Monthly Archives: March 2015

Belfast has a very rich linguistic heritage. Its colourful local dialect is used in very skilful ways by many of its speakers, who use its resources to tell great stories about events which have happened to them, engage in affectionate ‘banter’ … Continue reading →

In the eighteenth century Belfast was a small town on the West Bank of the River Lagan; on the East Bank lay the neighbouring small town of Ballymacarret.  By 1821, the population of Belfast was still only 37,000, but by … Continue reading →

Tonight, with my Pretani Associate Helen Brooker, and on the invitation of the author, I went to the Seamus Heaney Centre, McMordie Hall, Queen’s University, Belfast, to attend the launch of Frank Ormsby’s  latest anthology, Goat’s Milk: New and Selected Poems.This event was organised by … Continue reading →

  Tonight, with my friend David Brooker, I attended the ceremony in the Ulster Hall, Belfast at which  the wonderful poet Michael Longley was granted the freedom of his native city of Belfast. The honour is in recognition of his contribution … Continue reading →

St Patrick In 398 AD St Ninian had established the first Christian Church in the British kigdom of Rheged, part of what is now known as Scotland, at Candida Casa (now Whithorn) in Galloway. Although little is known about this great … Continue reading →

On Saturday 14th March, 2015 more members of the Dalaradia Group, prime movers in the modern Ulster Revival,  visited Crew Hill with their chairman Robert Williamson and Helen Brooker of Pretani Associates promoting Common Identity and Conscience. Discussion was led by … Continue reading →

Today is the International Women’s Day (IWD). I always think of Catherine the Great of Russia on this day as well as the great Queen Elizabeth 1 of England and  the incomparable British Queens Victoria, whom the Orange Order tried to … Continue reading →

Medieval and modern myths accrued to Ireland’s Iron Age Queen Maeve (Medb), notably in Rosalind Clark’s ‘The Great Queens’, led to this redemption of Medb’s true identity,”Ireland’s Queen Maeve”, by the exemplary priest Tom O’Connor. Clark alone showcased the divine … Continue reading →

Massacre de Vassy in 1562, print by Hogenberg end of 16th century. On this day in 1562 – 63 Protestant Huguenots were massacred by Roman Catholics in Wassy (Vassy), France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion, leading … Continue reading →