A Summer in Dublin.

By Dymphna Lonergan   I was priviliged to have spent more than my usual time in Dublin this year not only catching up with family and friends but also serving a short stint as a visiting fellow at University College Dublin doing my own research and teaching in the Irish Studies topic. Who Was Síle? … Continue reading →

The Foggy Dew

The Foggy Dew

This is an extract from a paper given by Andrew Scott to the 23rd Irish Australasian conference in Adelaide in December 2016.  The use of folk songs to help teach Irish history has not been sufficiently developed in Australia. The evocative power of historical Irish ballads can spark people’s interest in that history and can … Continue reading →

A Legacy of Myths

Book Review by James McCaughey Colm Toibin House of Names, Picador. May 2017 RRP: $29.99 h/b 261 pp ISBN: 978 1760 551421 The ancient Greeks have left us a legacy of myths. Some of them are still current – the stories of Oedipus or Antigone, for instance. Others, though less known, the story of Pygmalion say, have … Continue reading →

Peacemaker or Murderer?

Peacemaker or Murderer?

This biography, written by one who is certainly no fawning acolyte of Adams, nevertheless adds to the understanding of one of the most important figures in peace in our time. Continue reading →

‘Ulysses’ in the dock

For those with a literary bent, with legal training, interested in censorship or with a James Joyce obsession, this book about the American trials in which Ulysses was alleged to be pornographic is an engaging and enlightening read. Continue reading →

Poems by Colin Ryan

Mórshaothar Gan dua a rinne sé é: an phortráid a ghoid ó chiúnas neamhchúiseach na dánlainne (na línte míne, na súile beo an gáire fann débhríoch) í ceilte faoina chóta ar an solas a thit ina mhaidhm ó na flaithis: lean sí uirthi á cheistiú nó gur mhúch sé a guth i seanbhosca is na … Continue reading →

The Belfast Jacobin

The Belfast Jacobin

A Book Review by Hugh Vaughan Kenneth Dawson: The Belfast Jacobin: Samuel Neilson and the United Irishmen, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 2017. ISBN: 9781911024750 RRP: €22.99–€45.00   While living in the eastern Sydney suburb of Waverley I cherished the cliff-top walk along the eastern beaches. The walk runs along the famed Waverley cemetery and, as I also enjoy … Continue reading →