An Irishman's Diary | The Irish Times

Thomas Francis Meagher: died 150 years ago on July 1st

Flying the flag – An Irishman’s Diary on Thomas Francis Meagher

Brian Maye
June 27, 2017

Charles Haughey. Photograph: Jack McManus

Irony supplement – An Irishman’s Diary on turning over a new leaf with Haughey

Deaglán de Bréadún
June 26, 2017

Detail from Aubrey Beardsley’s illustration to Oscar Wilde’s ‘Salome’

Luck be a Saint – An Irishman’s Diary about the changing fortunes of June 24th

Frank McNally
June 24, 2017

A racy title from 1538

Stealing – The Show: An Irishman’s Diary about literary larceny at Ireland’s oldest public library

Frank McNally
June 23, 2017

Throwaway returns to the winner’s enclosure after winning the Gold Cup at Ascot in 1904

Racy Literature – An Irishman’s Diary about James Joyce, adultery, and the Ascot Gold Cup

Frank McNally
June 22, 2017

The alleged Gold Cup scandal of 1904 was among this year's colourful Bloomsday talks

Johannes Vermeer, Woman Writing a Letter (detail). National Gallery of Ireland

Windows on the World – An Irishman’s Diary about Vermeer, Harry Clarke, and the new-look National Gallery of Ireland

Frank McNally
June 21, 2017

Prof Hermann Real: iron inventiveness and twinkling charm

Münster titles – An Irishman’s Diary on Jonathan Swift and a remarkable German library

Derek Scally
June 20, 2017

John Joseph Hughes: founded St John’s College (now Fordham University) and laid the cornerstone of St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York

From Tyrone to New York – An Irishman’s Diary about Archbishop John Joseph Hughes

Paul Clements
June 19, 2017

An Irishman’s Diary – A Reading from the Book of Brexodus

Frank McNally
June 17, 2017

The children of Disraeli's path out of EUgypt has been beset by a fearsome tribe known as the Corbynites

John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough: his main crime in Swift’s eyes was having enriched himself on the public purse

Spoils of War – An Irishman’s Diary about Swift, the Duke of Marlborough, and a 100-year-old war tragedy in Connemara

Frank McNally
June 16, 2017

Vladimir Nabokov’s map of ‘Ulysses’

Running with the Joyceans – An Irishman’s Diary on the marathon that is ‘Ulysses’

Frank McNally
June 15, 2017

A 2013 reenactment of the Battle of Vinegar Hill in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons

Private Pike – An Irishman’s Diary about Franco-Hibernian relations

Frank McNally
June 14, 2017

Wellington Monument: foundation stone was laid 200 years ago on June 17th. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons

Glory and folly – An Irishman’s Diary on the Wellington Monument

Brian Maye
June 13, 2017

Howth Castle: the weight of history is all around, but so is the atmosphere of a continuous present

Swerve of shore to bend of bay – An Irishman’s Diary on Joyce, Howth and ‘Finnegans Wake’

Terence Killeen
June 12, 2017

The Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana, the US.

The Other Western Front – An Irishman’s Diary about the Butte mining disaster of 1917

Frank McNally
June 10, 2017

The Montana explosion was nearer the battlefields of first World War than anyone knew

Michael Hartnett: lament for a lost cat

Thinker’s Curse – An Irishman’s Diary about Michael Hartnett and his missing cat

Frank McNally
June 9, 2017

From Amplush to Zythum – An Irishman’s Diary on words that should be used more often

Frank McNally
June 8, 2017

Sir Alexander Godley

From Leitrim to New Zealand to the Western Front: An Irishman’s Diary on Sir Alexander Godley

Ronan McGreevy
June 7, 2017

Veronica Harris’s passport photograph, part of the exhibition “Portraits: Women of Cork and US Sailors’ Irish Wives, 1917-1919”

Ahoy there – An Irishwoman’s Diary on how the US navy wooed the women of Cork

Colette Sheridan
June 6, 2017

Lucian Freud, ‘Head of a Girl’ (1975). Freud Centre, Irish Museum of Modern Art

Lucian Freud: An Irishman’s Diary on the artist, his model and the eel in the bath

Giles Newington
June 5, 2017

Bobbie Gentry: reclusive

Mississippi Mystery – The 50-year-old enigma of Bobbie Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe’

Frank McNally
June 3, 2017

Nicolas Poussin – The Martyrdom of St Erasmus (detail)

Incendiary Device – An Irishman’s Diary about St Elmo’s Fire

Frank McNally
June 2, 2017

Clare cottage. “The Room was where we kept the family pictures, mainly. It tended to be cold unless there was a fire lit, which was seldom.”

Room at the Top – An Irishman’s Diary about an architectural institution of bygone times

Frank McNally
June 1, 2017

Scanning electron micrograph of the anaerobic spirochaete bacteria Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis in humans

The rise and fall of western syphilisation – An Irishman’s Diary about a once-dreaded disease

Frank McNally
May 31, 2017

Joseph McGuinness: a narrow electoral victory that had huge consequences

Joseph McGuinness and the Longford byelection of 1917 – An Irishman’s Diary on a significant milestone on the road to independence

Brian Maye
May 30, 2017

Dr Carlos Finlay

Yellow fever’s foe – An Irishman’s Diary on Carlos Finlay and the Panama Canal

Norman Freeman
May 29, 2017

Fr John Coghlan: served as a chaplain in two world wars

Champion Chaplain – An Irishman’s Diary about a remarkable Westmeath priest who served in two world wars

Frank McNally
May 27, 2017

As recorded by the poet Ovid, it was on May 26th in what we now call 17AD that Germanicus entered Rome in triumph after a series of victories over the Germans

Applause for Thought – An Irishman’s Diary on why ovations are a back-handed compliment

Frank McNally
May 26, 2017

Photograph: Dave Meehan

Dead Heat – An Irishman’s Diary on the high-speed funerals of old Dublin

Frank McNally
May 25, 2017

Daly’s Bridge, Cork, known as the Shakey Bridge

Great shakes – An Irishman’s Diary on Daly’s Bridge and sport by the Lee

Oliver O’Hanlon
May 24, 2017

Capt James Cook’s ‘Resolution’

Sea dog – An Irishman’s Diary on John Marra, a Corkman on James Cook’s voyage of 1772-1775

Jody Clarke
May 23, 2017

Courtesy of Pontifical Council for Culture

St Peter’s Cricket Club – An Irishman’s Diary on the first Irish cricket team to play the Vatican XI

Ian Kilroy
May 22, 2017

There may even now be a few traditionalist hold-outs in Ireland where “meat” is still rhymed with “mate”

Et Tu? – An Irishman’s Diary about the all-consuming question of correct pronunciation

Frank McNally
May 20, 2017

David Arnold. Courtesy of RTÉ Concert Orchestra

Bonding for Life – An Irishman’s Diary about David Arnold, a music composer uniting two very different worlds

Frank McNally
May 19, 2017

Albert Altman: was he the main model for the most famous character in ‘Ulysses’, Leopold Bloom?

Budding Bloom – An Irishman’s Diary about Altman the Saltman, plausible role model for Joyce’s most famous character

Frank McNally
May 18, 2017

Portugal’s Salvador Sobral celebrates after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Revolution in the Airs – An Irishman’s Diary about Portugal’s Eurovision winner and Laurie Anderson in Dublin

Frank McNally
May 17, 2017

US sailors in Cobh

Over here – An Irishman’s Diary on the US navy’s ‘Irish Command’ in the first World War

Mark Phelan
May 16, 2017

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

The oddest couple – An Irishwoman’s Diary on Diego Rivera and Albert Bender

Elgy Gillespie
May 15, 2017

Plonking tall, thick poles in front of the curved eastern colonnade of the Old Parliament or anywhere else on the Luas Cross City line route is much more visually obtrusive than attaching wires directly to buildings

Pole position – An Irishman’s Diary on visual clutter and the Luas Cross City line

Frank McDonald
May 13, 2017

Mark Twain: comic possibilities of cannibalism

Hunger Games – An Irishman’s Diary about Mark Twain and the Donner Party

Frank McNally
May 12, 2017

Garry Kasparov: widely considered to have been the best chess player of modern times

A Bolt from Deep Blue – An Irishman’s Diary about a famous chess match, 20 years on

Frank McNally
May 11, 2017

The Phoenix Park Polo Grounds were once on the front line of Ireland’s political divide

The politics of polo – An Irishman’s Diary about surprising links between polo and the GAA

Frank McNally
May 10, 2017

Joe McGuinness: his byelection victory for Sinn Féin in 1917 presaged the electoral wipeout of the Irish Party

‘Put him in to get him out’ – An Irishman’s Diary on Joe McGuinness, Sinn Féin and a pivotal byelection victory in 1917

Ronan McGreevy
May 9, 2017

An Irishman’s Diary on the Lesser Spotted Lawnmower Man

Pól Ó Muirí
May 8, 2017

President Douglas Hyde and Polish consul Waclaw Dobrzynski at the match between Ireland and Poland in 1938

Their Man in Eblana – An Irishman’s Diary about Poland’s Hibernophile diplomat Waclaw Dobrzynski

Frank McNally
May 6, 2017

George Bernard Shaw: “Shavian” (to rhyme with “avian”)

Shavian lather – An Irishman’s Diary on descriptive derivatives

Frank McNally
May 5, 2017

Danny McGovern: the film archive he brought back from Japan would be quietly suppressed for decades

From Monaghan to Hiroshima – An Irishman’s Diary about the extraordinary life of Danny McGovern

Frank McNally
May 4, 2017

James Joyce, circa 1917. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Larks in the Park – An Irishman’s Diary about James Joyce, cricket and running in the dark

Frank McNally
May 3, 2017

Photograph: Gunter Nowald

Birds of heaven – An Irishwoman’s Diary on cranes

Lorna Siggins
May 2, 2017

Bill O’Herlihy: reporter for RTÉ programme that led to 1969 tribunal

Helping the Garda with its inquiries – An Irishman’s Diary on the Money-Lending Tribunal

John Horgan
May 1, 2017

Heinrich Böll: 60th anniversary of his influential ‘Irisches Tagebuch’, and the 50th of its translation into English, as ‘Irish Journal’

Heinrich’s Hundred – An Irishman’s Diary about Nobel winner and hibernophile Heinrich Böll

Frank McNally
April 29, 2017

Ellen “Nellie” Cashman: it was said that her name was known in every mining town from Mexico to Alaska

A miner with a heart of gold – An Irishman’s Diary about the extraordinary Nellie Cashman

Frank McNally
April 28, 2017

Winston Churchill: “to jaw-jaw is better than to war-war”. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Rolling in the Isles – An Irishman’s Diary on how ‘rhotic’ accents rule the world

Frank McNally
April 27, 2017

Scone with the wind – An Irishman’s Diary about a pronounced difference of opinion

Frank McNally
April 26, 2017

Some 3,840 Basque children evacuated to Britain aboard the ‘Habana’ after the aerial bombing of Guernica on April 26th, 1937

Escaping the horror of Guernica – An Irishman’s Diary on Basque child refugees in 1937

William Burton
April 25, 2017

William Kent and Éamonn Ceannt with their father James in a family photogrpah taken some time before 1912. Back row: William, Richard, Michael, Éamonn, Áine (née Brennan). Front row: James Patrick, Elizabeth (née Cummins), James Snr, Nell Casey (née Kent), Jack Casey. Photograph: Courtesy of Mary Gallagher, author of ‘16 Lives: Éamonn Ceannt’

Brothers in arms – An Irishman’s Diary on William Kent and Éamonn Ceannt

Ronan McGreevy
April 24, 2017

James O’Shaughnessy: Irish-American worked to win backing for the US war effort in 1917 and 1918

Uncle Sam’s PR man – An Irishman’s Diary on James O’Shaughnessy, the US and the first World War

Colum Kenny
April 22, 2017

The Lord’s Prayer in Pitman shorthand

Take note – An Irishman’s Diary on Pitman shorthand

Michael Viney
April 21, 2017

Seamus Heaney: wise, charming and amiable. Photograph: Pat Langan

Saving the day – An Irishman’s Diary on Seamus Heaney

Deaglán de Bréadún
April 20, 2017

Practice makes the master

Making a mark – An Irishman’s Diary about language and art

Pól Ó Muirí
April 20, 2017

An Irishman’s Diary on the fighting priest of Gweedore

Brian Maye
April 20, 2017

Canon McFadden and 12 others were tried for the “murder” of Insp Martin in October 1899

Helena Molony wanted to recreate Proclamation as accurately as possible. Above: a poster of the Proclamation during 2016’s Easter Rising commerorations. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty

Easter Re-rising – An Irishman’s Diary about the first anniversary of 1916

Frank McNally
April 20, 2017

‘The Irish Times’ reported some commotion around the GPO at 9am as people noticed the reappearance of the “Sinn Féin flag” on the roof

James “Skin-the-Goat” Fitzharris was the cab-driver who brought the “Invincibles” to Dublin’s Phoenix Park one May evening in 1882.

Separating sheep from goats: An Irishman’s Diary about guilt and innocence

Frank McNally
April 20, 2017

All but forgotten today, Pyne is remembered at least in Dungarvan Museum, where exhibits include a dramatic front-page portrait from the Illustrated London News of November 1887

An Irishman’s Diary on a nationalist MP whose antics made him a celebrity

Frank McNally
April 20, 2017

‘In November 1887, he retreated from his normal living quarters into the adjoining keep’

Cyclists on the Waterford greenway

Riding the rails: An Irishman’s Diary about the Deise Greenway

Frank McNally
April 20, 2017

‘Aerobics and scenery apart, the journey still offers an education in both history and geography’

Edward Thomas: often accompanied Robert Frost on bird-watching treks through Gloucestershire

Two Roads Converged – An Irishman’s Diary about the fatal friendship of Robert Frost and Edward Thomas

Frank McNally
April 20, 2017

“It is surely not a plot spoiler to reveal that Yeats is always rebuffed by Maud Gonne”

Gonne for Lunch – An Irishman’s Diary on the joys of lunchtime theatre

Frank McNally
April 20, 2017

Michel Déon at his home in Tynagh, Co Galway, in 2000. Photograph: Joe O’Shaughnessy

‘The Immortal’ – An Irishwoman’s Diary about French writer Michel Déon and Ireland

Lara Marlowe
April 20, 2017

Re-creation of Fishamble Street by Pauline Scott

An Irishwoman’s Diary: ‘Messiah’ celebrations on the double

Olive Keogh
April 11, 2017

Handel was happy with Dublin’s reaction to his oratorio

George Russell (“AE”): self-portrait 1923

Hairy fairy revisited – An Irishman’s Diary on George Russell

Brian Maye
April 10, 2017

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial overlooking the Douai Plain in northwest France

Canada and the Great War – An Irishman’s Diary on the Battle of Vimy Ridge

Ronan McGreevy
April 10, 2017

‘Grandma Moorhead’s Aromatic Kitchen’ (detail), by Leonora Carrington

Lionising Leonora – An Irishman’s Diary about artist Leonora Carrington

Frank McNally
April 6, 2017

Harry Callan: witnessed things he would never forget

Harry’s Story – The Irish slave-labourers of the second World War

Frank McNally
April 5, 2017

“Soon all this geeking out will soon become second nature to us, since a $15 cardboard version of virtual reality helmets is already on sale for your own VR immersion experiences.” Photograph: P Chernaev/iStock

Now look here – An Irishwoman’s Diary on virtual reality

Elgy Gillespie
April 4, 2017

Émile Zola: began ‘Germinal’ on April 2nd, 1884, and finished in time for publication the following spring

Sap(s) Rising – An Irishman’s Diary on the mixed blessings of April

Frank McNally
April 1, 2017

Absurd Policeman – An Irishman’s Diary about Flann O’Brien and bicycles

Frank McNally
March 31, 2017

The frontispiece of a Bible presented to a six-year-old Samuel Beckett in 1912 for his “diligence and attendance” at Sunday school

A Reading from the Book of Samuel – An Irishman’s Diary about staging Beckett in church

Frank McNally
March 30, 2017

Daniel McNally and Rory Gallagher in Ballyshannon

Corridors of Power – An Irishman’s Diary about Ballyshannon

Frank McNally
March 29, 2017

Ned Kelly: his reputation has long been a source of dispute in Australia. Photograph: Courtesy of State Library of Victoria

Legend of Oz – An Irishman’s Diary on Ned Kelly’s outlaw life

Pádraig Collins
March 28, 2017

Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle. James McNeill Whistler, 1872–73. Oil on canvas (detail). Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow.

The Whistler in the Hallway – An Irishwoman’s Diary on James McNeill Whistler’s portrait of Thomas Carlyle

Mae Leonard
March 27, 2017

Bob Dylan: new album. Photograph: Fred Tanneau /AFP

32-counting sovereignty movement – An Irishman’s Diary about Bob Dylan

Frank McNally
March 25, 2017

Detail of a photograph by Paul Scannell of McCarthy, an abandoned mining town in Alaska

Northern Exposure – An Irishman’s Diary about McCarthy, Alaska

Frank McNally
March 24, 2017

Chris Thile: mesmerising performance. Photograph: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

A mandolin for all seasons – An Irishman’s Diary about Chris Thile

Frank McNally
March 23, 2017

Photograph: Eric Luke

Losing the Run – An Irishman’s Diary about sport and Patrick Kavanagh

Frank McNally
March 22, 2017

Michelin had a strict rule, a sacking offence in fact, that no alcoholic drink was to be consumed on the premises

When you wish upon a star – An Irishman’s Diary on working for Michelin

Hugh Oram
March 21, 2017

Detail from May Guinness’s painting L’Enfant

An Irishman’s Diary on the revolutionary art of May Guinness

Oliver O'Hanlon
March 20, 2017

Headless pint: House Speaker Paul Ryan gives a toast with a pint of Guinness this week. Photograph: Al Drago/The New York Times

An Irishman’s Diary on a comma mistake

Frank McNally
March 18, 2017

‘This has earned him the gratitude of political headline writers, renewed each time a two-faced politician with a B-name – this time last year it was “Et tu, Boris?” – makes the news.’ Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Roman omen: An Irishman’s Diary about the Ides of March

Frank McNally
March 15, 2017

‘The lingering infamy of March 15th 44 BC may have been a factor in the UK amending its schedule for triggering article 50, which was originally planned for today’

‘Back in the real world, three visits by authorised repairmen were needed to fine-tune a machine that should never have left the factory floor.’ Photograph: iStock

When the machines turn against us – An Irishman’s Diary

Steve Coronella
March 14, 2017

Steve Coronella on the inconvenient plot twists that never happen in the movies

‘Looking after your needs wasn’t my strong suit and you certainly didn’t get the TLC you deserved.’ Photograph: iStock

‘I wasn’t the greatest of partners’ – An Irishman’s Diary

John G O’Dwyer
March 13, 2017

‘You weren’t perfect, of course; you did tend to be a bit high maintenance’

I sometimes tease a certain teenager of my acquaintance when, for example, she looks gloomily into our fridge and asks: “Do we have any, like, food?”

What are you like?

Frank McNally
March 11, 2017

An Irishman’s Diary about every teenager’s favourite word

Flann O’Brien: experienced a short-lived infatuation with rugby

Conversion attempt – An Irishman’s Diary on the vexed relationship between Flann O’Brien and rugby

Frank McNally
March 10, 2017

Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman: his running theme is that the decisions we make in everyday life are often based on false assumptions

Thinking Straight and Crooked – An Irishman’s Diary about Daniel Kahneman

Frank McNally
March 9, 2017

The handsome notebook resides mainly in the suitcase, alongside the travel adapter and other things you don’t need in real life

Writers of Note – An Irishman’s Diary on the romance of pocket notebooks

Frank McNally
March 8, 2017

The use of far-ranging and reliable radar became essential at sea

Making waves – An Irishman’s Diary on the marvel of radar

Norman Freeman
March 7, 2017

The M4 motorway. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons

My way or the highway – An Irishman’s Diary on how motorways have changed our sense of place

Pól Ó Muirí
March 6, 2017

Mickey Dugan, a cartoon character known as “The Yellow Kid”, visits Blarney Castle

A Yellow Irish Kid – An Irishman’s Diary on Mickey Dugan, Irish-America and the ‘yellow press’

Colum Kenny
March 4, 2017

John Quinn, Seamus Heaney and TK Whitaker

Soft Border – An Irishman’s Diary about childhood memories of South Ulster

Frank McNally
March 3, 2017

Flora Sandes (right) - probably the first woman ever honoured with a commission as a combatant officer in a European army. Photograph: City of Vancouver Archives

A Feminist at the Front – An Irishman’s Diary about Flora Sandes

Frank McNally
March 2, 2017

Editorials

A good deal for Northern Ireland

DUP-Conservative accord

The world must act

Democratic Republic of Congo

Our Columnists

Diarmaid Ferriter

Diarmaid Ferriter -

Diarmaid Ferriter: Wanted – independent civilian Garda chief

Paul Gillespie

Paul Gillespie -

Brexit will force creative thinking on status of North

Breda O'Brien

Breda O'Brien -

Exam reforms in England and Ireland are very different

Pat Leahy - Political Editor

Meet the new politics. Same as the old politics

Most Discussed

Letters

Most Read

1 Former aide to Princess Diana named on Ireland’s tax defaulters list

2 Donald Trump congratulates Leo Varadkar on ‘great victory’

3 Concern man receiving costly healthcare engaged in ‘elaborate hoax’

4 Berlin police sent home after ‘shameful’ night in Hamburg

5 Live giant lobster found in passenger’s luggage at Boston airport

Never miss a story.

Sign In

Forgot Password?

Sign Out