It is sometimes uneasy, this relationship between us Irish and American cousins. We have no language barrier, and yet there can be misunderstandings. It was largely based on envy, or on a sort of transferred envy from previous generations, and it worked both ways. The grass is always greener on the other side; the ones […]

Gerrick Nedloods (or, Transcripts Are Great But Check The Original!) Reading Molly Keane’s brilliant book Good Behaviour last week, I wanted to find her, age 6, on the 1911 census. Born Mary Nesta Skrine in 1904, she wrote several novels and plays, but Good Behaviour, nominated for a Booker prize, is by far the best […]