When I was a child, I suspected my Da's sister Violet was a gypsy. Not that she was a real descendant of the wandering tribes of Egypt, but she looked like one. Her jet-black hair was always tied back in a tight bun, and she always wore blowsy flowered dresses, scandalous crimson lipstick and dangly earrings. Then while we were visiting one cold and blustery winter Sunday when … [Read more...] about Sláinte! A Fine Cuppa Tay
June / July 2000
Roots: The “Mul” Names
A large range of Irish names begin with the prefix "Mul." Examples include Mulcahy, Mulvihill, Mullally, and Mullan. These names have no familiar connections, but like the names beginning with "Gil," all have their origin in a common name form. They almost all derive from the Gaelic word "Maol" meaning follower, servant, or devotee. The name was invariably preceded by O as … [Read more...] about Roots: The “Mul” Names
The Last September: The Rules of Ascendancy
The spirit of Chekhov hovers over the Irish countryside in The Last September. Director Deborah Warner and screenwriter John Banville bring a powerfully elliptical sense of inevitable loss to this film about the waning days of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. Based on the 1929 novel by Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September is set on a country estate in Cork in 1920 … [Read more...] about The Last September: The Rules of Ascendancy
The Ice Dancer
Sarah Hughes watches herself without a trace of embarrassment. It's hard to reconcile the bubbly 14-year-old sitting in front of the television with the heart-stopping vision of grace and style who glides effortlessly across the ice in the video clip we're watching. The footage was captured at the recent Keri Lotion USA vs. The World Figure Skating Challenge, and the … [Read more...] about The Ice Dancer
Ireland’s Forgotten Patriot
In the suburb of Rathfarnham an island of serenity exists amid the frantic bustle of 21st-century Dublin. With rolling lawns and woodlands embracing a handsome classical house, Saint Enda's School harks back to a gentler time. In a place of honour facing the house is a large bronze bust of the school's founder, Pádraig Pearse, who was more famously both the inspiration and the … [Read more...] about Ireland’s Forgotten Patriot