187 words
William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet, playwright, and politician, was born on this day in 1865. One of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century, Yeats’ life and work straddle the great divide between Romanticism and Modernism. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
In life and in art, Yeats rejected modern rationalism, materialism, and egalitarianism. He saw them as coarsening and brutalizing.
Beloved British cartoon character Peppa Pig has been unmasked as a horrible racist after being shown doing such unconscionable things as buying fiddles and attending an Irish dancing festival during a trip to Ireland.
2,660 words
Late to the party
There seems to be a political axiom whereby it is clear that a party or its leaders are in trouble when they start doing things, or at least start talking about doing things, which the majority of people actually want done. Thus, we see Angela Rayner, the blowsy Deputy Shadow Prime Minister, “talking tough” (translated from politico, that means horse-shitting) on crime. Ms. Rayner recently called Tories “scum” on social media. I don’t know where she thinks these mythical Tories are, but they certainly aren’t in the Conservative Party. (more…)
4,626 words
Throughout the North, the ground still lies beneath a blanket of snow, and springtime seems a distant memory. Yet now, at the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, signs of nature’s rebirth are starting to appear: cold mornings give way to sunny, warm afternoons, grasses and blossoms begin to emerge, and the sound of birdsong once again fills the forest. The time of snow and ice is not yet past and the Earth still lies dormant — but she is starting to awaken.
The first weeks of February were of special significance to our European ancestors, and a number of holy days, now largely forgotten, took place at this time: (more…)
1,450 words
What is it like to be part of a family as large as a nation? If that family is the city of Belfast and that nation is the Irish, then Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast gives us quite the clue. Effectively, this film is a love letter to the Irish people — and everything in it suggests that “the Irish” refers only to those who share a common ethnicity. Yes, there are a smattering of Asians in the film — which may be realistic, given that the story takes place in 1969 — but these so-called “people of color” are not employed against history as props but as fittingly minor aspects of the Belfast backdrop. This story is about the Irish and the Irish only. (more…)
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The howling of wolves is one of the most evocative and unsettling sounds on earth, awakening something primordial in the human soul. Among the most intelligent and graceful of terrestrial animals, wolves have been an object of fear and fascination throughout history. While many early societies venerated wolves for their skill at hunting and ferocity in battle, as the world grew tame and domesticated the wolf became a hated vestige of wild nature, an outlaw whose ruthless elimination was necessary to the safety and progress of mankind. (more…)
Pamela Uba, the new Miss Ireland.
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Black Irish: African Woman Crowned Miss Ireland
Ireland is a tiny green isle with a population only slightly larger than that of the Atlanta metro area. Its population is 96% white and only 1% black, but in a crowded field of beautiful white indigenous candidates, a black woman born in South Africa with a face that could make dogs bark was recently selected to represent Éire at the 70th Miss World Pageant this December. (more…)
2,318 words
Michael Brendan Dougherty
My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son’s Search for Home
New York: Sentinel Books, 2019
When this was first published a couple of years ago, reviewers had two distinct takes about the book. One was that it was a wistful, sometimes bittersweet memoir about growing up without a father, because the father was off in Ireland, having never married Dougherty’s American mother; and also, the author had some romantic notions about Ireland, and wasn’t that special. (more…)
William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939
170 words
William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet, playwright, and politician, was born on this day in 1865. One of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century, Yeats’ life and work straddle the great divide between Romanticism and Modernism. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
In life and in art, Yeats rejected modern rationalism, materialism, and egalitarianism. He saw them as coarsening and brutalizing.
J. C. Leyendecker, Cú Chulainn Riding His Chariot into Battle, 1911.
1,705 words
If you were to ask the average American about Irish culture, they might talk about leprechauns, shamrocks, Guinness, and St. Patrick’s Day. While these might be silly tropes and marketing gimmicks, they sparked my interest in Irish mythology and folklore. From Táin Bó Cúailnge to the Annals of Ulster, there are many stories of Irish heroes who protected their land from invaders. As I walked along the Ulster coast this week, I thought about those heroes. (more…)
6,987 words
Northern Ireland is unique. The Wars of Religion that made seventeenth-century Europe a blood-soaked hellscape never ended there. To describe the situation in Northern Ireland simply, the Republicans — or Nationalists — are nearly all Catholic (or better said, culturally Catholic) and see themselves as Native Irish Gaels. (more…)
William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939
170 words
William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet, playwright, and politician, was born on this day in 1865. One of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century, Yeats’ life and work straddle the great divide between Romanticism and Modernism. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
In life and in art, Yeats rejected modern rationalism, materialism, and egalitarianism. He saw them as coarsening and brutalizing.
William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939
170 words
William Butler Yeats, the Irish poet, playwright, and politician, was born on this day in 1865. One of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century, Yeats’ life and work straddle the great divide between Romanticism and Modernism. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
In life and in art, Yeats rejected modern rationalism, materialism, and egalitarianism. He saw them as coarsening and brutalizing.
