Reviews Archives

Reviews

NORMAL PEOPLE – RTÉ ONE

May 7, 2020

IF THE Joe Duffy outrage-ometer is anything to go by, the BBC/Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People predictably generated oodles of publicity... Read more »

A THOUSAND MOONS – SEBASTIAN BARRY (FABER & FABER)

April 23, 2020

SEBASTIAN BARRY’S Costa-winning Days Without End told the story of two young soldiers in the American Civil War. In this sequel, set during... Read more »

THE ARMS CRISIS OF 1970 – MICHAEL HENEY (APOLLO LONDON)

April 9, 2020

IRISH POLITICS experienced a seminal moment in 1970, with two dismissed former ministers, Charlie Haughey and Neil Blaney, facing trial. The charges related... Read more »

APEIROGON – COLUM McCANN (BLOOMSBURY)

March 12, 2020

BEST KNOWN for his hugely successful Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann’s inventive fiction ranges widely and is generally international in scope.... Read more »

ACTRESS – ANNE ENRIGHT (JONATHAN CAPE)

February 27, 2020

ANNE ENRIGHT’S surprisingly laboured seventh novel tells the story of Norah FitzMaurice, a middle-aged novelist trying to make sense of her famous mother’s... Read more »

THE LINE-OUT – VIRGIN MEDIA ONE

February 13, 2020

VIRGIN MEDIA has been making a lot of noise out of its exclusive (men’s) Six Nations rugby coverage and inevitably added one of... Read more »

BLINDBOY BOATCLUB – BOULEVARD WREN AND OTHER STORIES (GILL BOOKS)

January 30, 2020

THE FIRST laugh generated by Boulevard Wren unintentionally arrives courtesy of the publishers, Gill Books, which assert that Blindboy Boatclub is “one of... Read more »

THE STYLE COUNSELLORS – (RTÉ 1)

January 30, 2020

THE LATEST home-produced makeover series is presented by Suzanne Jackson and Eileen Smith – described by RTÉ as “two social media sensations”. At... Read more »

GREAT IRISH INTERIORS – RTÉ 1

January 16, 2020

AS PART of the national broadcaster’s “jam-packed” Christmas schedule (ie seasonal specials and jaded family-friendly staples), Great Irish Interiors followed the work of... Read more »

CHAOS IS A FRIEND OF MINE – EWAN MACKENNA

December 12, 2019

THERE IS no question that the Conor McGregor story is a classic of the sports genre: a man who once looked like he... Read more »

THE GLOBALIST: PETER SUTHERLAND – JOHN WALSH (WILLIAM COLLINS)

November 14, 2019

Peter Sutherland was “possibly the most influential Irish person ever to have lived”, says this book, a smidge hyperbolically but with some justification.... Read more »

ALL IN – JAMIE HEASLIP (GILL AND MACMILLAN)

October 31, 2019

“I REALISED I had a problem in my relationship with the media and that I contributed to that, and I couldn’t just blame... Read more »

RECOVERING – RICHARD SADLIER (GILL BOOKS)

October 16, 2019

ELEVEN YEARS ago, The Phoenix published a ‘Young Blood’ profile of former footballer Richie Sadlier, who impressed with his ambition, confidence and ability... Read more »

ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES AN AISLING

October 3, 2019

When the publishing phenomenon that is Aisling landed with the first Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling novel in 2017, it followed... Read more »

WINGMAN – RTÉ ONE

May 16, 2019

THE LATEST Baz Ashmawy vehicle got off to a typically improbable start when the manic-eyed presenter assured viewers that, “with the right help,... Read more »

THE DIG – DIRECTED BY ANDY AND RYAN TOHILL

May 16, 2019

ANY FILM coming out of Northern Ireland and titled The Dig is, even if not overtly, a ‘Troubles’ film, likely to be viewed... Read more »

DON’T GO – DIRECTED BY DAVID GLEESON

April 18, 2019

WATCHING David Gleeson’s Don’t Go in a near empty cinema, as Goldhawk did, a viewer’s thoughts may drift to parodies in The Simpsons... Read more »

THE GHOST FACTORY – JENNY McCARTNEY (4th ESTATE)

April 18, 2019

WITH NO apparent end in sight to fictional accounts of the Troubles, it’s not surprising that this debut novel revisits familiar ground. The... Read more »

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE – VIRGIN MEDIA

April 18, 2019

This health-based series offers the same nutritional hit as a visit to McDonald’s. Viewers are left hungry for something actually worth getting their... Read more »

FERTILITY SHOCK – RTÉ 1

March 21, 2019

DEARBHAIL MCDONALD is group business editor at Independent News and Media, but in recent times has been developing her brand beyond the confines... Read more »

THE HOLE IN THE GROUND – DIRECTED BY LEE CRONIN

March 21, 2019

THERE’S NOT much wrong with Lee Cronin’s technically adept debut, The Hole in the Ground. Its problem is that, although it is streets... Read more »

WHEN ALL IS SAID – ANNE GRIFFIN (SCEPTRE)

March 21, 2019

THIS DEBUT novel from the prize-winning short-story writer takes the form of a series of expansive inner monologues by a recently widowed 84-year-old... Read more »

DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES – RTÉ1/BBC1

December 13, 2018

THIS IS the first television adaptation of Eugene McCabe’s critically acclaimed 1992 novel about treachery and deception in the 1880s border counties. The... Read more »

GAME CHANGER – CORA STAUNTON/MARY WHITE

December 13, 2018

IT HAS been a bumper year for sports autobiographies, with Andy Lee’s Fighter and Tony 10 by Declan Lynch and Tony O’Reilly leading... Read more »

THE BELLY OF THE WHALE

December 13, 2018

THERE ARE several indicators that can alert the unwary to ‘troubled’ films in advance of paying money to see them in the cinema.... Read more »

MILKMAN – ANNA BURNS (FABER & FABER)

November 1, 2018

THIS YEAR’S Man Booker winner (the first from Northern Ireland), Anna Burns, has published two previous novels and is well regarded in literary... Read more »

RICHARD III – ABBEY THEATRE

November 1, 2018

GARRY HYNES must have realised that producing another Shakespearean history play demanded another angle. While Richard may be one of Western literature’s greatest... Read more »

FINDING JOY – RTÉ 1

November 1, 2018

AMY HUBERMAN turns her hand to ‘comedy’ in this six-part series set in an air-brushed version of modern-day Dublin. Inevitably, with Mrs Dricco... Read more »

THE TRICK TO TIME – KIT DE WAAL (VIKING)

August 23, 2018

THIS SECOND novel by Kit de Waal follows her bestselling 2016 debut, My Name is Leon, the story of a vulnerable young boy... Read more »

THE STAND WITH EAMON DUNPHY

June 13, 2018

WHILE RADIO struggles to hold its place in today’s interconnected world, Ireland’s podcast space is increasingly crowded with pundits battling for listeners. In... Read more »

THE BREAD WINNER – DIRECTED BY NORA TWOMEY

June 13, 2018

ANIMATION production is the great, but relatively unsung success of the otherwise opaque film and television business In Ireland. With animation production it... Read more »

SKIN DEEP – LIZ NUGENT (PENGUIN IRELAND)

June 13, 2018

“I WONDERED when rigor mortis would set in, or if it already had.” So begins Liz Nugent’s new novel – which focuses on... Read more »

CITIZEN LANE – DIRECTED BY THADDEUS O’SULLIVAN

May 31, 2018

WATCHING VETERAN director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s Citizen Lane, some Irish cinema buffs may be assailed by nostalgia for the rougher, readier and financially straitened... Read more »

WEST CORK – SAM BUNGEY AND JENNIFER FORDE

May 31, 2018

SCHULL AND its environs seem an unlikely setting for the latest true crime sensation, but they were an unlikely setting for a murder... Read more »

CONNECT – JULIAN GOUGH (PICADOR)

May 31, 2018

TIPPERARY AUTHOR Julian Gough (now Berlin-based) has already produced three comic novels and a series of children’s stories. He also wrote the ‘ending’... Read more »

ON RAFTERY’S HILL – ABBEY THEATRE

May 17, 2018

AT LAST, here’s Marina Carr. As Irish theatres obsess over gender imbalance in the industry following Waking the Feminists, it’s surprising the moody... Read more »