Beads of rain streak the window beyond which there is a violet tint in the sky as dusk begins to fall. Dim telegraph poles slip by. Then the chequerboard of yellow and black at the edge of a small town, and bubbled letters caught in the floodlights of an AstroTurf pitch. Continue reading
Filed under review …
Another Irish Film Festival 2025 Review: Never Stop the Action
Kathleen, an eighteen-year-old, navigates life after her mother’s death and returning to her childhood home in a coastal Irish town. Given a second chance, she struggles with her volatile nature and connections while pursuing dreams of a beauty salon. Strong performances highlight her quest for love and recognition amidst psychological challenges. Continue reading
More Irish Film Festival 2025 Reviews: Dead Man’s Money, Chasing the Light, Mrs Robinson
Dead Man’s Money, a film by Paul Kennedy, explores familial tension and betrayal as Young Henry fears his wealthy uncle’s courtship with the Widow Tweed. This noir adaptation evokes Shakespearean themes, skillfully blending dark humor and character complexities. The 82-minute film offers a gripping tale of moral ambiguity and human frailty. Continue reading
Irish Film Festival 2025 Reviews: Kathleen is Here, A Want in Her, Bring Them Down, Fran the Man, Housewife of the Year, Froggie, Fidil Ghorm, The Spin, and David Keenan:Focla ar Chanbhás
Kathleen, an eighteen-year-old, navigates life after her mother’s death and returning to her childhood home in a coastal Irish town. Given a second chance, she struggles with her volatile nature and connections while pursuing dreams of a beauty salon. Strong performances highlight her quest for love and recognition amidst psychological challenges. Continue reading
September: What we are reading, hearing, attending, watching…
Like Heaney, I too was catapulted back to the powerful impact of reading Wilde’s De Profundis, also penned in Reading Gaol, on me aged 20. Continue reading
What we are reading, hearing, attending, watching…
Go see the movie for the breathtaking landscape and the solid acting of Gabriel Byrne and the young stars Anne Skelly, Fionn O’Shea, and Ferdia Walshe Peelo, Continue reading
An expensive ground-breaking book on post-1945 Irish Migration to Australia
In reviewing this important book about Irish who have migrated to Australia since 1945, I have two messages. Firstly, Patricia O’Connor and Fidelma McCorry have broken new ground with a solid and stimulating book. Continue reading
Kerry Folklore: Na Cruacha Dubha agus Paróiste na Tuaithe: Seanchas agus Scéalaithe
Little of that inheritance was recorded in the new country, but books like this give a vivid impression of what came and what was lost. The Australian links in the material presented here are interesting. In one story a landlord declares that if any of his workers steal even a lamb they will be transported. Continue reading
What we are reading at the moment:
She used a blue biro pen and had numbered the pages on small, plain, lined notepaper…I was pleased to see, sometimes, the smudged ring of a teacup or saucer imprinted on the page. I ould see her in the kichen getting a cup of tea as she wrote to me on a Sunday night. Continue reading
Small Things Like These
The world of the film is a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, and yet no-one ever speaks of what happens just down the road. Continue reading