Brief Encounter – Frank McNally on sharing the pain of total strangers The encounter reminded me of another stranger whose path crossed mine some years agoWed Sept 27 2023 - 18:59
Motley Loughcrew – Frank McNally joins the crowds celebrating the autumn equinox in MeathThere is no shortage of vocations in Irish paganismTue Sept 26 2023 - 18:59
Fall into line – Frank McNally on St Matthew, Loughcrew, and the autumn equinoxA side-bet on superstitionFri Sept 22 2023 - 18:59
Kruger, the Kop, and the whole Shebeen – Frank McNally on Irish-South African linguistic exchangeThe original Irish sibín meant “a little mug”Thu Sept 21 2023 - 18:59
Tower of Song – Frank McNally on the Joycenights Festival, rude hand gestures, and improving Patrick KavanaghI somehow found a free corner (not easy in a round tower) among the capacity attendanceTue Sept 19 2023 - 18:59
Ireland’s archery festival: ‘For a moment, it feels like we are in the Middle Ages’ Archers had their sights set on Co Laois over the weekend for a festival that celebrated tradition and precisionSun Sept 17 2023 - 21:36
Why runners run — Frank McNally on exercising his inner demonsMuch of the reward in running is that the pain, self-inflicted as it is, stopsFri Sept 15 2023 - 18:59
The enduring fame of Patrick Kavanagh’s doomed affair with Hilda MoriartyA blissful walk among the bluebellsThu Sept 14 2023 - 18:59
High society – Frank McNally on taking drugs at the operaAccording to the jar, the recommended dosage was “half a gummy”Wed Sept 13 2023 - 18:55
Seeds of destruction — Frank McNally on cancer, cold war, and causing a nuclear incident at the airportMy first-ever strip search appeared to be imminentTue Sept 12 2023 - 18:59
A walk on the wild side: foraging for nature’s treasures in the Wicklow countrysideFrom meadowsweet and acorns to sloes and elderberries, Frank McNally plunders Mother Nature’s bounty on a sun-baked Sunday during a foraging adventure in the garden of IrelandSun Sept 10 2023 - 06:00
Cousins Removed – Frank McNally on a Belfast-born writer’s passage to IndiaAmong other activities in Dublin, he founded (with his wife Gretta) the Irish Vegetarian SocietyThu Sept 07 2023 - 18:55
Earning his Spurs – Frank McNally on an unlikely Wexford hero ‘Tottenham in his Boots’How the brave actions of an MP for New Ross became a political sloganWed Sept 06 2023 - 20:07
Negotiating New Ross – Frank McNally on an argumentative weekend in Wexford Town is well qualified to host a summer school on history and politicsTue Sept 05 2023 - 18:56
Old Flames – Frank McNally on a Parisian tribute to Ireland and the tragic saga of Mayo’s Moore HallAn Irish-themed flaring of the Eternal Flame in ParisFri Sept 01 2023 - 18:59
Year of the French (Part 2) – Frank McNally on the colourful career of Fenian general Gustave Paul Cluseret A rebel with many causesThu Aug 31 2023 - 18:55
Boom to Busts – Frank McNally on an Irish-Indian cultural exchangeA tale of two poetsWed Aug 30 2023 - 19:25
French Paradox – Frank McNally on France’s fondness for St Fiacre (except as a baby name)What’s in a name?Tue Aug 29 2023 - 18:59
Goosey Gander – Frank McNally on Donie Anderson’s menagerie, Malachi Horan’s memories, and a Mayo Frenchman in the Wild WestA remarkable spectacle at the parade ringsThu Aug 24 2023 - 18:55
Virginia Show: Fake tan, baby oil, hair extensions – and those were just the animalsFrank McNally goes behind the scenes at one of the Republic’s big four agricultural showsWed Aug 23 2023 - 20:21
French Toast – Frank McNally on a weekend of drama in MayoThe Ballina reenactment was based loosely on the Battle of CastlebarTue Aug 22 2023 - 19:19
Trouble with a capital T – Frank McNally on the Tau Cross of ToryThe cross is an apt landmark for an island called ToryFri Aug 18 2023 - 18:55
Street Theatre - Frank McNally on muggers, mystics, and the Glass MenagerieWas it really possible that I was exuding an aura?Thu Aug 17 2023 - 18:59
Crash Curse - Frank McNally on the still-disputed fate of the HMS WaspThe cursing stone on Tory Island has long disappearedWed Aug 16 2023 - 18:59
Wild Romantic Way – Frank McNally on Christy Moore, Mad Sweeney, and extreme Irish tourismKeep on runningTue Aug 15 2023 - 18:59
Engraved in memory – Frank McNally on recollections of first-time fatherhood, funerals, and learning how to hugHappy memories of my daughter’s arrival into the world brought sombre recollections tooFri Aug 11 2023 - 18:59
Life on Tory Island, where just one child attends the local secondary schoolClimate change means the sea around Tory has become ‘angrier’ and less predictable, threatening the island’s future, says one residentFri Aug 11 2023 - 14:46
Kitsch Kitchen – Frank McNally on a Salthill institution, O’Connor’s Famous PubFor sheer exuberance, the collection of bric-a-brac might be uniqueThu Aug 10 2023 - 18:59
Unhappy Bedfellow? – Frank McNally on Shakespeare’s wife, misspelled Enniskillen, and typos that can’t be erasedAnne Hathaway died 400 years ago this weekendFri Aug 04 2023 - 18:59
Going Tribal – Frank McNally on the Transylvanian side of GalwayCluj is known as “the Galway of Romania”, complete with world-class traffic jamsThu Aug 03 2023 - 18:59
Teenage hero rides to triumph in the Galway PlateBased on colourful predictions for Ladies Day, the future is looking flamboyant in the westWed Aug 02 2023 - 20:47
Shedding habits – Frank McNally on painting rackets, poetic justice, and French ratsIt’s a small countryWed Aug 02 2023 - 18:59
Of all the anglicisations, few can have deceived as much with one letter as Rhode in OffalyRód is an ancient term, writes Frank McNallyTue Aug 01 2023 - 18:59
Splitting heirs – Frank McNally on a real Ivy Day Committee Room, a Soldiers’ Song with orange sashes, and a café called ‘RUC’The number of a Wicklow Street premises would not have been lost on JoyceFri Jul 28 2023 - 19:44
Clash of the arts – Frank McNally on the cultural dilemmas of ParisFor art lovers, a Manet-Degas exhibition was at least as dramatic a prospect as Limerick v KilkennyThu Jul 27 2023 - 18:59
Leprechaun economics – Frank McNally on a famous fictional precedent for the National Party’s goldBoth the leprechauns of The Crock of Gold and the National Party decided to involve the law, in each case with great reluctanceWed Jul 26 2023 - 18:59
L’esprit de l’escalier – Frank McNally on power (and the lack of it) in Paris Compo culture has yet to hit the French capitalTue Jul 25 2023 - 18:59
Execution lesson – Frank McNally on social-media influencers, Wolfe Tone’s diaries, and the last public guillotining in ParisWolfe Tone may have been the greatest of all Irish diaristsFri Jul 21 2023 - 18:55
Secrets from Putumayo – Frank McNally on a Brazilian documentary about Roger Casement Victims of a global boom in rubber in the early years of the 20th centuryThu Jul 20 2023 - 18:55
Game theory – Frank McNally on the rituals and superstitions of GAAI heard a Dublin accent behind me ask: “Will ye be writing about that in the Diary?”Tue Jul 18 2023 - 18:55
Counted Out - Frank McNally on Bram Stoker, ‘Garlic Day’, and a famous Austrian hero from DonegalMaking connections from Transylvania to Donegal via France and AustriaFri Jul 14 2023 - 19:00
Generation Game – Frank McNally on the pain of rural migrants whose children play for DublinIf the worst happens and the Dubs hammer us, at least I won’t have to blame myself for contributing to their already extravagant reserves of talentThu Jul 13 2023 - 19:00
Not just a sister act - Frank McNally on the neglected Yeats sisters, and their even more neglected collaboratorEvelyn Gleeson - a woman without whom the siblings might never have become the powerhouses they wereWed Jul 12 2023 - 19:00
Watching brief - Frank McNally on the Eyes of SibiuAs creepy as they can appear, the dormer windows have successfully reinvented themselvesTue Jul 11 2023 - 19:00
Vlad Tidings - Frank McNally on the wild side of TransylvaniaBritain’s King Charles is proud he has a stake in the countryFri Jul 07 2023 - 19:00
Eastern Unorthodox - Frank McNally on not watching GAA in RomaniaThe feeling of being in exile from all that emotional turmoil in Croke Park only added to the calm of my surroundingsThu Jul 06 2023 - 19:00
Stoking the imagination - Frank McNally on taking the train to TransylvaniaMy eight-hour journey, begun without breakfast on a train without a dining car or even a food trolley on board, was part of my trip to a Flann O’Brien conference in ClujWed Jul 05 2023 - 19:00
Rio reality check – Frank McNally on visiting Brazil’s biggest favelaRio needs places like Rocinha at least as much as places like Rocinha need RioFri Jun 23 2023 - 19:21
