Bookworm

As readers are by now aware, Bookworm has a particular fondness for dictionaries. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable was first compiled by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810–97) in 1870. Ever since it has settled arguments, proved essential to compilers of quizzes and crosswords, sent browsers happily to sleep, saved the sanity of distracted parents beset … Read more

Museum Eye

Celebrating transatlantic Waterford —the Waterford–Newfoundland connection Waterford Museum of Treasures The Granary, Merchant’s Quay April–Sept.: Mon.–Sat. 9.30am–6pm; Sun. 11am–6pm Oct.–March: Mon.–Fri. 10am–5pm; Sat. and Sun. 11am–5pm by Johanne Devlin Frew The link between Ireland and Newfoundland is unique in the Irish diaspora. Given that the Irish comprised 40 per cent of its population by 1750 … Read more

TV eye: Hidden History

Hidden History RTÉ1 Family Fortune: de Valera’s Irish Press, 2 Nov 2004 Directed by Gerry Nelson for Mint Productions Joe Cahill, IRA man, 7 Dec 2004 Directed by Jonathon Golden for DoubleBand Films by Eamon O’Flaherty RTÉ’s Hidden History series offered an impressive collection of documentaries before Christmas. The focus was heavily biographical—Women of the … Read more