CultureThe Guide: New Year’s Festival Dublin, Kojaque, Katie Boyle and other events to see, shows to book and ones to catch before they endDecember 28th, 2024-January 3rd, 2025: The best movies, music, art and more coming your way this weekBy Tony Clayton-LeaSat Dec 28 2024 - 00:00
Subscriber OnlyPoem of the Week: On Árainn A new work by Jane ClarkeBy Jane ClarkeSat Dec 28 2024 - 00:00
Subscriber OnlyLast lord of Malahide Castle at centre of strange tale that reflects an era when being gay was unacceptableUndercover: Two Secret Lives by Tony Scotland recounts the author’s involvement with Milo, Lord Talbot de Malahide
TV & RadioHenry Mount Charles: A Lord in Slane – The strange blend of fact and fiction around one of the last Anglo-Irish eccentricsTelevision: Much we think we know about the custodian of Slane Castle is conjured from thin air, as becomes clear in this absorbing documentary
Subscriber OnlyThe Movie Quiz: What is the only 2024 film in the box office top 10 that’s not a sequel?Plus: How many films titled for Marvel characters were released in cinemas this year?
‘On the ninth day of Christmas, Nietzsche said with glee: sever links with your family’ Unthinkable: For the seasan that’s in it, we’ve gone for a philosophical Christmas carolBy Joe Humphreys
Subscriber OnlyThe Movie Quiz: What is the only 2024 film in the box office top 10 that’s not a sequel?
From Notify to Ani DiFranco: The top five trad/folk albums of 2024Joyful Irish traditional music and politically charged folk feature in our LP picks of the yearBy Siobhán Long
One Leg One Eye review: Forget Fairytale of New York. This is a soundtrack of the real Irish ChristmasIan Lynch and George Brennan offer a wonderful ghost-train ride through droning electronica, warped uilleann pipes and spirals of unfiltered noiseBy Ed Power
The Pogues at 3Arena: Applause rang out into the night, the crowd singing their way out on to the quaysA stacked line-up including members of Fontaines DC, Lankum and The Mary Wallopers delivers a brilliantly infectious performanceBy Una Mullally
The 2 Johnnies Christmas Party at 3Arena: It’s easy to sneer at the triteness and crudeness, but are 13,000 happy fans wrong?Support for the podcast stars, whose guests include Marty Morrissey, Nathan Carter and Dustin the Turkey, is fanaticalBy Cian O'Connell
Inside the alleged Hollywood smear campaign against Blake Lively: ‘We can bury anyone’Messages detail alleged campaign to tarnish Lively’s reputation after she accused Justin Baldoni of misconduct on set of It Ends With UsBy Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate
Blake Lively accuses director Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment during filming of It Ends With UsActor Lively also made allegations of a co-ordinated PR effort to damage her reputationBy Edward Helmore
How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies review: Warm, witty tear-jerker about an improbable subject By Tara Brady
Better Man review: Robbie Williams as a monkey is a surprising look at the ego-driven’s star’s life By Donald Clarke
Last lord of Malahide Castle at centre of strange tale that reflects an era when being gay was unacceptableUndercover: Two Secret Lives by Tony Scotland recounts the author’s involvement with Milo, Lord Talbot de MalahideBy Charles Lysaght
Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia by Charles Hecker – Making money in the Wild EastAs communism turned to right-wing authoritarianism, Moscow became an immense version of Dodge City or TombstoneBy Seamus Martin
Henry Mount Charles: A Lord in Slane – The strange blend of fact and fiction around one of the last Anglo-Irish eccentricsTelevision: Much we think we know about the custodian of Slane Castle is conjured from thin air, as becomes clear in this absorbing documentaryBy Ed Power
Squid Game season two review: Tense, bloody follow-up ticks boxes if you’re craving more Red Light, Green LightTelevision: Seong Gi-hun, the down-and-out hero from season one, is on the trail of ‘the Recruiter’, the dapper gent who searches for contestantsBy Ed Power
Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special review: Unkillable comedy’s wit is as sharp as a mouthful of Brussels sproutsTelevision: Brendan O’Carroll’s slapstick purgatory remains a Bacchanalia of single entendres and fnarr-fnarr gagsBy Ed Power
Christmas TV and movie guide: the best shows and films to watchDecember 24th-27th: including new Christmas specials of Doctor Who, Outnumbered, Gavin & Stacey, and Wallace & GromitBy Kevin Courtney
The best theatre of 2024: Blessed are the risk-takersGambling on longer runs of unfamiliar work paid off in a gratifying number of cases. But Irish theatre still isn’t as inclusive as it should beBy Chris McCormack
Beauty & the Beast review: On the way home, younger audience members re-enact scenes. There’s no higher recommendationAlan Hughes and Karl Broderick’s interactive pantomime, directed by Simon Delaney, features the promising Caoileann Woodcock as BelleBy Tara Brady
Hamad Butt: Apprehensions review – A prophet of dread wielding precise, precarious instrumentsArt: The British-Pakistani artist died 30 years ago, at just 34. His work is being rehabilitated with the help of the Irish Museum of Modern ArtBy Tom Lordan
The art of 2024: 10 of Ireland’s best exhibitions of the yearFrom big group shows exploring topics as vast as time to small but beautifully formed solo painting exhibitions, art has rewarded on many levels this yearBy Gemma Tipton
