An insider’s view of clerical control in Irish education

They drilled a small hole in the wall, said the Pope.

Collapse in vocations

Looks like time to wake up the Machine.
All this talk of religious bigotry and madness reminded me of an old project that got shelved last year, and I suppose it would be no harm to tell you about it again. Especially since I came up with a few tweaks.
You see, it all started when [...]

I wrote a post called Islamic Savages a few days ago, and some people thought I shouldn’t.
Don’t know why.
Some people said I should write about George Bush instead, as if I’d never expressed a view about that warmongering cretin. As if, somehow, I’d strayed off their one, true, right-on fucking path. And you know something? [...]

Since we’re on a roll with this religious thing, let me just remind you that today is the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
See? Those Catholics will celebrate anything as long as there’s a few drinks involved, though I’m not so sure about the Baptists. I don’t know if [...]

When I was small, my auntie used to take me to the churches around Limerick . It was great being a kid in those days. Spooky exorcist shit: plaster saints and candles and all that Hollywood stuff, but almost free. No entrance fee except you had to put some money into a shiny box if [...]

It’s a strange expression, isn’t it? Working class.
What does it mean?
I’ve always had a problem with it, even though I’ve always vaguely understood its thrust.
It’s very British. Here in Ireland, we don’t really have a well-defined class system, as they do in England or India. We all curse and swear. None of [...]

For years, we have celebrated Good Friday by heading up to Lough Derg and going across the lake on boats, from Garrykennedy to Mountshannon. In keeping with tradition, we bring large amounts of beer, several musical instruments and a firm intention to have a bit of crack which, you’d have to say is a [...]

KLAKK-KLONKK!!
Another shell slid into the breech of the Roman-built MkXIII Praetor assault cannon.
KLANKK! The noise echoed off the cold stone walls of the cave.
Too loud.
Goddamn ! Jesus bit hard on his cigar as he squinted through the crack where the huge round stone blocked the cave’s entrance. Behind him, his hijacked Roman [...]