It was surreal. President Biden began his State of the Union speech by invoking the Nazi threat. More than eighty years ago, Biden reminded us, Franklin Roosevelt rallied the nation, as “Hitler was on the march,” and “freedom and democracy were under assault.” Today, the president warned, . . . . Continue Reading »
The overwhelming rejection of the attempt to remove “mother” from the Irish constitution shows that barriers will occasionally fly up when liberalization encroaches. Continue Reading »
The proposed changes to the Irish constitution seem to be inviting Ireland to advance further into an era of cognitive dissonance about motherhood. Continue Reading »
There is an eerie precision to Paul Lynch’s portrayal in Prophet Song of what religion in an Ireland of the near future will be like—indeed, what it is already like. Continue Reading »
Sinéad O’Connor, the troubled Irish singer-songwriter, died in July at age fifty-six. No cause of death has been announced, but it is fair to note that at times she both predicted and welcomed her own demise. Her son Shane committed suicide in 2022. Not long after, she vowed, “I’ve decided . . . . Continue Reading »
This year’s biggest Electric Picnic controversy concerns a folk band called the Wolfe Tones, whose members have been writing and singing Irish rebel songs for decades. Continue Reading »
As a result of Catholicism's demise, are the Irish no longer governed by a firm, inherited sense of right and wrong? If the answer is “yes,” then Ireland cannot claim that it wasn’t warned. Continue Reading »
Recently, while reading Sally Rooney’s hugely acclaimed novels for the first time, I messaged a friend to say how bleak I was finding them. He replied that his impression of the books was different. In a way, we were both right. On the one hand, the novels have shafts of light and humor; . . . . Continue Reading »
St. Patrick’s Day is a new kind of “Ireland Day,” and the celebrations reflect the spirit of the times. Continue Reading »
Through the mouth of the cave I watched the storm front move in from the east. I could already hear the approaching thunder; the low bank of cloud was gray with it. I was perched on a low ledge inside the cave, which was just long enough to accommodate a human body laid prone. I had filled the place . . . . Continue Reading »
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