Did ‘divine intervention’ on Merrion Street lead to a cure for leprosy?
As with many great discoveries, there was an element of chance involved for Cork-born scientist Vincent Barry
An Irish Diary
An Irish Diary
Fool’s paradise: Frank McNally on a cliche beloved of obituarists
Not a day passes when a writer does not note that the deceased ‘didn’t suffer fools gladly’
A Tale of Two Hospitals – Frank McNally on the architectural dramas of Kilmainham
Royal Hospital there was built as home for old and wounded soldiers at time of relative peace
The small patch of Dublin where the Jameses – Joyce and Connolly – passed each other by
Both men had considerably different views on life, but their worlds intersected through writing
Golden years: Colm Keena on why Dublin was the best place to be growing up in the 1970s
What surprised me was how much I liked the guns - and I also learned how to throw grenades
The pledge: Denis McClean on the pitfalls along the way to giving up the demon drink
Trust your instincts and know that one must always be on guard against the begrudgers
Rewrites and Wrongs: Frank McNally on reinterpreting Thin Lizzy for a new generation
I may have been lulled into a false sense of senility by the opening verse
Sinners’ redemption: Frank McNally on vampires, Irish music and the Ku Klux Klan
Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners features trad music and vampirism, and has macabre echoes of a real-life event 100 years ago
Good (and Bad) Vibrations – Frank McNally on Vibe for Philo, immersive James Joyce and 4DX Avatar
Some Lizzy veterans must have worried they’d slipped into the next world
Stepping out: How the wondrous benefits of walking have been brought to book
Stephen Graham’s maxim was: ‘The less you carry, the more you will see’
Blood simple: Alison Healy on the vital importance of a selfless, life-saving act
Irish people should be world leaders at offering our blood to strangers but, unfortunately, we are not
Hibernian Rhapsody: Frank McNally on the rise of a great football anthem, Sunshine on Leith
You might question the wisdom of the ballad’s central metaphor as a guarantor of success in relationships or football
Just the ticket: Why tangible mementoes will always have a place in a digital world
The barcodes on the tickets seemed intact, though there was always a chance they wouldn’t scan properly on the day
Tony Soprano was right, the best is over: An Irish Diary on the decline of regional papers
Connacht Tribune had worldwide scoop when aviators Alcock and Brown landed outside Clifden in 1919
‘Every hip, young thing in south County Dublin seemed to be partying it up at Leopardstown’
Leppers, lepers and the Lep: the racing festival on St Stephen’s Day
I had the flu recently, and it taught me the power of terrestrial daytime TV
When ill with the flu, I craved quizzes, recovering animals and countryside homes
Packing them in: Denis McClean on the company taking theatre around the world in a suitcase
Fishamble was in danger of becoming a hot news item again last March
In the line of fire: Conor Brady on the brutal killing of a young garda 100 years ago
Gardaí in north Clare were clamping down hard on the poitín makers
‘Am I no longer a child? Are so many of the years past? How quickly they have flown!’
Shore had good reason to reflect on her mortality
Classic jingle: How a US suburb provided the setting for one of the world’s most famous Christmas tunes
As with much local history, discrepancies have emerged
Love Lee: Colette Sheridan on a new exhibition celebrating Cork’s river
Artist and Buddhist nun Mary P O’Connor doesn’t sugarcoat the history of the river Lee
Frank McNally on 19th century engineering project that linked Tipperary with ‘civilisation’
Fr Edmond Walsh was a late vocation, having previously worked as a carter
A Passage to Innocence – Frank McNally on an anthology of old school routes remembered
Routes described range geographically from Caherdavin to China
Craicing the Case – Frank McNally on the origins of a cultural and linguistic phenomenon
I also lamented that the compunction to do things for the craic was not yet recognised as a defence in Irish courts
Frank McNally on a grand stretch in the evenings, a new Dublin restaurant and ‘Gloomsday’
Strung-out Joyceans will use any excuse for a hit
Drum role: Alison Healy casts an incredulous eye over a much-loved Christmas carol
By all accounts, the stable in Bethlehem was busier than Heuston Station following Jesus’s birth
Kindred spirit: Áine Ryan on the joys of reliving a Christmas childhood through her grandchildren
To be fair to his mammy, Saoirse, she did express trepidation when I sent her a picture of my Christmas tree
The woman who enchanted Proust – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of Gladys Marlborough
Gladys, meanwhile, entertained herself and guests with memories of countless former lovers
‘He never said that’: Frank McNally is tired of hearing a phantom WB Yeats quote
It was a week of oral exams as the art of storytelling excelled at parties and awards ceremonies
Fighting Farney – Frank McNally on the battle for his hometown’s ‘western front’
Carrickmacross's lopsided pub distribution seems to be indirect effect of a deeper division
Monumental misstep: Frank McNally on the ‘tragedy’ of a great Irish sculptor, John Hughes
What should have been the peak of the sculptor’s career was doomed to coincide with what the Chinese call interesting times
Royal visit: Queen Victoria’s many connections to Ireland
She first set foot in Ireland not long after the worst years of the famine on August 2nd, 1849, at Cobh
Kerry colossus: Denis McClean remembers Con Houlihan, a giant of Irish journalism
Waiting for Houlihan to reach his destination was part of the pleasure of reading the Castle Island native
Frank McNally: Investigating the mystery of the black stork’s Irish roots
This beautiful and shy bird is a rare visitor now, but that may not always have been the case
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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