The Irish language is noteworthy in using religious terms for greetings: Dia duit ‘God with you’ is responded to by Dia is Muire Duit ‘God and Mary with you.’ The latter response is not as prevalent nowadays)….It is not clear what playboy means in the drama and it is not clear that playboy was used regularly in the English of the west of Ireland at that time. Why then did Synge use this word for his protagonist? Continue reading
The Habit of Leaving by Robyn Rowland Commissioned by John Carty for his slow air/jig ‘Seanamhac Tube Station’ In the 1970–80s the Irish were the largest immigrant community in Britain. John grew up there and played in the pub, ‘The Good Mixer’. Multi-awarded Irish traditional musician on fiddle, banjo, flute and tenor guitar, he wanted … Continue reading
While there a fella walked in and prepared for bed. However, he first removed the biggest knife I ever saw and laid it beneath the mattress. We started walking the streets looking in windows but not seeing. We were pretty low but pretended not, to shield one another. Continue reading
‘The Journey to Galway’ is a suitable beginning for a collection of stories about betrayal, deception, disappointment, and secrets. Many of these secrets are made possible because of distance. Continue reading
I liked him because he wouldn’t back from anyone or thing. No. He’d rush headlong into whatever he perceived an adversary and flail away like a mad thresher. Continue reading
Creidimid this is the most southerly Pop-Up Gaeltacht and Ciorcal Comhrá in the world. Continue reading
We have subscribers in 117 countries and on every continent. Our authors have been Irish-born and Irish resident; Irish-born and Australian resident or resident in other countries; Australian-born of Irish descent; or simply interested and involved in the Australian-Irish connection. Continue reading
Eliza was obviously interested in people who came from different cultures, and she tried to understand them by studying their languages. We see this in some of her first poems written in Ireland. For instance, she made a point of using Irish placename spellings, rather than anglicised ones, when describing the impressive natural features of south County Down, including the Mourne Mountains. Continue reading
Class took place on Monday night around the kitchen table, and it was always a relaxing cultural evening. Afterwards the chat continued often to near midnight. Indeed, there were times I felt transported to a farm house in the Donegal Gaeltacht of the 1960s and that I was not in Canada at all. Continue reading
My whistle calls the drops,
till they tumble down in torrents,
pounding on the rocks and on the craggy shore.
Then the flood runs swirling brown through every creek and channel,
as though it cannot wait to fill them to the brim, Continue reading
Tinteán 