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category archive listing Category Archives: Irish identity

Strange days and holidays

March 17, 2008 – 10:41 am

Thursday was bitter cold. Bitter as a 70-year-old virgin. The painter’s fingers quickly turned a Smurf blue as he put masking tape on the windows. I helped as best I could with coaching and encouragement - Another one down, Lar. You’re motoring now. I’m sure he appreciated my assistance though he never said. Must be [...]

By Primal Sneeze | Also posted in Builders, Characters, Crappenings, Friends, Local, Neighbours, Occasions, Plonkers, Pub talk, Pubs, Tech stuff, Women | Comments (9)

The dying game

February 27, 2008 – 11:52 am

Irish funerals are a part of Irish life. To an outsider, I’m sure, they seem strange. I’ve written about them before and it is often said the only difference between a funeral and a wedding is one less drunk. Oh, and no cameras.
The very first I was brought to was of an old man whose [...]

By Primal Sneeze | Also posted in Friends, Local, Neighbours, Occasions, Pet Hates, Religion | Comments (19)

Frankie-four-times

February 8, 2008 – 8:02 am

Many moons ago, my parents’ house was renovated by the County Council. As with all public authority works, it was put out to tender. The builder awarded the contract had worked as an accountant in the Council for many years. Whether he knew the ins and outs of the system, or simply knew people, is [...]

By Primal Sneeze | Also posted in Builders, Driving, Education, HSE, Health, Pet Hates, Plonkers, Politicians, Politics, Transportation | Comments (15)

A Ray of Dope

February 3, 2008 – 11:32 am

»» In the list of top 20 programmes favoured by 20 to 44-year-olds, audiences are increasingly turning to Today FM. Half of the top 20 shows are Today FM shows – the Ray D’Arcy Show is number two with this younger audience after Gerry Ryan, who takes the top slot, with 248,000 and 327,000 [...]

By Primal Sneeze | Also posted in Gaeilge, Media, Pet Hates, Plonkers, Radio | Comments (20)

That was it then

December 28, 2007 – 10:48 am

It went well. By my standards anyway. I hid the car around the back, locked the front door, turned off the lights, phone and radio, and settled down to work. It’s surprising how much you can get done without distractions. I left word with the dog to tell any neighbours who called to invite me [...]

By Primal Sneeze | Also posted in Crappenings, Driving, Education, Friends, Kids, Occasions, Racing | Comments (17)

I didn’t know her, for fek sake! Did you?

December 7, 2007 – 8:10 am

Contrast these three snippets from recent Irish newspaper articles. (Headlines underlined)
Katy on life support after heart attacks

… Katy’s failure to respond to treatment is viewed as so serious that doctors have ruled out moving her to a more acute hospital in Dublin … Close friends revealed Katy was …

Read the full piece from the Irish [...]

By Primal Sneeze | Also posted in Commentary, Kids, Life, Media | Comments (8)