Irish Literary Times
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Promoting Irish writers and writing - maintained by Gerard Beirne
@gerardbeirne.bsky.social
@gerardbeirne.bsky.social
Congratulations to John Banville, who celebrated his 80th birthday on the 8th of December.
December 12, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Congratulations to John Banville, who celebrated his 80th birthday on the 8th of December.
A Christmas Childhood by Patrick Kavanagh
"My father played the melodion
Outside at our gate;
There were stars in the morning east
And they danced to his music."
"My father played the melodion
Outside at our gate;
There were stars in the morning east
And they danced to his music."
December 12, 2025 at 12:53 AM
A Christmas Childhood by Patrick Kavanagh
"My father played the melodion
Outside at our gate;
There were stars in the morning east
And they danced to his music."
"My father played the melodion
Outside at our gate;
There were stars in the morning east
And they danced to his music."
Now, that's just plain rude.
December 11, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Now, that's just plain rude.
Advent by Patrick Kavanagh
We have tested and tasted too much, lover –
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
We have tested and tasted too much, lover –
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
December 10, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Advent by Patrick Kavanagh
We have tested and tasted too much, lover –
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
We have tested and tasted too much, lover –
Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.
December 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
You’ll be visited by three spirits.
December 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
You’ll be visited by three spirits.
Hard to believe—45 years ago today since John Lennon was shot and killed outside The Dakota in New York City.
December 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Hard to believe—45 years ago today since John Lennon was shot and killed outside The Dakota in New York City.
Wishing Tom Waits a very happy 76th birthday!
December 7, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Wishing Tom Waits a very happy 76th birthday!
Wait, what? My son’s friend, traveling in China, is staying at a hotel chain called ‘James Joyce Coffetel’, and instead of a Gideon Bible, they leave a copy of Ulysses by the bedside.
December 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Wait, what? My son’s friend, traveling in China, is staying at a hotel chain called ‘James Joyce Coffetel’, and instead of a Gideon Bible, they leave a copy of Ulysses by the bedside.
Remembering Con Houlihan (born 100 years ago today):
"A man who will misuse an apostrophe is capable of anything."
"A man who will misuse an apostrophe is capable of anything."
December 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Remembering Con Houlihan (born 100 years ago today):
"A man who will misuse an apostrophe is capable of anything."
"A man who will misuse an apostrophe is capable of anything."
Invites for the annual ILT Christmas Party are as rare as hen’s teeth.
A few snaps from the aftermath of last year's event.
A few snaps from the aftermath of last year's event.
December 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Invites for the annual ILT Christmas Party are as rare as hen’s teeth.
A few snaps from the aftermath of last year's event.
A few snaps from the aftermath of last year's event.
Quote with your model of masculinity
December 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Quote with your model of masculinity
We will shortly be announcing the first recipient of the prestigious new annual ILT Peace Prize. The yet-to-be-revealed honouree has resolved 14 international literary feuds in the last six months alone—an extraordinary feat by any account.
December 5, 2025 at 8:31 PM
We will shortly be announcing the first recipient of the prestigious new annual ILT Peace Prize. The yet-to-be-revealed honouree has resolved 14 international literary feuds in the last six months alone—an extraordinary feat by any account.
Brendan Behan switching on the Christmas lights in Dublin in 1959.
December 5, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Brendan Behan switching on the Christmas lights in Dublin in 1959.
Rainer Maria Rilke born December 4, 1875.
Pushing Through
It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock
in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone;
I am such a long way in I see no way through,
and no space: everything is close to my face,
and everything close to my face is stone.
Pushing Through
It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock
in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone;
I am such a long way in I see no way through,
and no space: everything is close to my face,
and everything close to my face is stone.
December 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Rainer Maria Rilke born December 4, 1875.
Pushing Through
It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock
in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone;
I am such a long way in I see no way through,
and no space: everything is close to my face,
and everything close to my face is stone.
Pushing Through
It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock
in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone;
I am such a long way in I see no way through,
and no space: everything is close to my face,
and everything close to my face is stone.
The Island of Imagination: A Literary Tour of Ireland
The Laureate for Irish Fiction Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is embarking on a literary tour of Ireland on a journey of exploration to highlight the literature emanating from around the country with a series of free events in your local library or bookshop
The Laureate for Irish Fiction Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is embarking on a literary tour of Ireland on a journey of exploration to highlight the literature emanating from around the country with a series of free events in your local library or bookshop
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
The Island of Imagination: A Literary Tour of Ireland
The Laureate for Irish Fiction Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is embarking on a literary tour of Ireland on a journey of exploration to highlight the literature emanating from around the country with a series of free events in your local library or bookshop
The Laureate for Irish Fiction Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is embarking on a literary tour of Ireland on a journey of exploration to highlight the literature emanating from around the country with a series of free events in your local library or bookshop
"The prospect of reading Beckett's letters quickens the blood like no other's, and one must hope to stay alive until the fourth volume is safely delivered."
Tom Stoppard, blurb on dust jacket of The Letters of Samuel Beckett 1929–1940 (2009)
Tom Stoppard, blurb on dust jacket of The Letters of Samuel Beckett 1929–1940 (2009)
December 3, 2025 at 2:31 AM
"The prospect of reading Beckett's letters quickens the blood like no other's, and one must hope to stay alive until the fourth volume is safely delivered."
Tom Stoppard, blurb on dust jacket of The Letters of Samuel Beckett 1929–1940 (2009)
Tom Stoppard, blurb on dust jacket of The Letters of Samuel Beckett 1929–1940 (2009)
Remembering Shane MacGowan who died November 30, 2023:
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing
"A Pair of Brown Eyes"
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing
"A Pair of Brown Eyes"
December 1, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Remembering Shane MacGowan who died November 30, 2023:
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing
"A Pair of Brown Eyes"
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing
"A Pair of Brown Eyes"
Oscar Wilde who died on this day 125 years ago: Wilde was initially buried in the Cimetière de Bagneux outside Paris. In 1909 his remains were disinterred and transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.
November 30, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Oscar Wilde who died on this day 125 years ago: Wilde was initially buried in the Cimetière de Bagneux outside Paris. In 1909 his remains were disinterred and transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.
Oscar Wilde, who died on this day 125 years ago (30 November 1900, in Paris).
"I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works."
(Conversation with André Gide in Algiers, quoted in a letter by Gide to his mother, 30 January 1895)
"I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works."
(Conversation with André Gide in Algiers, quoted in a letter by Gide to his mother, 30 January 1895)
November 30, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Oscar Wilde, who died on this day 125 years ago (30 November 1900, in Paris).
"I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works."
(Conversation with André Gide in Algiers, quoted in a letter by Gide to his mother, 30 January 1895)
"I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works."
(Conversation with André Gide in Algiers, quoted in a letter by Gide to his mother, 30 January 1895)