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Frank McNally

Frank McNally

Frank McNally is a journalist and author. He has covered a wide range of subjects for The Irish Times, including politics, sport, and literature. A former National Media Awards winner for his Dail and tribunal sketches, he is now chief writer of the daily Irishman's Diary column.

‘Later, in time-honoured fashion, four nuts loosened without a struggle. For the fifth, I had to stand on the wheel-wrench, and then perform part of Riverdance on it.’ Photograph: Getty Images
Men and the art of car-wheel maintenance

An Irishman’s Diary: When in doubt, try kicking the tyre

‘Then I got sucked in, thanks to The Little Museum of Dublin’s uniquely interactive feature, a state-of-the-art, fully human curator who wanders around the rooms striking up conversations with visitors and then (“you’d be interested in this”) matching them with exhibits. His name is Trevor White and, having created the museum back in 2011, he is now its director.’ Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times
A literary digression

An Irishman’s Diary In which our hero attempts to experience European Literature Night but loses the plot

‘The real-life Seamus McGowan had shared a room with Seán O’Casey (above) and was no stranger to bombs. But as his Starry-Plough-bedecked headstone records, he was somewhat luckier than the pedlar, dying peacefully in 1955.’ Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Elegy written in a city churchyard

An Irishman’s Diary: The last word on a famous lexicographer

Red-tinted glasses: Alex Ferguson at a training session in 2011. Photograph: Matthew Peters/MUFC/Getty
Alex Ferguson: a winner, a great manager and the biggest bully of his generation

I’m not an ABU bigot, but the retiring Manchester United boss personified everything that was wrong with football

‘In one letter, Tolkien admitted “a certain distaste” for Celtic myths. They were like broken, stained-glass windows, reassembled at random, he thought. “Colourful”, in other words, but “mad”.’ Above, the grave of Tolkien and his wife Edith, in Oxford, England. Photograph: Graham Barclay/BWP Media/Getty Images
Muddled Earth

JRR Tolkien’s tortured relationship with Ireland

‘The Burren was and remains one of very few places on the planet to feature “reverse transhumance”: farmers putting cattle out to upland pasture in winter, rather than summer.’ Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Hermits, herbs, and Hobbits

An Irishman’s Diary: On a Clare day, you can see a lot

‘The journalist’s wife had fallen for it recently. And sure enough, it started with the apparent discovery of a ring in the street and ended with the shake-down. The wife parted with £2. But in some cases, she later learned from police, people paid a lot more.’ Photgraph: Getty Images
A ring of untruth

An Irishman’s Diary: The globalisation of an Irish scam

‘The Great Limerick Run is formed by several tributaries that start separately and follow different courses before converging into a single torrent of humanity.’ Photograph: Kieran Clancy
Great run, and the support was pretty good too

An Irishman’s Diary: Limerick proves a lady for 10,000 race participants

‘On the same basis that a shock will often cure hiccups, I mentioned the ultimate example of how prized high-pitched male voices once were: the castrato.’ Photograph: iStockphoto
Suffering for art

An Irishman’s Diary: Painful reflections from a night at the concert hall

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Also in Politics

Taoiseach Enda Kenny vists a memorial in Copley Square near the finish line of the Boston Marathon to lay flowers with Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. Photograph: Dominick Reuter/Reuters Kenny says boycotting Cardinal entitled to his opinion
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and the Justice Minister Alan Shatter attend a memorial service for Gardai killed in the line of duty at Dublin Gardens, Dublin Castle on Saturday. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire Kenny backs Shatter over use of information on Wallace
Minister of State Brian Hayes said the Government’s target of achieving €300 million in savings on the public service pay and pensions bill this year was still an ambition. Photograph : Matt Kavanagh/The Irish Times Croke Park savings target ‘may not be achieved’ this year
Taoiseach Enda Kenny visited a memorial in Copley Square near the finish line of the Boston marathon to lay flowers with Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis today. Photograph: Dominick Reuter/Reuters Taoiseach lays flowers in memory of Boston marathon blast victims
The Seanad chamber. “The Government decision this week to allow the Seanad Reform Bill 2013 to pass to committee stage without a vote arose for reasons of realpolitik rather than from any commitment to reform.” Photograph: Alan Betson Cabinet allowed Seanad reform Bill to advance because it had little choice

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