Latest news with #JohnMcGahern
Belfast Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
Inside the history of one of NI's ‘happiest and most beautiful' pubs and why ‘the original bar has to stay'
Laura McDaid speaks to the owners of a Co Fermanagh bar popular with well-known faces and locals alike Writer John McGahern once described Blakes of The Hollow in Co Fermanagh as 'one of the happiest and most beautiful bars in the whole of Ireland'. The author of Amongst Women and The Dark wiled away many an hour in its cosy snugs before his death in 2006.
Belfast Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
‘We hope Blakes remains a constant on the Enniskillen townscape for hundreds of years to come'
Laura McDaid speaks to the owners of a Co Fermanagh bar popular with well-known faces and locals alike Writer John McGahern once described Blakes of The Hollow in Co Fermanagh as 'one of the happiest and most beautiful bars in the whole of Ireland'. The author of Amongst Women and The Dark wiled away many an hour in its cosy snugs before his death in 2006.
Irish Times
16-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Appreciation: Dr Denis Sampson
Dr Denis Sampson, the noted biographer, critic and essayist who died earlier this month, was born in Whitegate, Co Clare, but made his home for the last 30 years in Montreal, Canada. Born in 1948, he received his secondary education at Mount Saint Joseph's College, Roscrea, and went on to take a BA in English at University College Dublin. A period working in the Department of Finance followed, during which time Denis also studied for an MA in English from UCD. In 1969, he took up further study in English at McGill University, Montreal, where he earned his PhD. It was then that he began his 30-year teaching career at Vanier College, Montreal, then began and where Denis and his family made their home. READ MORE Although he wrote in many forms, Denis's most notable accomplishments are in the field of literary criticism and scholarship. His deft and thoughtful combination of these two related areas of inquiry was already fully formed in his first book, Outstaring Nature's Eye: The Fiction of John McGahern (1993), a work which is not only a model of criticism but which also effectively pioneered serious research into the mind and art of its subject. Another first followed, a biography of Brian Moore – The Chameleon Novelist (1998). Subsequently, Denis began to sound other strings of his literary bow, most notably in personal essays, many of which appeared in such eminent venues as The Dublin Review and the leading Canadian journal, Brick . These essays may be seen as both a consolidation of the homecoming implicit in Denis's McGahern work and an embrace of the wider world of international experience signposted by Moore. This latter sphere also led to Denis's numerous residences at Canada's internationally renowned Banff Centre, while he also maintained a regular presence as a valued speaker at Irish studies conferences. And in time, Denis's Irish origins and interests found a means of speaking to his Canadian life and work in the memoir A Migrant Heart (Montreal, 2014), a noteworthy contribution to the literature of the Irish diaspora (though, strangely, it still lacks an Irish edition). McGahern's continuing output claimed a good deal of Denis's critical energy, with substantial accounts of late-style McGahern appearing in leading Irish studies outlets. Additionally, the study Young John McGahern: Becoming a Novelist (2012) proved a fitting capstone to Denis's many years of thought and research about a writer whose canonical status Denis helped establish. The theme of becomings and beginnings also prompted Denis's most international book, The Found Voice: Writers' Beginnings (2016). Denis's many friends within and beyond academia found him a genial, open-minded, generous man who had as one of his finest traits a great gift for friendship. An excellent host, first-rate conversationalist, venturesome traveller, and devoted family man, Denis will also be fondly remembered for his genuine interest in his students, his scrupulous attention to their education, and to the helping hand he unfailingly extended to younger scholars. Denis Sampson died on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025, after a long illness at his home in Montreal. He was 77. His wife, Gabrielle, and their children Conor, Robert and Anna survive him, as do three grandchildren.
Morocco World
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Morocco World
Irish Film Festival Returns to Rabat with Stories by Women Filmmakers
Rabat – The Embassy of Ireland in Rabat has announced the return of the Irish Film Festival for its second edition. The event will take place from May 19 to 21 at Cinéma Renaissance in Rabat and is organized in partnership with Fondation Hiba. The festival features three Irish films, all made by Irish women filmmakers. 'This year's festival showcases a captivating selection of Irish films, featuring a heartfelt drama, lyrical storytelling, and an inspiring documentary, all directed, written or produced by Irish women filmmakers,' the embassy said in a press statement. The festival will give Moroccan audiences a chance to discover Ireland through cinema. The embassy noted that all films will have French subtitles to make them accessible to a wider audience. The festival will kick off on May 19 with 'Róise & Frank,' a 2022 warm and funny Irish-language drama about hope, healing, and the deep bond between people and animals. The second day will feature 'That They May Face the Rising Sun,' a 2023 quiet and emotional story set in rural Ireland, based on the famous novel by John McGahern. The last day of the festival will feature 'Mrs. Robinson', a powerful documentary about Mary Robinson, Ireland's first female president and a leader in politics and women's rights. The Irish Film Festival is part of a series of cultural events planned to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Morocco. The embassy noted that entry is free for all screenings, which will kick off at 6:30 p.m. local time throughout the three days. Tags: Film FestivalIreland
