I did an interview with the great hurler Gerald McCarthy for an Irish Examiner special supplement on the centenary of the birth of Christy Ring. It was lovely to meet and chat with the great man in his Cork city shop and hear his recollections of Christy Ring. Read it here.
An article in the Irish Examiner on the first club rugby match since February, due to Covid-19. On the rightness and relief of live rugby’s return to Musgrave Park even in the middle of a pandemic with all sorts of restrictions. Read it here.
A short piece in the Irish Examiner with others about the impact of Covid-19 on the arts and how we need to support artists to protect the arts in these dreadful times. Read it here.
June, 2020 I wrote a piece for the Irish Times about writing and publishing Whatever It Takes, and bringing out a novel in the middle of a pandemic. Turns out I have more questions than answers.
May, 2020. A sports essay in The42.ie called Hurt, as part of their Bylines series. It explores the physical and the body in sport. It also has some questions about masculinity. Sign up to The42.ie to read it here.
January 2020. A piece on the opening of the new pitch at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the first time the great Cork women’s football team played there, in a double header with the men. I went along and wrote about if for the Irish Examiner. Click here to read.
December, 2019. A piece about my sporting highlight of the year, Seamus Callinan’s wonder goal in the All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford, showing that sport can be a wonderful thing. Published in the Irish Examiner alongside several other sports writers’ recollections. Read it here.
October 2019, a column for the Irish Examiner on a few sporting issues relating to expectations of winning in sport (especially for Irish rugby fans), cheating, new Cork bainisteoirí and Thomas Page McBee. Column online here.
My essay ‘Five Moments in Sport’ was published by The Stinging Fly magazine. Writing in the issue by David Means, Anne Carson, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Ian Maleney, Martina Evans, John Kelly and many other wonderful writers. Purchase options here: https://stingingfly.org/product/summer-2019/ Read the essay online here.
March, 2019. Piece about a very moving fund-raising match between Kilkenny and Cork for Kieran O’Connor a former Cork Gaelic footballer, who is seriously ill. Published in the Irish Examiner. Piece online here.
