‘Ireland was in the blood, on both sides of the family. From our father, from aunts and uncles, and from our grandparents we heard tales of Ireland.’
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Tagged with Irish history …
The Naturalist Meditates
Challenging essays by a master Essayist who reflects on why he left Northern Ireland. Continue reading
Book Review – A Bard on the Pampas
‘Like many readers, I had no idea that Argentina was such an important destination for Irish immigrants.’ Continue reading
Irish Film Festival 26
From gripping dramas and powerful documentaries to fresh new voices shaping Irish cinema,the Irish Film Festival Australia (IFF26) returns from October 8th until November 15th 2026 with its biggest program in 12 years. Continue reading
Filíocht/Poetry: Julie Breathnach-Banwait, Colin Ryan, Anne Casey, Robyn Rowland
Trácht an tsléibhe Le Julie Breathnach-Banwait Anuas taobh an chnoic – ón ngabhdán tí meirgeach úd, tógtha ar na cosa tanaí miotail, nuair a bhuaileann néal an ghrian is a cuid oibre curtha di, is í ag réiteach chun suain – a dhoirteann an slua. Báibíní beaga fillte isteach ina bpócaí brollaigh, a gcrúcaí curláilte ar seó, is dhá shúil … Continue reading
After the Shock of Brexit, Is Irish Reunification Possible?
To encourage a future of peace and prosperity for all of Ireland, O’Toole and McBride carve their way through vast swathes of the past, providing historical context and logical, fact-based arguments. Continue reading
Music as resistance
For Kneecap, Irish is a living language that is simply a part of their daily life. But it is also part and parcel of their politics, an embodied stance of resistance against British cultural and political hegemony. Continue reading
Anois teacht an earraigh – Now with the coming of spring
Reflecting on a third life of St Brigid, Bethu Brigte, and asking if
women’s rights increased with the arrival of the Christian church. Continue reading
Meeting of the Waters: Echuca and beyond
Catherine is a direct descendant of Arthur Guinness who started the stout, (she and Wayne got special treatment at the brewery), and a grand-daughter of Harry Guinness who was a leader alongside Roger Casement and Edmund Morel in opposing Belgian slavery in the Congo. (In 2017 Catherine wrote a stunning book, Rubber Justice, about him.) Continue reading
Poetry in Irish and English: Gearóidin Nic Cárthaigh, Louis Mulcahy, Emily Cullen, Ben Keatinge
He will not study Famine roads on any map in school.
I discovered those myself much later, Trevelyan’s twisted
dictate, the futile labour of those arteries tapering
into the ether, Continue reading