Today, a hundred and eighty years later I stand near his grave in the hot, dry semi-desert land of the Australian ‘outback.’ Emigrating to Australia in the 1860s and becoming one of the burgeoning numbers of the Irish diaspora, John, better known as Jack, was part of a heroic effort to develop this new and challenging land, so different in every way from the green fields of Tipperary. Continue reading
The name Middleton seemed appropriate for this midpoint between Goolwa and Port Elliot, but I was unable to pinpoint where in Ireland the original Middleton was, presumably a place between two towns or village Continue reading
What it really meant to be poor and how to survive it. And a book about a priest who fathered a child with nun. Continue reading
I read Modern History and Political Science in Dublin University from 1936 to 1940, talking my degree in absentia in January 1940. The most memorable lectures which I attended were those given by Curtis; he was always interesting and amusing, never the dry historian. Continue reading
Is this increased interest resonant of the current Australian focus on Indigenous recognition? Or is it a reflection of more attention to the topic of Irish Travellers in the Irish education curriculum? Continue reading
John Boyne returns to his earlier Striped Pyjamas book and we meet Shane McGowan’s young sister. Continue reading
But as books must and will be produced to meet the demand, it is now both timely and fair to ask what kind of ‘Irish history’ are we going to have? As a race, we have an extraordinary habit of make-believe. Continue reading
Is there bias in dictionary compiling? Ultimately, yes. Continue reading
The bilingual poem below was commissioned as part of the Red Room Poetry Fellowship 2022 Continue reading
Two new books about the IRA bombing campaigns of the 70s and 80s. Continue reading
Tinteán 