Tag: Irish literature
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Looking Back at Normal People: Before Sally Rooney’s Rise to Fame
Introduction: Revisiting a watershed moment In 2019, as Normal People hit shelves and screens, Sally Rooney was already being hailed as a bold new voice in contemporary literature. The novel, with its intimate portraits of love, class, and communication, would not only win critical acclaim but also propel Rooney into the cultural foreground. This piece…
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Obituary: Aidan Hayes—A Poet and Translator whose Life bridged Donegal and Cork
Remembering Aidan Hayes: A Life in Poetry and Translation Aidan Hayes, a beloved poet and translator whose work bridged communities from Ballyconnell, Falcarragh in Donegal, to Cork City, passed away peacefully on January 19 at Letterkenny University Hospital. He was 78. His passing is a moment to reflect on a life devoted to language, learning,…
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Aidan Hayes Ballyconnell: Poet, Translator, and Teacher Remembered
Obituary: Remembering Aidan Hayes The community of Ballyconnell, Falcarragh in Donegal and the city of Cork has been mournful today with the passing of Aidan Hayes at Letterkenny University Hospital on January 19, aged 78. Aidan’s life bridged rural Ireland and the urban energy of Cork, reflecting a lifelong commitment to language, education, and creative…
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Dublin Street Traders Come Alive: A Book Review
Introduction: A Living Dublin Between Statues and Stalls In the latest examination of Dublin’s urban psyche, the street traders who once fed the city’s hunger and imagination take center stage. The book under review revisits the famed Molly Malone statue—not to scold a modern controversy, but to illuminate the everyday economies and cultural labor that…
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Mixed Up: A Candid Look at Belonging in a Young Immigrant’s Ireland
Introduction: A Memoir That Delves Beyond the Cover Books often invite readers to judge by the cover, but the true impact lies in the pages between. In Mixed Up, Leon Diop crafts a candid coming-of-age memoir that refuses easy answers about identity, belonging, and what it means to grow up between cultures. The subtitle, “An…
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Mixed Up: A Honest, Essential Coming‑of‑Age Memoir
Overview: An Honest Reckoning with Belonging Leon Diop’s memoir Mixed Up: An Irish Boy’s Journey to Belonging is more than a narrative of immigration or a search for a place to call home. It is an intimate, unflinching exploration of what it means to grow up between cultures—the pull of an inherited past and the…