Anna Burns Wins Man Booker Prize Novelist Anna Burns won the 2018 Man Booker Prize for her third book, Milkman. Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to ever win the award, and the first woman since 2013 to do so. The experimental novel takes place in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, the armed conflict in the region in the late 20th century. It is narrated by an … [Read more...] about Book Notes
Dave Lewis
Frank & Al
A new book by Terry Golway on the developing Democratic party through the lens of F.D.R. and Al Smith Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance and Epic Feud that Created the Modern Democratic Party by Terry Golway allows readers to see the massive change to the Democratic party that both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Al Smith ushered in during the mid- … [Read more...] about Frank & Al
Suffragette Sheehy Skeffington Honored
On Thursday, June 13, 1912, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, and a group of suffragettes, smashed windows in Dublin Castle to highlight the “woman’s right to vote” cause. It was an offense for which she would spent a month in prison. 106 years later to the day, near to the windows that were smashed, President Michael D. Higgins unveiled a plaque honoring Sheehy Skeffington’s efforts … [Read more...] about Suffragette Sheehy Skeffington Honored
An Old Henge Emerges at Newgrange
While Ireland’s early summer heatwave brought some misery, it brought archaeologists and history enthusiasts great joy. The drought revealed an Neolithic wonder called a henge near the ancient site of Newgrange in County Meath. Hidden to the naked eye for centuries, the henge’s location was captured by a drone flown over the Boyne Valley by Anthony Murphy. It’s something the … [Read more...] about An Old Henge Emerges at Newgrange
European of the Year
Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. was named European of the Year by European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland) at an event sponsored by Uniphar in Dublin on June 11. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, in presenting the award, reflected on the state of the nation when Enda Kenny became Taoiseach in 2011, when the G.D.P. had plummeted, unemployment had soared, and Ireland’s international … [Read more...] about European of the Year