One of the many events held during 2016 to honour those who took part in the Easter Rising 100 years before was a stage play From the Backbone Out, which told the story of Richard O’Carroll, a labour leader and a member of the Irish Volunteers.

O’Carroll…

John Steinbeck, who had an Irish mother, once wrote that every good Irishman goes back once. This Irishman must confess that he's been back more than once in the many years since he first left for Australia. But it took 13 years before I could make the first trip, and it…

It's almost like looking in the mirror.

High unemployment, mass emigration of the young and problems affecting health and education services are as current today as they were in the first decade of Irish independence, the period that informs the narrative of Ken Loach's newest film, "Jimmy's…

Songs of the Snowy Mountains: The Settlers (Editor: Shannon O’Boyle)

Reviewer: J.A. O’Brien

Summary: Songs of the Snowy Mountains: The Settlers represents an important new contribution to the history of Australian folk music and to Australian folklore. The new…

“A nice thing to find in one of the largest bookshops in the city. And in one of the main streets of Dublin, no less.”

Dan slammed the book on the manager’s desk.

Mr. Molloy looked at the book. “My good man, there is no way we would have that book for sale,” he said.

“It was with the Greek literature.  Any young student could have…

In his book "Ireland – A History," Robert Kee describes Collins thus:

Of all the many rebel leaders to shine out of Irish history only one stands out as a really effective revolutionary: Michael Collins --- He took hold of a potentially revolutionary situation in Ireland and made it work.’

Born in 1890 in County Cork, he…

Two new books by Irish writers have highlighted modern Ireland in all her graces and faults. Both works of fiction; they are grounded in the realities of recent Irish history. The Spinning Heart, by Donal Ryan, tells of what happens to a small Irish community in the aftermath of the collapse of…

On Sunday May 18 around sixty people attended a concert in Bendigo to celebrate the victory of Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Organised by the Central Victoria Irish Association the event took place at the historic Brian Boru Hotel, established in the 1850s at the height of the ‘gold rush’ era. Where else?

A lively and entertaining program of music,…

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Against The Wind (on The Wild Geese)

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