Filed under Irish Studies

Elvis Presley’s Irish Roots

Elvis Presley’s Irish Roots

He had a granddaughter called Rosella who had several children, one of whom was a son called Jesse Presley. In 1913, Jesse Presley married a lady named Minnie Mae. They had a son in 1916 called Vernon Elvis Presley. Continue reading

British Espionage after The Rising

British Espionage after The Rising

The Intelligence authorities found it difficult to accept that parents whose eldest adult child had been executed for his role in the Easter Rising, and who moreover had two more sons Volunteers (initially sentenced to death but commuted to 10-year sentences), were not actively involved in the Rising. Continue reading

An Irish Teacher in Papua New Guinea

An Irish Teacher in Papua New Guinea

Early one morning on my way to Rabaul with my family we did not see even one woman. However, we overtook many men on foot and on bicycles, all moving in the same direction with their bodies naked from the waist up. Each wore a bright red lap-lap or long piece of cloth knotted at the hip to form a skirt. Continue reading

Community Gatherings in Ireland Old and New part one                  

Community Gatherings in Ireland Old and New part one                  

. To this day, we have a saying in Irish ‘Bhí togha gacha bí agus rogha gacha dí le fail ann’, The finest of every food and the choice(st) of every drink was to be had there. This is believed to originally date from bards of one to two thousand years ago. As a chieftain or king, one’s reputation had to be maintained, or enhanced and these ‘songs of praise’, so to speak, were pivotal in this regard. Continue reading

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Tóibín being <strong>Tóibín.</strong>

Tóibín being Tóibín.

Book Review by Frank O’Shea A GUEST AT THE FEAST. By Colm Tóibín. Picador 2022. 305 pp. $34.99 Colm Tóibín is the current Laureate for Irish Fiction, succeeding Sebastian Barry. As part of that role, he will be expected to deliver a number of public lectures; it is not clear whether this book is part … Continue reading

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