St. Patrick’s Day

  • 21 Irish Novels for the 21st Century

    21 Irish Novels for the 21st Century

    Let’s just get this out of the way: this St. Patrick’s Day list of 21 Irish Novels for the 21st Century is absurdly incomplete. Where are Colm Tóibín, Emma Donoghue, Roddy Doyle or William Trevor? There’s no Anne Enright, or John Boyne, or John Banville or his alter-ego Benjamin Black; no Tana French or Ken Bruen… Continue reading

  • St. Patrick’s Day and Chill

    This St. Patrick’s Day we may find ourselves hunkering down with a movie and drinking at home. That made me think of some of my favorite films over the years that I’ve watched around this time of year. My absolute favorite when I was a kid was Darby O’Gill and the Little People. My godmother… Continue reading

  • The Third Policeman

    The Irish may be said to possess the gift of gab, but the truth is they’re none too shabby with the pen, either. Most readers have at least a passing familiarity with the usual suspects-Joyce, Yeats, Wilde-but may not be aware of the lesser known author Flann O’Brien. O’Brien (a pseudonym of Brian O’Nolan) wrote,… Continue reading