A Fairy Tale of Dún Laoghaire 2
I knew the game was up when my mother told me that Santy had given…
Browsing: Society & Culture
Hooray for Jolly January!
It is coming up to one of the best times of the year; those early…
“We have Sick Journalism in Ireland”
Joe MacAnthony might be considered the greatest investigative reporter to have ever operated in the…
One Irish Son’s Journey
It was one of those frequent blustery evenings, Wednesday May 18th, 2011. I was driving…
Is Medicine Out of Touch?
In a recent review, my colleague Ben Pantrey argues Richard Kearney’s Touch is itself out…
Sunnyvale: Eviction on Prussia Street
Who Protects Landlords? It was about one in the afternoon by the time I reached…
The Empty Unconscious
Banality is the byword of mass consumerism There’s a piece of public art that for…
Ciarán O’Rourke: Breaking the Cycle
One Big Union is a self-published collection of essays by Irish poet Ciarán O’Rourke. The…
The Most Natural Thing in the World III
To tell you the truth, I could easily have been a father, and I would…
The Most Natural Thing in the World II
Are you satisfied now, ladies and gentlemen, you counsellors and therapists of all stripes, with…
The Black Hand Cafe
My ear is pressed up against the past as if to the wall of a…
Review: Richard Kearney’s Touch
Touch: Recovering Our Most Vital Sense is a recently published work by Irish philosopher and…
The Most Natural Thing in the World (I)
Build me a cabin in Utah Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout Have a…
Towards the Brink of the Cataract
Unaware of the roaring cataract ahead, a small boy splashes in the dark river named…
Jack B. Yeats: Painting and Memory
Often overshadowed by his elder, Nobel laureate, brother W.B., Jack Butler Yeats occupies an exalted…
A Solution to the Housing Crisis
The penny drops as I listen to RTE’s Liveline. There’s a highly articulate woman in…
David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
I have a mild neurosis, situated in Utopian wish-fulfillment, of the ideal that I often…
Where is Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World?
For Christmas two years ago, my mother bought me a copy of Sally Rooney’s novel…
Love and Literature in Numbers
Whenever I think about Literature I think about Love. Both are written with big Ls.…
Housing: Enshrining the Gambler
To understand the origins of the Irish Housing Crisis we also need to look beyond…