Forty Shades of Black? Frank McNally on our new agricultural crop, sun-harvesting
This dramatic change in the landscape around Dublin had somehow passed me by
The Last Word: gravestone honorifics and epitaphs that get lost in translation
Plus a suspicious detail about a banshee’s ominous cries
Noises Off: Frank McNally on a famous tale of the banshee
Extraordinary sound – ‘neither voice nor instrument’ – heralded baron’s death in 1801
Glen Hansard wake: Musician rests in peace to backdrop of fiddles, flutes and songs
The Coolin, Spancil Hill, the Parting Glass, and Raglan Road among the many traditional tunes performed
Twin Reeks: Frank McNally on a new, virtual reality Croagh Patrick and the real (but changing) thing
Preparing to climb the old-fashioned way, I am reminded that the modern Reek Sunday is nothing like it was 25 or 30 years ago
Frank McNally: A history of the Mayo football famine in 75 moments
Mayo’s 1952 All-Ireland win was followed by quiet years, rain and the county’s closest neighbours rubbing salt in the wound
St Patrick’s Bed? – Frank McNally on spending All-Ireland final night in a Mayo bridal suite
After hitchhiking back from Craogh Patrick, the celebrations in Westport led to an unexpected ending for the weekend
Tens of thousands welcome Mayo’s heroes back to Castlebar as county wakes from 75-year nightmare
Hollywood movies were reimagined and book deals invented before the All-Ireland champions returned to Mayo with a very special guest
On Croagh Patrick the three-leafed shamrock predicted Mayo’s winning margin
Reek Sunday 2026: Mayo climb mountain in Croke Park as thousands of the county’s faithful ascend Croagh Patrick
Paddy Englishman: Frank McNally on a ‘multimillionaire playboy’ namesake with Monaghan roots
The late Paddy McNally spent some of his childhood in Ireland, romanced Sarah Ferguson and had brothers who did unspeakable things to cats
Frank McNally: Dublin is dirtier than ever and badly needs a downpour
The issue is the dried-in grime, accumulated from two months of leaks and spillages, and from the primordial ooze that gathers around the base of bins
Mayo’s Boheh Stone is a national monument, but a new step threatens its 6,000-year-old carvings
Addition of a step to help people onto the stone has hastened the demise of its 6,000-year-old carvings
They call it an epic, but The Odyssey was a harder watch than the woeful World Cup final
I’ll give Christopher Nolan’s film this much: the wooden horse was good
Going Gone – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of Irish go-go dancing
Plus: Diplomacy requires envoys of bad luck to avoid Spain’s and Argentina’s embassies on Sunday
Scuff and tumble: Frank McNally on the art of ageing pubs (also applicable to literature)
In Riga, Paddy Whelan’s pub went to great lengths to ensure it looked authentic