Mayo fans celebrated into the early hours after their team ended a 75-year wait to win the All-Ireland senior football final. In Westport, Co Mayo, where the crowds were swelled by pilgrims who had made the “Reek Sunday” climb of Croagh Patrick, hundreds ... See more
When Mayo trailed Kerry by seven points early in Sunday’s big game, it looked as if, as the time-honoured cliche puts it, they had a mountain to climb. Luckily on this occasion, many of the team’s supporters had already climbed it. This was the first year... See more
I never met the late Paddy McNally, a British businessman who died this week aged 88, except perhaps in an alternative universe. But it seems plausible that we might have been cousins, however distant. And we certainly had a few big things in common. Ther... See more
The annual strike of Dublin’s street-washing service – or rain, as it’s better known – is dragging on much longer than usual this year, with still no sign of resolution. Most years, it’s settled almost before it begins. Often it lasts a week or two at mos... See more
After a weekend in Westport last autumn, I wrote about the convoluted side trip involved in visiting a local ancient monument, the Boheh Stone. My iPhone directed me to the place, a few kilometres outside the town, accurately enough. It’s just that when w... See more
