Seaside villages, mountains and castles. There’s more to Dublin than its famed city. I thought I knew Dublin. I’ve spent lots of time in the capital and even accompanied friends from other countries on trips to tourist sites such as Trinity College and the Guinness Storehouse. Surely I’d seen all there was to see of Dublin’s fair city? On a recent trip, I realized how wrong I … [Read more...] about Dublin's Fair County
Irish Scholarship Landmark at Boston College: 25th Anniv. Salute to the Burns Scholars
Since 1991, the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies program at Boston College has invited various academics and experts in Irish Studies to live on campus, where they teach, confer, and conduct research for their own projects. Every year, the scholars credit the program as beneficial and crucial in the development of their work. As the program turns 25 this October, we … [Read more...] about Irish Scholarship Landmark at Boston College: 25th Anniv. Salute to the Burns Scholars
The Real Life Story of Bridge of Spies Lawyer James B. Donovan
The Irish American New York lawyer who defended a Russian spy, and negotiated on behalf of the thousands of prisoners captured after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, is remembered by his daughter Jan. It can often appear that the lives of individuals depicted on the silver screen are too fantastic to be real. For James B. Donovan, an Irish-American lawyer from New … [Read more...] about The Real Life Story of Bridge of Spies Lawyer James B. Donovan
Fiction: “Sky”
THE ROAD OUTSIDE this house is the same one my mother and father walked together each morning of their married life to Mass. Hand in hand, then arm in arm as they got older. That now is nearly seen as being sinful. Daily Mass-going is a thing to be suspicious of. Have you nothing better to be doing? No, faith, I have not. It’s not as though I sink too deeply into it; I only do … [Read more...] about Fiction: “Sky”
What Are You Like?
Author Donal Ryan
Donal Ryan is one of Ireland’s best new writers. His first novel, The Spinning Heart, was published to great acclaim in 2012. It won the Guardian First Book Award, the European Union Prize for Literature, and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and the Desmond Elliott Prize.
Born, in 1976, outside Nenagh, Co.Tipperary, Ryan … [Read more...] about What Are You Like?
Author Donal Ryan