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
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
Irish in Australia: Irish-themed Movies, Tours, and Festivals 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
Irish in Australia: Irish-themed Movies, Tours, and Festivals Continue reading
Joyce, Groucho Marx and the fraught sexual politics of women in the cut-throat Joyce industry. Continue reading
Faoi cheo an tír faoi cheona crainn ina gcuimhne orthu féinna bóithre ag téaltúi dtreo na rúndiamhrais scáth an duine cois claíag féachaint anall ortas saol atá i bhfolachas saol a mheabhraíonn ort Under mist the land under mistthe trees a memory of themselvesthe roads creepingtowards mysteriesand someone’s shadow by a fencelooking over at youfrom … 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
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 