The Sanctuary Lamp Written and directed by Tom Murphy, B*spoke Theatre Company Arcola Theatre, London, 10 March–3 April Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork, 12–17 April Civic Theatre, Dublin, 20–24 April Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, 26–28 April Townhall Theatre, Galway, 4–7 May by Eamon O’Flaherty A brilliant production of Tom Murphy’s classic play dealing with themes … Read more
‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.’ (George Orwell) This is Ireland in 2010, not Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nonetheless, Orwell’s dystopian vision has much to teach a society, such as ours, that professes to be democratic. Freedom of access to the records of the state is a core … Read more
The Irish Folklore Commission, now the National Folklore Collection, was the first state-funded body to employ full-time collectors of folklore in the field. It is one of the world’s best and largest folklore collections. Owing to the interest of Scandinavian scholars of old and modern Irish and of Irish folklore, the influence of people such … Read more
May 14 1734 Richard Cantillon, Kerry-born economist regarded as the first major economic ‘theorist’ and acclaimed author of Essai sur la nature du commerce en général (c. 1730), was murdered in his London home by his cook. 15 1910 The Association of United Irishwomen, renamed the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) in 1934, which sought to … Read more
Last issue we reported a gaffe by the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Now President McAleese has made a bit of a blunder. On a recent trip to Turkey to honour Irish soldiers who died there in World War I, she recalled Ireland’s links with the former Ottoman Empire. In particular she cited the example of Sultan Abdul … Read more