We heard you read local poets
McNiece, Larkin, Rodgers. Told us of
Hewitt’s ox and goat metaphor
for Northern Ireland. Continue reading
Filed under reminiscences …
Christmas Delights and Disasters: recipes and anecdotes
The main course was a labour of love, requiring a new (double) cherry seeder and a great deal of patience and finding space in the fridge, overstuffed for the season. To me, it looked festive with its glossy cherries and a crisp watermelon. Continue reading
Eureka 170: a grandson remembers his grandmother
However, that story of liberation and democracy continues. Peter at the stockade and Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, was not the closing chapter. Continue reading
What we are reading at the moment
Her interior monologues also allow for literary and philosophical references that catch the reader’s heart as the originals do…We learn that Ireland is the result of the collision of two giant rocks (chipped off from ancient continents, Gondwana, Queensland, and Laurentia, Canada) now fused together …This book held a mirror to me with its stark reminder of how lucky I’ve been to have stepped back from the precipice that I’d also found myself standing on. Continue reading
On the Good Ship Ulysses
We parked the car, grabbed our backpacks, and made our way up the passenger stairwell. In my backpack was James Joyce’s Ulysses, bookmarked at the final chapter, ‘Penelope’, which I planned to finish reading whilst on board the Ulysses, travelling to Dublin to visit iconic landmarks mentioned in the book. How meta. Continue reading
We are reading at the moment…
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
Vale Nell McCafferty — ‘free at last’ (1944-2024)
They were recorded buying condoms in a Belfast chemist shop. These fearless women gave hope and courage to ordinary women who were only coming into awareness about how their reproductive rights had become the property of male dominated establishments, not just in Ireland. Continue reading
Vale, Frank O’Shea, passionate Tinteán Editor (1941-2024)
When Frank liked a book, he did not hold back in his enthusiasm for it. Continue reading
Vale Edna O’Brien (1930-2024): an Irish country girl
Edna was a fearless teller of truths, a superb writer possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed. Continue reading
The Woman Who Lives Beside Ballymacpeake Mass Rock
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
Tinteán 