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David O'Mahony

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David O'Mahony: If AI writes our stories and we stop reading between the lines, what is left?

David O’Mahony says that AI-generated writing and demands for simpler prose risk eroding literary creativity, critical thinking and reading pleasure

Sat, 10 Oct, 2026

Rosary in Girl's hands

David O'Mahony: Angels and devils on my shoulders won't slow my support for first Communion

A lack of religious fervour won't serve to scupper preparation for a daughter's first Communion

Sat, 03 Oct, 2026

David O’Mahony: From the Pied Piper to Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, how history gets rewritten

David O’Mahony: From the Pied Piper to Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, how history gets rewritten

The Pied Piper offers a curious window into how memory, folklore and shame can reshape traumatic events across generations

Sat, 26 Sep, 2026

Metallica Perform At Olympiastadion In Berlin

David O'Mahony: I’ve had many lives and more to come

His son's school project prompted David O'Mahony to create a timeline of his own life to put in his shoebox

Sat, 19 Sep, 2026

David O'Mahony: When it comes to books I’m OK with being cringe, as long as I’m the lord of it

David O'Mahony: When it comes to books I’m OK with being cringe, as long as I’m the lord of it

This week I discovered we had not introduced our children to 'The Lord of the Rings'

Sat, 12 Sep, 2026

Coloured lego bricks

David O'Mahony: Return-to-school project a bit like the start of a big Lego set

We’re only one full week in, so there’s a lot to shake out yet

Sat, 05 Sep, 2026

student at desk with stressed or overwhelmed books

David O'Mahony: They grow up so fast — but please don’t make me do higher-level maths again

A son starting secondary school stirs up distressing memories of his own school days for David O'Mahony

Sat, 29 Aug, 2026

David O'Mahony: Superstitions remind us that our past is really only just beneath the surface

David O'Mahony: Superstitions remind us that our past is really only just beneath the surface

The idea that children could be stolen by fairies (changelings) persisted in parts of Ireland up to the 19th century, sometimes with fatal consequences

Sat, 22 Aug, 2026

Writing, for all its vagaries and foibles, is easier than putting yourself out there

Writing, for all its vagaries and foibles, is easier than putting yourself out there

Writers fear nobody will read what they have written, and that somebody will

Sun, 16 Aug, 2026

Close up of mother and a child hands at the sunset.

David O'Mahony: It’s the little moments that remind you you’ve married the right one — not that I needed reminding

'Beloved Wife and I have been friends for more than half my lifetime'

Sat, 08 Aug, 2026