fri Mar 20 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryIMMEDIATELY after the Simpsons’ “love-letter to Ireland” the other night, Sky One developed the theme with a grimly fascinating…Thu Mar 19 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryIT’S WELL known that Ireland’s latter-day infestation with grey squirrels began with a big-house wedding present in Co Longford…Sat Mar 14 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryON THE subject of Lester Young coining the slang term “to dig” (Diary March 5th), Vera Hughes has written to ask if the Mississippi…Fri Mar 13 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryHALF-A-CENTURY of cinematic violence later, the chariot race death scene in Ben-Hur no longer has the power to shock audiences…Thu Mar 12 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHE Ballymun flats have never been one of the heartlands of Leinster rugby, I think it’s fair to sayWed Mar 11 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiarySMARTING from yet another narrow defeat in a table quiz, I am seriously thinking of emulating the athlete Paula Radcliffe and…Sat Mar 07 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryLIKE life-forms, words seem to be subject to the laws of natural selectionFri Mar 06 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryTHINGS have come to a pretty pass when, as reported in Tuesday’s finance pages, the only source of optimism on the Irish Stock…Thu Mar 05 2009 - 00:00
King Brian rises above the Croke Park mediocrityThe final Croke Park battle between Ireland and England was more flat beer than romantic champagneMon Mar 02 2009 - 00:00
An Irishman's DiaryIF THERE’S any certainty about tonight’s Ireland-England rugby match at Croke Park, it is that it will played out in an atmosphere…Sat Feb 28 2009 - 00:00
