Dublin was busy with construction and slick with rain. I tried to recognize landmarks through the taxi windows—mossy stone gate here, mossy stone church there—while the cab driver told me how the Irish were all getting rich and he had finally been able to move back home from the impossible hell of Scotland. It was the end of 1999, I had just flown from Washington to interview for a magazine called International Living, the new hotel-pub where I was staying was owned by someone from the band U2, in 24 hours I would be back at the airport, and life felt like a Thomas Friedman column.

The registration desk [...]

While recently you were treated to a taste test of British candies—a celebration of the ways these quality chocolate goods can tap into the pleasure centers of taste and nostalgia—this exploration is of an entirely different sort. Irish junk food comes in many weird and marvelous forms. Generally put, these foods lack the decorum you'll find in their more conservative British competitors. Collected here are seven of the most appealing and startling of the snack follies past and present that grace the shelves of our convenience stores. Should you have the chance to visit the Emerald Isle, in this mix you'll find some guaranteed teeth-rotters to try and [...]

"Punters who were having a quiet drink at their local were left dumbstruck when a bull came crashing into the bar. The rampaging farm animal sent bar stools flying, wrecked a pool table and butted holes into the walls after it escaped from a nearby cattle auction. As a final assault on the bar, the beast then urinated on the floor."

The Guardian congratulates the Irish Daily Star on that paper's "nuanced analysis" of the current bailout issue. We have to agree. [Image via]

Sometimes videos go viral within the confines of one country and they never reach the wider world. Often, that's a real shame. Lucky for you, Irishman Sean McTiernan is here to give you a glimpse into the country's already storied collection of viral gems. Previously: the majesty of Ham Sandwich, the mystery of Irish rap and fun with the cops.

Hey, did you know that the world's longest running talk show by the same broadcaster is based in Ireland? You did? Eh, well done, your family is proud of you and so am I. If you didn't, I'll tell you it's called The Late Late Show [...]

Sometimes videos go viral within the confines of a specific country and they never reach the wider world. And often, that's a real shame. Lucky for you, Irishman (meaning born, raised and residing in actual Ireland) Sean McTiernan-that's me!-is going to give you a glimpse into the country's already storied collection of viral gems. Get your shillelagh and whatever additional racist paraphernalia you need, it's going to be mighty.

Unemployment doubled in Ireland over the last year, and maybe soon it'll triple, so now the government is doing the obvious: distributing suicide prevention materials. (The suicide rate in Ireland, by the way, has tripled since the 1950s.) This is sad, because it is not at all the Irish who I want to be doing themselves in. There's like eight other countries, at least, higher on my list!

As food safety authorities "try to find out how beefburgers on sale in UK and Irish Republic supermarkets became contaminated with horsemeat," a helpful soul "has launched an online calculator – so burger fans can work out how many horses they could eat in a lifetime." I mean, let's be honest, you're eating a lot worse than horse when you're having a burger, but sure, oh no the ponies, etc.

Ireland's new president is a lousy poet, says some other versifier.

Well, well, well. Isn't this a pretty turn of possible (though not terribly probable) events for Hurricane Katia.

Is it possible for an Irish politician to drink too much? The Daily Mail thinks so, because it's going after Prime Minister Brian Cowen for the "truly alarming extent – and duration" of his drinking.

Sometimes videos go viral within the confines of one country and they never reach the wider world. Often, that's a real shame. Lucky for you, Irishman (meaning born, raised and residing in actual Ireland) Sean McTiernan is here to give you a glimpse into the country's already storied collection of viral gems. Previously: the majesty of Ham Sandwich and the mystery of Irish rap.

The Gardai are similar to every other police force on earth: sometimes corrupt, but always strangled by bureaucracy, power-crazed and, of course, arresting one of your mates' brothers who you always assumed would be a serial killer. They are also, however, unarmed. There [...]

When you write the headline "Woman in sumo wrestler suit assaulted her ex-girlfriend in gay pub after she waved at man dressed as a Snickers bar," you are making a promise to readers that what comes below is going to be every bit as dazzling as advertised. Ireland's Evening Herald keeps that promise.

First, the basic details: "Sandra Talbot (32) assaulted her ex-partner with a bottle she had hidden under her costume in a fit of rage at the George pub, after more than a year of acrimony following their break-up."

"It has been a busy week for [Catholic League president William A.] Donohue," the Times reported last on Friday, noting that the "contentious and unofficial enforcer of Roman Catholic sensibilities who can grate on enemies and friends alike with his immense ability to be offended on behalf of his church" had to contend not only with the release of Angels & Demons, but also President Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame and Obama's decision to appoint a homosexualist-don't get Donohue started on the "gay death style"-to the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. So, to be sure, the guy had a lot on his plate. It seems almost [...]

“I listen to his music every single day. I also visit his resting-place every day because it’s only round the corner from my house. I go around and I pour water on his stone—I call it washing his face—and then when I’m leaving I give him a kick, for breaking my heart.” —Public Radio International has a very touching interview with 81-year-old Philomena Lynott, the mother of Ireland's greatest rocker, Phil Lynott, who died of a heroin overdose in 1986. [via]

"On the way home yesterday I noticed a bus stop shelter on Leeson St. has recently had installed a video with speakers into its poster board. Captives waiting for a bus must stand next to a short video explaining how to make something with a particular brand of cream cheese." —What's big in Ireland now? (Spoiler: bus stops with heinous annoying talking ads about cream cheese. Also probably drunkenness.)

"It's one of the most stoutly contested Irish boasts in bars the world over. But scientists claim to have settled the score once and for all: Guinness tastes better in Ireland than anywhere else."

Sometimes videos go viral within the confines of one country and they never reach the wider world. Luckily we've had Irishman Sean McTiernan to take us through the country's storied collection of viral gems: we've examined the majesty of Ham Sandwich, the mystery of Irish rap and had fun with the cops. Yesterday, we looked at mad TV presenter Pat Kenny. And who couldn't? With his beady dolls eyes and his sinister message from his home planet. But today, in our final installment, we're widening our brief and taking a tour around the rest of the madness that Irish TV has to offer to the [...]

Sometimes videos go viral within the confines of a specific country and they never reach the wider world. Often, that's a real shame. Lucky for you, Irishman (meaning born, raised and residing in actual Ireland) Sean McTiernan is going to give you a glimpse into the country's already storied collection of viral gems. Yesterday, we covered Irish Rap, and now, well….

If the words "harmless" and "whatever" formed a band, it would sound like Irish indie band Ham Sandwich.

Paul Gogarty, Green party member of the Ireland's Dáil Éireann (that's house of representatives to you), had his fill of his country returning to the sewer from which it so recently emerged, and took it out on the Labour Party Chief Whip. I love Ireland! Language in the video above really not safe for work. Fucking Gogarty has since fucking apologized.