A Spy in the Family

In the 1980s I was introduced to Patrick O’Brian’s novels about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin (it’s curious that the series does not have a title). Like so many others, I became hooked on the detailed descriptions of life on board a Royal Navy ship in the early years of the 19th century. The depth… Continue reading A Spy in the Family

Refugee Problem

Refugees arriving in the EU is news and provokes controversy. It even featured here in the post The Irish Madonna of Hungary. It raises a number of questions.

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Categorised as Politics

Sisi

The Empress Elisabeth of Austria is known for championing Hungary and being assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Geneva in 1898. In Ireland she is remembered for hunting with the Meath.

A Hard Day’s Walk

My walk started well. The track was shaded by trees and had re-assuring red and white GR signs to guide me – important, as I don’t have a map.

Ruins on the River

My idea of the Danube was almost entirely formed by reading Greenmantle, by John Buchan, in which Richard Hannay smuggles himself onto a chain of barges carry arms down the Danube from Germany  bound for Turkey.

The Irish Madonna of Hungary

I did not expect to find many similarities between Norway and Slovakia, where I am today. I am wrong. They have similar populations, a bit more than 5 million. They both dissolved amicably a union with another country; Norway from Sweden in 1905 and Slovakia from the Czech Republic in 1993, the Velvet Divorce. They… Continue reading The Irish Madonna of Hungary

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Categorised as Travel

Hunting

My grandfather’s Uncle G used to say when he went to Mass in June, “good, we’re in the Trinities, hunting starts in the Trinities”. The 13th Sunday after Trinity approaches and we can now legitimately look forward to the start of the season.

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Categorised as Art, Family

A Passionate Potamolator

Hugh Trevor-Roper describes himself as a passionate potamolator* in a 1944 entry in The Wartime Journals. I am gratified to discover that, in a small way, I am one too.