I began the #ReadIrishWomenChallenge back in April 2019 as a way to spotlight great work by Irish female authors, and to start a conversation about their writing. Now that it’s in its third year, the real challenge is keeping things fresh and interesting while holding on to old favourites. To use a gardening metaphor, it means a certain amount of judicious pruning while ruthlessly uprooting old plants and planting new ones…and you’re not sure how it will all work until …
Category: History
The southside suburbs located between the Grand Canal and the Dodder encompass the area we now know as Dublin 4. It contains some of the most expensive roads and houses …
James Baldwin once wrote that the reason people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because, once the hate is gone, people know they will be forced to deal with …
Based on three generations of my own family, the seeds of Life Sentences were planted early. Until I was seven years old, I was blessed with a grandmother who …
The Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War make up the Irish Revolution, whose legacy is the independent State that we have today. Michael B. Barry brings …
Christmas 2020 promises to be one like no other. Most of us will be at home. There’ll be less visiting but more home fires; less cocktails in bars but more …
One of the best history books I’ve read, that is both accessible and broad, is E.H. Gombrich’s informative A Little History of the World. Originally published back in 1935, and …
When I was three my parents drove from Kerry to Dublin. I spent the journey sticking my head between the driver and passenger seats and bombarding them with questions. No …
Ideas come from many places, but a story about waylaid Girl Guide cookies is definitely one of my most unusual sources of inspiration. The story – related in a US …
The Pull of the Stars began over sixteen years ago when I was in premature labour with our first child who, as a playful five-year-old, would be my model for …
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