Most of the stories date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and many deal with miserable school experiences. You won’t be surprised to read of Bob Geldof tormenting the priests at Blackrock College by asking inconvenient religious questions, or Edna O’Brien recounting how she sinned by the hour Continue reading
It was the case, however, that the only crime of those arrested may have been to support the aims of the Land League but, in the eyes of the authorities, this amounted to conspiracy. Continue reading
The result of decades of land sub-division, as a result of the Act of 1704, and a rapidly increasing population, along with the suppression of the woollen and linen cottage industries which had once flourished, had resulted in the great majority of tenants, especially along the West coast, being left with tiny subsistence landholdings. Continue reading
by Michael Boyle The Woman Who Live Beside Ballymacpeake Mass Rock There are no half measureswith her. Even in gettinga cupán tae in yer hand.But the full spreadof fancy sandwichesand sweet cake at the table.Oh herself and the girlswill never pour ye outan ordinary a wee Black Bush.You’ll get a fill of the glassand then … Continue reading
What struck me particularly about these stories was the spirit and fight of women in the face of discrimination and adversity. Continue reading
Joyce had a huge influence on Flann O’Brien. Like others of his generation, he struggled to get out from under the Joycean shadow Continue reading
There is controversy about who invented the spirit drink called whiskey, uisce beatha in Irish, but we do know that the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery is Bushmills. Continue reading
The fascinating world of whitethorn: its diverse names, folklore and myths, its significance in beekeeping.common names include hawthorn, May bush, fairy tree, and quick thorn. Continue reading
Hawthorns are also associated with fertility, their musk-scented flowers blooming as harbingers of Spring. Their fruit ripens in time for Halloween, symbolizing death and rebirth. They stand as protectors, symbols of birth, death, and renewal, embodying a liminal space where exchanges occur between the human and spirit worlds. Continue reading
My aunty and uncle said we were too young to go to the Stardust yet, but promised that when I came up next time we could go, we would be both sixteen then. Continue reading
Tinteán 