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American in Ireland
Blown away by the north coast
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Posted
by TheYank at
11/4/2009 3:20 PM EST
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As I mentioned yesterday, we were up north last week. Just a day trip, which is possible now thanks to the vast improvement in the roads here. There was a time not that far back when a day trip to the north was such a bone-shaking, nerve-shattering experience that advertisements in the national papers advised people against ... Read More » |
Way up north, where the shoppin's good
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Posted
by TheYank at
11/3/2009 1:30 PM EST
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I was shopping 'up north' last week. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is something of an issue here. Now, just to get a few things straight - (a) no, I wasn't shopping alone; it's not my thing and (b) shopping was more of an incidental part of our journey north and not the main focus. Still, the weather was so ... Read More » |
Yesterday was April 15 in Ireland
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Posted
by TheYank at
11/1/2009 3:12 PM EST
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For some Irish people yesterday was the most frightening day of the year – the day when they finally finish filling in their annual tax returns and pay what they owe the taxman. In America the big day is April 15, but the Irish tax authorities allow an extra 6½ months and require that returns be filed and money ... Read More » |
Halloween - Irish invention, American export
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/27/2009 10:38 AM EDT
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Halloween was invented by the Irish, but when I first moved here it wasn't that big a deal. Not when compared with the Halloween I remembered as a kid in Queens & upstate New York. Back in 1995 I took my daughter out trick-or-treating for the first time and it was something of an eye-opener for me. We went to five or ... Read More » |
I doubt De Valera was a spy
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/26/2009 8:36 AM EDT
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I guess I should wait to read the book, but right now I'm very skeptical of the claims coming from historian John Turi. According to today's Irish Independent, Turi is a retired retired US naval officer and historian John Turi from Princeton, NJ. According to the article in the Independent Turi has a new book coming out in ... Read More » |
Driving us back to our homes
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/24/2009 3:38 PM EDT
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At a meeting last Tuesday 20 members of the Fianna Fáil party publicly objected to the government's proposal to reduce the blood alcohol content limit for drivers. Despite all the problems in the Irish economy, health system, etc. it was this issue which caused the biggest ripple in Fianna Fáil for sometime. ... Read More » |
Bruce O'Springsteen
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/19/2009 8:01 AM EDT
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A week ago or so I mentioned my first trip to Ireland back in 1985. This week's news that Bruce Springsteen is Irish is another reminder of that trip to Ireland. Why? Because my first trip to Ireland coincided with Bruce's. I can still remember clearly walking around Dublin on the morning of the show. I was on my own as Tom ... Read More » |
I've decided — President Obama should come for the ND vs Navy game in '12
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/14/2009 6:28 AM EDT
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This idea just popped into my head, but I think President Obama should come to Dublin for the September 1, 2012 college football game between Notre Dame and Navy. A few years ago I thought the game was a bad idea, but given the sea change in attitudes to the United States in this country since last November's election it ... Read More » |
The debutantes ball
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/9/2009 6:13 PM EDT
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I've lived in Ireland for 18 years now and during that time I've experienced pretty much every big Irish occasion - baptisms, weddings, funerals - all of them but one. Until last night, when my daughter went to her 'debs', which is the Irish for prom (not really - I made that up). So, how does the Irish debs compare with ... Read More » |
Dublin in the 00s, the 1900s
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Posted
by TheYank at
10/6/2009 5:41 PM EDT
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I'm about a third of the way through a short biography of the mostly forgotten Irish Nationalist Tom Kettle. I was interested to read about him after I learned that he was a Nationalist MP, who died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. I found his name on the monument at Thiepval. No, not more WWI I hear you say. Well, not ... Read More » |
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