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Port in a Storm – Frank McNally on the strange story of the Sicilian Emmets

Port in a Storm – Frank McNally on the strange story of the Sicilian Emmets

A striking resemblance

Thu Sept 01 2022 - 19:10
Dead Central Sicily - Frank McNally on the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo

Dead Central Sicily - Frank McNally on the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo

Tales from the crypt

Wed Aug 31 2022 - 19:01
Tyred and Emotional - Frank McNally on the ups and downs of driving in Sicily

Tyred and Emotional - Frank McNally on the ups and downs of driving in Sicily

An offer I couldn’t refuse

Tue Aug 30 2022 - 19:15
Madonna è mobile  –  Frank McNally on a Sicilian tale of two Madonnas

Madonna è mobile – Frank McNally on a Sicilian tale of two Madonnas

Miraculous sightings

Fri Aug 19 2022 - 19:01
No Flowers, Please - Frank McNally on the etymological ambush of Beal na Bláth

No Flowers, Please - Frank McNally on the etymological ambush of Beal na Bláth

Disputes over placenames

Thu Aug 18 2022 - 19:01
Frank McNally on the Dublin-born newspaper mogul, Lord Northcliffe, who died 100 years ago

Frank McNally on the Dublin-born newspaper mogul, Lord Northcliffe, who died 100 years ago

The most successful newspaper publisher of his time

Wed Aug 17 2022 - 19:01
Fan Fiction - Frank McNally on football’s fondness for the ‘unbelievable’

Fan Fiction - Frank McNally on football’s fondness for the ‘unbelievable’

The thesaurus of incredulity

Tue Aug 16 2022 - 19:02
Take me to chapel - Frank McNally on why traditional Catholics never went to church

Take me to chapel - Frank McNally on why traditional Catholics never went to church

A crucial distinction

Fri Aug 12 2022 - 20:01
Out With a Bang - Frank McNally on the cult of the newspaper “knock-down”

Out With a Bang - Frank McNally on the cult of the newspaper “knock-down”

A time-honoured ritual

Thu Aug 11 2022 - 19:01
Rough Justice - Frank McNally on the unlikely romance between Eoin O’Duffy and Micheal MacLiammóir

Rough Justice - Frank McNally on the unlikely romance between Eoin O’Duffy and Micheal MacLiammóir

The odd couple

Wed Aug 10 2022 - 19:20
Put Out by Putin - Frank McNally on the perils of undiplomatic language

Put Out by Putin - Frank McNally on the perils of undiplomatic language

It may be time for an audit of all body-based metaphors

Tue Aug 09 2022 - 19:01
A quarter of two halves: Frank McNally on tourism, homelessness and Emily in Paris

A quarter of two halves: Frank McNally on tourism, homelessness and Emily in Paris

Pilgrims pose for selfies around the area featured in the hit TV series

Fri Aug 05 2022 - 19:36
Was Gustav Holst German or English? Frank McNally on ethnic confusion

Was Gustav Holst German or English? Frank McNally on ethnic confusion

English composer grew up within the furlongs of the famous Cheltenham racecourse

Thu Aug 04 2022 - 19:34
The Life of Oreille: Frank McNally on a famous French anthropologist with a very Irish name

The Life of Oreille: Frank McNally on a famous French anthropologist with a very Irish name

The ‘missionary-ethnographer’ amassed a huge collection of artefacts and documents

Wed Aug 03 2022 - 19:32
Cultic Mist: Frank McNally on the weirdness of watching Irish sport in Paris

Cultic Mist: Frank McNally on the weirdness of watching Irish sport in Paris

GAA in such circumstances seems to imply almost religious devotion

Tue Aug 02 2022 - 19:20
Turning and Turning: Frank McNally on history repeating

Turning and Turning: Frank McNally on history repeating

Echoes of the past

Fri Jul 15 2022 - 19:01
Holed Up – Frank McNally on escaping the apocalypse in West Cork

Holed Up – Frank McNally on escaping the apocalypse in West Cork

Swiss role in cold war “funk hole”

Thu Jul 14 2022 - 19:01
Revolutionaries and inmates: Frank McNally on the Irish and the storming of the Bastille

Revolutionaries and inmates: Frank McNally on the Irish and the storming of the Bastille

A Dubliner among the prisoners defied the law of probability

Wed Jul 13 2022 - 19:01
Who’s bringing the horse to France? A history of Ireland in 100 questions

Who’s bringing the horse to France? A history of Ireland in 100 questions

Riddle me this

Tue Jul 12 2022 - 19:01
And the Beatrices Go On - Frank McNally on the dark-haired beauties of Joyce, Dante, and Patrick Kavanagh

And the Beatrices Go On - Frank McNally on the dark-haired beauties of Joyce, Dante, and Patrick Kavanagh

Mane attraction

Fri Jul 08 2022 - 19:01
Sailing into the sunset - Frank McNally on Shelley’s last voyage

Sailing into the sunset - Frank McNally on Shelley’s last voyage

Poet met his untimely death aged 29, 200 years ago

Thu Jul 07 2022 - 19:01
Noises Off - Frank McNally on opera, snoring, and vintage tractors

Noises Off - Frank McNally on opera, snoring, and vintage tractors

Those chimes so sweetly stealing

Wed Jul 06 2022 - 19:01
Frank McNally on the byways of North Cork

Frank McNally on the byways of North Cork

Grassy Knell

Tue Jul 05 2022 - 19:02
Frank McNally on mural madness (Part 2)

Frank McNally on mural madness (Part 2)

Wall of Unsound

Fri Jul 01 2022 - 19:17
Dogs of War (continued) - Frank McNally on the other four-legged “Convict 224″

Dogs of War (continued) - Frank McNally on the other four-legged “Convict 224″

A pedigree chum

Thu Jun 30 2022 - 19:02
Stone Mad: Frank McNally on the mysterious Irish tradition of wall biting

Stone Mad: Frank McNally on the mysterious Irish tradition of wall biting

Is it only a Meath thing?

Wed Jun 29 2022 - 19:01
Magical Mystery Meath

Magical Mystery Meath

Frank McNally on a weekend in Kells

Tue Jun 28 2022 - 19:02
A Run on the Banks

A Run on the Banks

Saturday Diary

Fri Jun 24 2022 - 19:01
A Hunger for Art

A Hunger for Art

Frank McNally on an extraordinary sculpture garden in West Cork

Thu Jun 23 2022 - 19:01
Hostages to Fortune

Hostages to Fortune

Frank McNally on a radical new production of a classic Irish short story

Wed Jun 22 2022 - 19:01
Noteworthy roads  - Frank McNally on Dublin’s musical streetscape

Noteworthy roads - Frank McNally on Dublin’s musical streetscape

Signs of musical heritage everywhere

Sat Jun 18 2022 - 05:00
Bloomsday: Skeleton onesies, period dress and at least 88 full Joycean breakfasts

Bloomsday: Skeleton onesies, period dress and at least 88 full Joycean breakfasts

Gravediggers Bar deputised for Barney Kiernan’s as backdrop for Bloomsday performance of Cyclops episode

Thu Jun 16 2022 - 20:52
Ulysses and me – Frank McNally and his long relationship with Joyce’s greatest book

Ulysses and me – Frank McNally and his long relationship with Joyce’s greatest book

A diary for Bloomsday

Thu Jun 16 2022 - 05:00
Fair cop? – Frank McNally on the possible real-life model for Joyce’s undertaker

Fair cop? – Frank McNally on the possible real-life model for Joyce’s undertaker

Who was the inspiration for Cornelius ‘Corny’ Kelleher?

Wed Jun 15 2022 - 05:00
Royal flush – Frank McNally on Judy Garland, the Theatre Royal, and Mulligan’s pub

Royal flush – Frank McNally on Judy Garland, the Theatre Royal, and Mulligan’s pub

It’s 60 years since Dublin’s Theatre Royal was demolished

Sat Jun 11 2022 - 05:00
Molly coddled – Frank McNally on the real-life backstory of Joyce’s Molly Bloom

Molly coddled – Frank McNally on the real-life backstory of Joyce’s Molly Bloom

For a novelist James Joyce was notoriously reluctant to make stuff up

Fri Jun 10 2022 - 05:00
Our Daily Dread – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of diary writing

Our Daily Dread – Frank McNally on the ups and downs of diary writing

Some publications get in guest celebrity diarists - not this column which has been on the go since 1927

Thu Jun 09 2022 - 05:42
Feckless father – Frank McNally on the property and paternity portfolios of John Joyce

Feckless father – Frank McNally on the property and paternity portfolios of John Joyce

James Joyce’s father filled his house with children and with debts

Wed Jun 08 2022 - 05:00
Taking the Mick – Frank McNally on racial epithets, dogs of war, and Kipling’s romanticised Irish

Taking the Mick – Frank McNally on racial epithets, dogs of war, and Kipling’s romanticised Irish

Furore over a certain British army regiment and its nickname

Fri Jun 03 2022 - 19:30
Patrick Kavanagh out of the doldrums and back in the drumlins with revamped centre

Patrick Kavanagh out of the doldrums and back in the drumlins with revamped centre

Patrick Kavanagh Centre reopens after €1.2m facelift

Fri Jun 03 2022 - 01:00
On the Road to Nowhere – Frank McNally on being too old to read Jack Kerouac

On the Road to Nowhere – Frank McNally on being too old to read Jack Kerouac

Writer's Hiberno-Breton origins

Thu Jun 02 2022 - 19:30
Baths of My Own Lovely Lee – Frank McNally on a Corkman who revolutionised personal hygiene

Baths of My Own Lovely Lee – Frank McNally on a Corkman who revolutionised personal hygiene

Dr Richard Barter established in the Leeside village of Inniscarra in 1856 a fashion that soon spread to Britain and beyond.

Wed Jun 01 2022 - 19:30
Throwing Lions to Christians – Frank McNally on St Ronan and the cult of French rugby

Throwing Lions to Christians – Frank McNally on St Ronan and the cult of French rugby

Western France has a church dedicated to rugby

Tue May 31 2022 - 19:45
Frank McNally on how Bruce Springsteen concerts became a luxury product

Frank McNally on how Bruce Springsteen concerts became a luxury product

Fill out for subheadline

Fri May 27 2022 - 19:58
Southern Discomfort

Southern Discomfort

Friday Diary

Thu May 26 2022 - 21:00
Just Another Manic Tuesday – Frank McNally on a day of mixed Emos

Just Another Manic Tuesday – Frank McNally on a day of mixed Emos

The Irish origins of “Emo” are mysterious

Wed May 25 2022 - 19:46
Fellow traveller – Frank McNally on the ‘republican widowhood’ of Dervla Murphy

Fellow traveller – Frank McNally on the ‘republican widowhood’ of Dervla Murphy

An Irishman’s Diary

Tue May 24 2022 - 19:34
Ardal O’Hanlon: ‘I have met at least three people who have killed other people’

Ardal O’Hanlon: ‘I have met at least three people who have killed other people’

The comedian on his new ‘crimey’ novel set in an border town that’s ‘not Carrickmacross’

Sat May 21 2022 - 06:00
Freudian slip-road – Frank McNally on ‘Ballyduff’, Percy French, and George Bush’s Lady Macbeth moment

Freudian slip-road – Frank McNally on ‘Ballyduff’, Percy French, and George Bush’s Lady Macbeth moment

An Irishman’s Diary

Fri May 20 2022 - 19:45
Between Foxrock and a hard place – Frank McNally on Samuel Beckett’s Cooldrinagh

Between Foxrock and a hard place – Frank McNally on Samuel Beckett’s Cooldrinagh

An Irishman’s Diary

Thu May 19 2022 - 19:33
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