Beer hall putsch – Frank McNally on the Free State Army Mutiny of 1924The threat of a coup lasted until the early hours of March 19thWed Mar 06 2024 - 20:05
Train of thought – Frank McNally on the Dublin-Wexford railway route, the late Countess de Frenay, and the story of Long LambkinTo eat or not to eat, that is the questionTue Mar 05 2024 - 18:59
The newspapers were wrong – Frank McNally on the joys of unexpected snowfallWhen we all feel like we’re six years old againFri Mar 01 2024 - 18:59
Running commentary - Frank McNally on the statues of Dublin’s Merrion SquareThe southern and western sides lack any statues – moving or otherwiseThu Feb 29 2024 - 19:00
Desperate dispatches – Frank McNally on the competing schools of newspaper column writing Deadlines and inspirationWed Feb 28 2024 - 18:59
Loss horizon – Frank McNally on the pain of narrowly losing table quizzes and the pleasure of being a secret arts philanthropistPipped at the postFri Feb 23 2024 - 18:59
Year of living dangerously — Frank McNally on the madness that was Britain in 1974An era of plots and paranoiaThu Feb 22 2024 - 18:59
Coat of many characters — Frank McNally on a life-changing pilgrimage to Kildare Village Concerned friends have taken to buying me overcoats latelyWed Feb 21 2024 - 18:59
Identity parade — Frank McNally on being recognised (or not) in publicEven regular readers do not recognise journalists from byline pictures, which are often hilariously out of dateTue Feb 20 2024 - 19:30
Carving his place — Frank McNally on the sculptor Jerome Connor, born 150 years ago next weekHis return to Ireland from the US was to prove a bitter disappointmentFri Feb 16 2024 - 18:59
Two roads diverged — Frank McNally on historical confusion between the Irish Forestry Society and the Irish National ForestersThe tangling of branches and historyThu Feb 15 2024 - 18:59
High Drama — Frank McNally on Gaiety gods, simple Sadbhs, and Dublin street theatre All the world’s a stageWed Feb 14 2024 - 18:59
No Shrinking Violets — Frank McNally on sexy hotels, the rewilding of Trinity, and a revolutionary Anglo-Irish florist Petal power in the capitalTue Feb 13 2024 - 18:59
Seaman’s saviour — Frank McNally on the eponymous Samuel Plimsoll, born 200 years ago this weekendAn era in which ships were routinely sent to sea overloaded and undermannedFri Feb 09 2024 - 18:59
Rhine relics — Frank McNally on Irish cults in Strasbourg, an oddly named river, and the joys of a night in Frankfurt AirportSaints and venerationThu Feb 08 2024 - 18:59
Blowing up a storm — Frank McNally on winds of change in Strasbourg Pressure from farmers has prompted a series of tactical retreats by the EU in recent daysWed Feb 07 2024 - 18:59
On the clock — Frank McNally on the challenges of getting to and from StrasbourgCity’s famous clock is a multifaceted tour de force of science and religionTue Feb 06 2024 - 18:59
Patty’s Day Parade — Frank McNally on Patty Hearst, the Hibernia Bank and the ‘Singing O’Sullivans’An early example of “Stockholm Syndrome”Fri Feb 02 2024 - 18:59
Foreign missions — Frank McNally on Irish culture’s long reach, via Paris, Rome, and CaliforniaA day to remember for many devout followers of cultureThu Feb 01 2024 - 18:59
Beam me up — Frank McNally on the roof of St Patrick’s Cathedral, where some of the oak beams are 750 years oldA €9.4 million refurbishment has secured the cathedral’s futureWed Jan 31 2024 - 18:59
Reluctant rebel — Frank McNally on America’s ‘first modern’ painter, Maurice PrendergastAn easy-going personality with a radical reputationTue Jan 30 2024 - 18:59
New year revolution — Frank McNally on doing yoga, playing poker, and keeping everything in balanceMindfulness is a winning technique, apparentlyFri Jan 26 2024 - 18:59
Words of war — Frank McNally on the fighting Irish origins of the word ‘slogan’The old war cries became mere verbal decorations in the endThu Jan 25 2024 - 19:30
What the Krapp? — Frank McNally on phones in the theatre, Beckett’s lost love, and a technology ahead of its timeAn impromptu play within a playWed Jan 24 2024 - 18:59
Tower of song — Frank McNally on a musically inspiring Kilkenny castleThomas Moore’s The Last Rose of Summer may have been a victim of its own success for a whileFri Jan 19 2024 - 18:59
The original ‘Bunga Bunga’ — Frank McNally on an eccentric Corkman’s notorious prankHorace de Vere Cole’s band of pranksters included Virginia WoolfThu Jan 18 2024 - 18:59
Storm front — Frank McNally on the dubious fame of Edward Bulwer-Lytton“It was a dark and stormy night . . ."Wed Jan 17 2024 - 18:59
Fiscal force tradition — Frank McNally on taxation ballads, alcohol-free bars, and the struggle to make a living from musicThe turnover of pub identities in Dublin these days is dizzyingTue Jan 16 2024 - 18:59
Up in smoke — Frank McNally on the once-thriving Irish tobacco industryDuring the American and Napoleonic wars, Ireland supplied most of the product used in British tobacco factoriesThu Jan 11 2024 - 18:59
Millstone milestone — Frank McNally on the 225th anniversary of a ‘temporary’ taxIt was only in 1972 that Ireland finally made the ‘temporary’ income tax arrangement permanentWed Jan 10 2024 - 18:59
Pane management — Frank McNally on the sad story of a Harry Clarke masterworkClarke’s magnificent work was caught up in the repressed politics of the fledgling Free StateTue Jan 09 2024 - 19:38
Auld Slang’s Time — Frank McNally on an old but now numerically apt American expression: ‘23 skidoo’The number 23 has many claims to fameFri Dec 29 2023 - 18:59
Absence-of-light entertainment - Frank McNally on Irish words for dusk, the Celtic Twilight, and the original Monsieur SilhouetteA trick of the lightThu Dec 28 2023 - 18:59
Dark Secret – Frank McNally on a Christmas Night visit to DowthA journey through megalithic MeathWed Dec 27 2023 - 18:59
Daly Star – Frank McNally on the origins of Ally Daly, Betty Martin and other etymological mysteriesA synonym for nonsense, a mark of excellence and a guarantor of authenticityFri Dec 22 2023 - 19:36
Many unhappy returns: Frank McNally on Christmas as a ‘feast of failure’Deck the halls with broken friendships, lost loves and all the other ghosts of the pastThu Dec 21 2023 - 19:24
Tidings of discomfort and Joyce - Frank McNally on recreating a famous Christmas dinner rowI had the privilege of seeing a group of actors recreate the scene, with spine-tingling effect, in the place where it happenedWed Dec 20 2023 - 19:00
A life’s cycle – Frank McNally on the death of Olympian Willie DunneThe passing of Willie coincided with the passing of former Irish Times picture editor, Peter ThursfieldTue Dec 19 2023 - 19:00
Picture this: Frank McNally on commemorating departed friendsPhotographs, memories and a few re-enactmentsFri Dec 15 2023 - 19:11
Picture post - Frank McNally on Cork nuances, the late Colm Ó Briain, and a photo exhibition in RathminesHimself and yer man, from Cork to DublinWed Dec 13 2023 - 19:00
Long day’s journey into Nenagh - Frank McNally on the stress of covering celebrity funeralsDeadlines, from filing copy to car park closures, leave this journalist late to the partyTue Dec 12 2023 - 19:00
Shane MacGowan bows out as thousands line streets on a rainy day in NenaghTown turns out to welcome singer home for the last time as wife Victoria Mary Clarke delivers eulogyFri Dec 08 2023 - 21:31
Wired Up — Frank McNally on the ambiguities of a classic by The PoguesA transatlantic ballad on the life and death of a man called Big Jim DwyerThu Dec 07 2023 - 18:59
Rizz kids — Frank McNally on the mystery of why Irish people are suddenly so good-lookingOxford University Press has just declared 'rizz' to be the word of the yearWed Dec 06 2023 - 18:59
Rising Champ – Frank McNally on a jockey’s quiet comeback and the 90th anniversary of a famous literary rulingA noisy Mansion House was silenced by a brave man who speaks in whispersTue Dec 05 2023 - 18:59
Field Studies — Frank McNally on GAA pitches, gaps of danger, and the decline of the liquid lunchSober analysisFri Dec 01 2023 - 18:59
Mad Cow Roundabout – Frank McNally on the rise and fall of the Dublin Cattle RunAt its 1957 height, the Dublin Cattle Market was Europe’s biggestThu Nov 30 2023 - 18:59
‘Death had marvellously improved him’ – Frank McNally on the Irish doctors who had the last word on NapoleonThe man behind the maskWed Nov 29 2023 - 18:59
Frank McNally: The French are right. Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is a travestyThe best thing about the movie is Josephine, as played by Vanessa KirbyTue Nov 28 2023 - 18:59
Running riot — Frank McNally on a manic night in DublinMy eyes stung for no apparent reason, until I guessed it was pepper-spray floating on the breezeFri Nov 24 2023 - 18:59
