Author Archives: Allie Vugrincic

An interesting fact about Martin Lynch the playwright is that he doesn’t have Wikipedia page. There’s a not so reliable page for a different Martin Lynch who lived in Belfast and was associated with the IRA and Gerry Adams, but … Continue reading →

The divide between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is not well defined.  Crossing the border between the two countries reminds me somewhat of crossing between states in the U.S.  Welcome to Pennsylvania! produces about the same feeling as … Continue reading →

Irish myth collides w/the present when the last fairy and a young woman visiting 21st century No. Ireland must lift and ancient curse. #magic

7:30, the Abbey Theatre.  Our usual group gathered to see a performance of Shadow of a Gunman, a tragic and quirky tale of poor folk living in Ireland at the start of the Troubles.   We’d read the play individually and … Continue reading →

I’m not a city girl.  Ask anyone who’s walked beside me along the streets of Dublin, they’ve undoubtedly heard me marvel at the structures that seem impossible to me, stop and take photographs of the most obscure objects while completely … Continue reading →

In the shadow of St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral lies a graveyard, falling each day further and further into disrepair and slowly being eaten away by the daily Irish rain.  I walked through it one afternoon during an unusual burst of … Continue reading →

The two cathedrals that tower over Armagh sit on opposite sides of the city, each one staring at the other viciously. They are opponents on the hills of Ireland—but they seem to forget that they venerate the same God.

Walking about Armagh there is always cobblestone underfoot. Occasionally, if you are carefully watching the ground, something else will appear—a carving in the stone.  It is a simple symbol, a pointed hat with a Shepard’s hook inside, and it is … Continue reading →

I’ve been looking at skylines.  You can always tell a tourist from a native by the way that a visitor’s eyes always wander towards the sky.  People who have lived in a place all their lives don’t have a reason … Continue reading →