Ireland

Irish Life is Bleak and Treacherous in ‘The End of The World is a Cul de Sac’

Lee Polevoi

Louise Kennedy (author of an acclaimed novel, Trespasses) writes beautifully about the Irish and their tumultuous inner lives. In the story, “Hunter-Gatherers,” Siobhán’s fascination with a hare in her backyard turns sour when her lover Sid abruptly puts an end to the wild creature’s life. “In Silhouette” traces a line from the present-day Irish countryside to the Troubles of the 1980s.

Beguiling Tales of County Mayo in Colin Barrett’s ‘Homesickness’

Lee Polevoi

In these beguiling stories, we are for the most part steadfastly situated in County Mayo, Ireland. As in Young Skins, this hugely talented writer immerses us in a remote part of the Emerald Isle, serving up (with great sympathy) characters who display his signature mix of humor and melancholy. Life is hard for County Mayo residents, eased only occasionally by flashes of love and warm feelings.

The Appeal of Small City Vacations

The Editors

Ireland is famous for its rugged coastline, majestic castles and emerald green hills. Be sure not to limit yourself to Dublin or Belfast, though. Don't miss Galway, considered Ireland's cultural heart and designated the European Cultural Capital 2020. Known for its traditional Irish music, Galway is rich in medieval history, street art and is the birthplace of the traditional Claddagh ring. . On the tour, you'll soak in the vibrant energy of this eclectic city, including a walking tour of the harbor city of Galway, where fisherman have lived and worked for centuries.

A Photographer’s Journey in Scenic Ireland

Eliot Hess

There is so much to enjoy in this beautiful country: the sculpted fields dotted with thousands of sheep; ancient seaside cliffs; multitude pubs that welcome you with refreshment and great music. It is a county of storytellers and their long-winded, amusing tales. And more world-class golf courses than you can imagine. Ireland is one eternal, happy vacation, and a photographer’s dream.

A Bomb Is Ticking in Jonathan Lee’s Riveting ‘High Dive’

Lee Polevoi

On October 12, 1984, a time bomb planted by the IRA exploded in the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. The target of the bombing, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, on hand for the annual gathering of her Conservative Party Conference, walked away unharmed. Five other people died and many suffered serious injuries. On this tragic real-life event, British writer Jonathan Lee has grafted High Dive, his third novel and first to be published in the U.S.

The Story of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses: From Contraband to Masterpiece

Lee Polevoi

Modern-day readers of a novel published in 1922 and banned as “obscene” in Europe and America might legitimately wonder what all the fuss was about. Almost a century later, in a culture saturated by explicit references to sex, masturbation and everything in between, the international uproar over references to sex and bodily functions in James Joyce’s Ulysses seems hard to imagine. But, as Kevin Birmingham illustrates in his engagingly written “biography of a book,” the 720-page, epoch-defining work changed both the way novels are written and the way novels are read. 

A Brief History of Whisky, the ‘Water of Life’

Beth Kaiserman

“Whiskey” is used for whiskeys made in Ireland and North America.  “Whisky” is used for those made in Canada, Japan, Scotland, and Wales. Your best bet is to go by what’s on the label of the bottle. (For example, Maker’s Mark is labeled as bourbon “whisky,” even though it’s made in Kentucky.) Though “scotch” has become ubiquitous, it is simply known as “whisky” in Scotland.

 

Irish Blood, English Heart: Morrissey and the Marginalized

Sandra Canosa

That 1983 television performance was, for many Brits, their first introduction to the Smiths. All at once, that charming man managed to offend both straitlaced society and anti-society counterculture groups. Because Morrissey was neither: His Teddy Boy quiff juxtaposed his costume jewelry and woman’s blouse; his cockiness as a frontman was offset by the quaintness and faint homoeroticism of the words he sang. The Smiths were alternative and indie in the original sense of the word. 

Nobel Prize Winner Vargas Llosa Examines the Doomed Life of an Irish Patriot

Lee Polevoi

Had Roger Casement’s tragic and eventful life been a work of fiction, no one would have believed it. In The Dream of the Celt, a re-imagining of the doomed Irish patriot’s life and times, Mario Vargas Llosa has opted for a sort of combined fact/fiction approach. First published in 2010 (the year Vargas Llosa received the Nobel Prize in Literature), and recently translated into English, this scarcely fictionalized life resembles, in many ways, a straightforward biography, with the spark of literature flickering intermittently throughout. 

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