January, 2019

You may recall my Blog “Fairy Tales more Funny than Grimm” which arose from a report in London’sIRISH POST about Frank Foley of MI6 being commemorated by the unveiling of his statue by Prince William. The justification for this honour was Foley’s alleged risking of his own life to snatch Jews from the clutches of the Nazis […]

We like to  think we live in enlightened times. Things which were acceptable in previous ages – slavery, racism, sending children up chimneys to clean them, treating women as possessions – have all happily been, for the most part, overturned. We also have freedom of speech today: you can voice your views on anything you […]

In 968 AD a kinsman of mine, King Mahon of Thomond defeated at Solohead the forces of the Danish King Ivar of Limerick. Mahon was son of Cinneide, or in Sacs-Beurla “Kennedy.”  They were rough times and armed men faced other armed men and killed one another. Historians and moralists may tut-tut about our rude ancestors while noting 165  General Practitioners […]

It’s a crowded field, 2019. A whole range of matters is chuff-chuffing towards us, and no matter how we dodge or weave we’ll have to meet them head-on. Brexit is of course the big one: will Theresa May’s deal be voted through the House of Commons? Because that would leave North-Eastern Ireland (NEI) effectively in […]

Now that Stephen Hawking has left us, the hunt is on for an intellect of comparable size to shine its light and lead the rest of us dullards through the minefield of Life. You may say “There’s only one Stephen Hawking” and you’d be right. But be of good cheer. His successor in the brain […]

The Pocket Oxford Dictionary defines a Lacuna as “a gap in a manuscript where some part has been lost or obliterated ,(or a) missing link in a chain of argument or any series. “ Lacunae is its plural. God Forgive me, but I bought a copy of today’s Irish Independent, which I didn’t much like […]

In some ways, the release of state papers twenty or thirty years after the events is a cod. Many of the people involved in the events are now dead, so justice is out of the question. The only thing we could perhaps learn is to avoid the same or similar mistakes. Try these six for […]