An officer and a Dublin man: Frank McNally on ‘perhaps the most brilliant general in British history’
Garnet Wolseley ‘followed his own maxim that if a young officer wants to do well he should try to get himself killed’
An Irish Diary
An Irish Diary
Forever Auvers – Frank McNally on the village where Vincent van Gogh spent his last days
The French village remains a place of pilgrimage for admirers of the artist and his work
A nicer kind of riot – Frank McNally on the Irish cultural storming of Paris
Shops were braced for looters who never arrived on a weekend of dancing, music and Ulysses-inspired perfumes
Eileen Gray was evicted from a Paris grave. Her ashes remain lost but a new memorial has been created
Plaque paying tribute to Irish designer and architect is unveiled at Paris’s Père-Lachaise cemetery on 50th anniversary of her death
Hidden depths: Ray Burke on the extraordinary life of a submarine commander and sailor
William King came to live in Oranmore, Co Galway, after serving throughout the second World War
Low profile: Brendan McNamara on the life and work of Isabella Honan, one of Cork’s most generous philanthropists
To commemorate the bicentenary of her birth, the Honan Trust has commissioned a musical composition in her honour
Pickleball has a ridiculous name and lots of rules. But it’s addictive
John McEnroe may have called it ‘stupid’, yet pickleball is fast, fun and frustrating, the key ingredients of all successful sports
Frank McNally on Britain’s perennial problem with Irish women’s names
Siobhán no longer seems to be an issue, but attentions have turned to Caoimhe
He came, he sawed, he won the libel case – Frank McNally on a theatrical sensation in Waterford, 100 years ago
This was a case of two halves, not just because it had a ‘magician’ sawing through a glam female aide
Books of Evidence – Frank McNally on a Dublin Garda station’s homage to literature
Step out of the car and admire a wonderful and incongruous celebration
The banshee is alive and well on the western seaboard
It is not too difficult to believe in her – whoever the hell she is – when the wind is howling and whispering through the trees late at night
The first Irish-language book to top the bestseller list
Published 50 years ago this week, Breandán Ó hEithir loosely based Lig Sinn I gCathú on his own college experiences
Dead Sails in the Sunset: Frank McNally on the cultural evolution of a Dublin windmill
Liberties tower is getting a second wind with new event space
Sweet and sour: Frank McNally on how Russian brutality brought the Mary cake to Ireland
Henry Spelter, one of the Hungarians who fled his native land 70 years ago, found work at Bewley’s
Free Show: Frank McNally on the liberating power of prison art
Time Well Spent is an exhibition running for a month and including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textile craftwork and an installation called Reflections From Home
Mr Nobody and a broken vase: Frank McNally on a British Museum accident with historic resonance
In 1845, a young Dubliner visited the museum and committed an act of vandalism that should have earned him permanent infamy
Definitely a runner: Alan Milton on preparing for Sunday’s Dublin Marathon
Talk of split times, strides and boomerang runs becomes second nature as do jitters about ‘Heartbreak Hill’
Caveat aware: Ronan McGreevy on the speech that sparked a president’s resignation
Paddy Donegan was defence minister 50 years ago when he uttered two words that made political history
Conversations on a Homecoming: Frank McNally on returning to the Dáil after a 20-year absence
A return to the Dáil press gallery reveals new security arrangements, familiar political rituals and an enduring dress code
Try walking in Patrick Kavanagh’s shoes: one man’s pilgrimage from Inniskeen to Dublin
For Frank Greally, this ‘gratitude walk’ has great historic resonance
Adventures as Gaeilge: The bestselling Irish-language author who captivated young readers
English-born Cathal Ó Sándair wrote 160 books in Irish, many featuring the suave sleuth Réics Carló
‘Doubly endangered’ Dublin fanlight horse discovered
The Ringsend property where the figurine stands is up for sale
‘Fancy’ food and the ‘priest’s sugar’: hosting a station Mass at home
A rural tradition where the woman of the house complied, the clergy had to be appeased - and there was to be no scrimping
Fr Eamonn refused to buy pints for me in London, long before his reputation was shredded
The ebullient young priest who had impressed me so much is now dead
Frank McNally solves the mystery of columns
Jostlestones prevented damage to the wheels of carriages and traps in days gone by
Darkness into light: Frank McNally on a history-themed quiz in Joyce’s Nighttown
The pub quiz was just around the corner from World’s End, and one of the more famous corners in world literature
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya: Frank McNally on a piece of Route 66 that is forever Irish
Details of how the town of Shamrock acquired its name are somewhat obscured
Another sighting of the lesser-spotted Dublin fanlight horse
A second surviving specimen stands in the window of a Hendrick Street house in Smithfield
Dead Ringer – Frank McNally on a tragic real-life counterpart of a fictional Joycean character
Eveleen Nicolls drowned while trying to save a girl on the Great Blasket in 1909
I saw Switzerland’s Alpine treasures melting away. It was a sobering experience
It remains a spectacular vista, but the snow caps and glaciers are now fading before our eyes
‘They never made it out’: The biggest loss of life in the history of Dublin Fire Brigade
The Pearse Street fire of 1936 broke out at the premises of Exide Batteries 90 years ago this Monday, October 5th
Autumn reflection: Frank McNally finds poetic cheer in the October gloom
Rereading Patrick Kavanagh’s poem has brought the sobering thought that it may be October in my life now too
Charge of the Fanlight Brigade: a positive sighting of a threatened Dublin species
The horses are not extinct – but whatever did they mean?
Postcards from the Edge – Frank McNally on Samuel Beckett’s newly published German Diaries
Travelling around Nazi Germany, he wrote presciently about war and found inspiration for Waiting for Godot
Shunning victory: Frank McNally on 146 years of the ‘boycott’
Coventry was the proverbial destination in a popular metaphor that meant the same thing
Schools of rock: Denis McClean on the fifth member of U2 – the fans
Mount Temple may have produced a U2, but my school, St Paul’s in Raheny, produced a Gerry Ryan and a Marty Whelan
The Foggy Dew: Frank McNally on the Rising ballad’s confused origins and contested lyrics
Legend has it the song’s genesis can be traced to the first Dáil, but facts prove otherwise
Hecht off – Frank McNally on the testing testimony of a brilliant newspaper man
New York-born journalist and author set bar rather high for those who followed
Blue-sky thinking: Áine Ryan on the joys of an Indian summer
This sunshine is like a breath of fresh air challenging the usual seasonal changes
Shafts of Light: Frank McNally on accidentally joining the golf correspondents’ club
Also: St Brendan’s voyage to the White House, and why AI talks like James Joyce and Flann O’Brien
At the ‘Art Olympics’ in Venice, the horrors of Gaza have not been forgotten
Prize jury of the Venice Biennale resigned before the doors opened in a protest over the participation of Russia and Israel
We’ve been wrong about bats all along. It turns out they’re quite the wonder
They don’t fit into the cuddly variety of animals, but to witness them flying around at night is a spectacle
Strong words: America’s ‘greatest diarist’ whose many dislikes included the Irish
Caustic New Yorker had little time for spiritualists, abolitionists, organ grinders, mosquitoes and snobs, either
Asterisked de Gaulle: Frank McNally on the lesser-known, and Irish-speaking, namesake of the general
Charles de Gaulle (1837–1880) anticipated Patrick Pearse by half a century
Bally-aric Island: Frank McNally on feeling surprisingly at home in Menorca
Irishman’s Diary: There is a piece of the Menorcan road network that is forever Irish
Frank McNally: Trump Tower? Doonbeg Castle’s turbulent history and mystery hoard of gold
Away from US president’s golf course, romantic ruin stands as reminder of dark days and dreams
Fascinating tale of modern-day cavemen was early lesson in fake news
In 1966, a trapper named Dafal came across a Filipino tribe apparently untouched by modernity
Tycoon king of the castles: Magnate Hearst built pleasure-domes from California to Galway
American newspaper giant’s ties to Ireland stretch back to a childhood visit to Dublin
A leisurely visit to the Bayeux tapestry when it was still in Normandy
Prized medieval work of art will be on show in London until July next year
When pirates ruled the waves: recalling the golden era of radio in Cork
You could hear anything from punk rockers to right-wing moralisers campaigning against the availability of condoms
The Great War: ‘The heroic dead of Ireland have every right to the homage of the living’
Money was raised by public appeal for memorials to those who fought in the South Irish Divisions of the first World War
Cork’s Kilmainham: ‘It’s a 1916 site because Thomas Kent was executed there’
Sometimes, former prisons can have a very interesting second life
In search of Pietro Bossi: The Italian craftsman shrouded in the mystery of his life in Dublin
Examples of the stucco worker and marble inlayer’s pieces can be found in Áras an Uachtaráin and Hugh Lane Gallery
A chance encounter with Nelson’s Pillar in Kilkenny
Once the tallest Doric column in the world, the remains of the O’Connell Street monument are now arranged in a circle in walled gardens
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices