Lola Montez: a superstar ‘not even Madonna can reach’

ONCE upon a time a fine, spirited wee girl was born to her Irish mother and Scottish father in 1821 in Grange, Co Sligo. Or perhaps she was placed in the cradle by the fairies, because little Eliza Rosanna Gilbert grew up to change her name and nationality several...

The children they wished to forget

The Irish theatre company BrokenTalkers presents The Blue Boy, a stark depiction of a dark episode of Irish history THERE’S a ghost that haunts Artane, a part of Dublin where Ireland’s largest industrial school used to be. Schoolchildren there tell stories about...

Stripping for Spencer, or making art in Munich

WHAT was I doing, standing shivering and stark naked – except for a shimmering layer of gold body paint – in the middle of Munich at 6am Saturday morning? No, it wasn’t the humiliating aftermath of a night on the tiles. The latest installation by photographic artist...