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 →

God in a Bottle

God in a Bottle

they were usually ‘a reused glass spirit, wine or mineral bottle often containing a carved wooden cross, with a ladder leaning against it inside, sometimes (but not always) filled with water’. The water was usually holy water, or at least marketed as such. Continue reading →

Colcannon

Colcannon

.  At a charity event, in the Wicklow mountains, Martin Byrne was faced with the task of feeding 1,500 people (no, that’s not a typo) with Colcannon. What did he do? Well, I’ll tell you. Continue reading →

From the Papers

From the Papers

Women’s World Cup The Irish Women’s team have qualified for the Women’s World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. Their qualification was the result of a 1-0 win over Scotland in Hamden Park, Glasgow in October. That victory was tarnished after a social media posting of the team singing part … Continue reading →

November rain in Dublin

November rain in Dublin

by Michael Patrick Moore ‘Come here to me, let me tell ya, don’t the living be busy today?’comings and goings on Graftonand on Merrion; where the craic is good,O’Donaghues is full. There are footsteps on quay, bridge and streettapping away like rain on tin,all servants of masters with somewhere to be or someone to meetand … Continue reading →

Raucous, Rambunctious and Riotous

Raucous, Rambunctious and Riotous

The cast of Love’s Old Sweet Songs was led by the magnificent and maleficent MC, who, in true music hall style got us all wound up and raring to go for the opening of the show musical eisteddfod – a turning point / ‘tuning fork’ in the road in Joyce’s life. Continue reading →

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 →