'Paddy and Paddy'

This is my first Blog post, so I'll start with an introduction, and future blogs will just be about the episodes and individuals

Nation of Storytellers Podcast

I have started a podcast that aims to capture the stories and storytellers of Ireland, in the hope that it…

One of the most negative faults that mankind possesses, in my opinion, is his ability to use another unfortunate to bear the blame for something that he in fact did not do. It is a base failing in the makeup of the human and may actually be the reason for the belief that man is born with the stain of ‘original sin’ on his…

I think it is fair to say that a great many of us are wringing our hands in despair at the state the world is in now. It seems that we are in total disagreement with each other and cannot or will not find common ground on which to unite. It is a case of widespread ‘he said-she said’ and every other…

A friend of mine, an archeologist, …

We will show my Irish Institute award-winning 1877 production of John Maguire's "Honesty Is the Best Policy" on DVD.

The production won an Off-Broadway Award from The Irish Institute. Maguire's play focuses on the "No Irish Need Apply" period in New York City after the Civil War Draft Riots, about 12 year earlier.

My production has been included in the archives of the Theatre Collection at Lincoln Center, and archived with…

‘Mad Mike’ Hoare believed you get more out of life by living dangerously. And yet about 35 family and friends gathered in Durban, South Africa, on 17 March, St Patrick’s Day, to honour Mike as he turned 100 years old. Among them were five of the Wild Geese who fought with him in the Congo in the…

A quick intro on research for my Irish roots:

As a child, my mother always told me that her father said his mother was from Ireland; he (my grandfather) never told my mom her name, birthplace in Ireland, age or anything else: All he told my mom was where she was buried. When I went to the cemetery, she was…

DEARDAOIN -- On Dec. 17, 1803, rebel leader Michael Dwyer, whose guerrilla attacks had maddened British colonial authorities since 1798, surrendered. Dwyer was born in County Wicklow and he participated in the 1798 Rising; however, unlike most of the leaders and…

When I was asked to write a series of poems for an art exhibition in Australia earlier this year, I embarked on a dark voyage of discovery into the lives of Irish immigrant children 150 years ago.

Image: 'Image Above: Falling' by Jane Theau (2017)

There is a special brand of human misery so steeped…

Very recently I heard a young Israeli called Yehuda Shaul being interviewed on Radio Ulster. Yehuda is the co-founder of Breaking the Silence, an organization that aims to expose the harsh realities of the Occupation to fellow Israelis. His words made such a deep impression on me that I made up my mind to put…

I am surely not the first Irish emigrant to have heard these words from their heartbroken mother. Guilt at the impact of my decision to leave Ireland and grief at the loss of my beloved mother are central themes in my poetry collection…

Feast your eyes on the natural beauty that Ireland has to offer. From amazing stone landscapes, to breathtaking cliff faces to picturesque lakes and more.…

Quiet determination -- I think that's what he had.  He was passionate about the Irish language, Irish history and culture, the Irish way of life.

Above, oil painting of Patrick Pearse at Ros Muc, Connemara

He saw what the English education system was doing, trying to stamp…

Shortly after the death of Martin McGuinness, I listened to a radio discussion about the Provisional IRA and its origins. Among the contributors was Ruth Dudley Edwards, the self-professed revisionist historian. At one stage in the programme, I heard her say, “I can understand why people went out on civil rights marches…

"Tinteán Tréigthe no.32", 42 x 42cm, oil painting on canvas by Eoin Mac Lochlainn, 2017

It’s Irish Language Week in Ireland this week so I've written my post in Irish. But please scroll down to read the English translation down below, if you wish. 

Tá scéailín deas agam daoibh faoin bpictiúr seo ag barr.…

The first time I fell in love was in the children’s section of Brooke Park library. I was 11 and she was 10, and her name was Josephine and she had so many freckles on her face that she was a haze of delight.

It didn’t take long for me to work out that she changed…

I still remember the whole thing like it was yesterday. Summer of '73 and me standing on the kitchen table in my Uncle Dan’s house in Forest Park singing Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and the whole place…

'My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.' -- JFK

For JFK

May 29, 1917 - Nov…

The ritual of cleansing oneself with water to begin anew is an old one.

From the seemingly simple act of taking a shower to the tradition of baptising a baby, water is seen as a nurturing source of life and a cyclical element. Its passage through the world, be it fresh or saltwater, is a constant variable…