Posts by Ken McGoogan
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Did someone mention Irish music? Here’s a 4:30 video I put together featuring the versatile Daniel Payne and Matt Malloy of the Chieftains. Some I shot at the Cliffs of Moher, but most happens at Matt Malloy’s pub in Westport on the west coast of the Emerald Isle. Payne was sailing as a musician with…
Read MoreWe’re looking for Arctic history in the wrong places
The June issue of the Literary Review of Canada finds Yours Truly responding to an LRC article published last month under the headline What Does Franklin Really Mean? This August, sailing with Adventure Canada, I am hoping to return to the site that marks John Rae’s discovery. Adriana Craciun is right to question the wisdom…
Read MoreA Discovery of Vikings
The next issue of Canada’s History magazine will feature a piece I’ve written about the Viking roots of Canada. To whet your appetite, I’ve created a four-minute video, A Discovery of Vikings. Here we find Dr. Ned Kelly, keeper of antiquities at Ireland’s National Museum, talking about locating what promises to be the most spectacular…
Read MoreScots to Elora, coals to Newcastle?
Our hero brought the Scots to Elora . . . and found they were already there.
Read MoreBob Rae at the Bookstore
So if you spotted Bob Rae at the bookstore, how would you react? Today at a Chapters/Indigo bookstore in Toronto, I wandered over to say hello, and to ask the one political question that has been eating at me. I had met the interim Liberal leader once before, at a Booklovers’ Ball sponsored by the…
Read MoreMcGugan’s in Toronto
A fabulous new Scottish Pub just opened in Toronto. McGugan’s is in the Leslieville district just a tad beyond walking distance from the Beach. I am lobbying owner Mary McGugan, a sixth or seventh cousin, to open a second location immediately.
Read MoreStraphanger: Our hero shares thoughts on Rob Ford and transit
REVIEWED BY KEN McGOOGAN From Saturday’s Globe and Mail / Published Friday, Apr. 20, 2012 4:00PM EDT A few years back, while travelling around Amsterdam, I was struck by the speed and efficiency of the light-rail transit system. Next streetcar: 1 minute 30 seconds. And there it was. In Singapore, the city that air conditioning…
Read MoreVoyaging North at Arts on Queen
The above painting of a Scottish farm house, by Sheena Fraser McGoogan, forms part of a solo show called Voyaging North soon to launch in Toronto. A tenant-farmer ancestor of mine, one John McGugan (1726-84), lived in this house on the tiny island of Gigha. Voyaging North features a couple of dozen paintings of Scotland…
Read MoreYour PLR cheque & bravo a l’UNEQ
Yes, your PLR cheque is in the mail! That is so, anyway, as of Wednesday, Feb. 15. This year, the Public Lending Right Commission is distributing $9.9 million among almost 18,000 Canadian writers for the use of their books through public libraries. I’ve just returned from Montreal, where UNEQ — the Union des ecrivaines et…
Read MoreHigh Commissioner hails How the Scots Invented Canada
Scotland’s gifts to Canada January 25, 2012 Robbie Burns statue, Victoria Park in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The statue was erected by the North British Society of Halifax in 1919. Sculpture by G.A. Lawson. By Andrew Pocock January the 25th is Burns Night, an anniversary globally celebrated. It’s right and proper, therefore, to reflect for…
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