Podcast appearances and mentions of grace connolly

As Northern Ireland looks toward the future, Ryan speaks to Tara Grace Connolly, a youth activist who has served as Ireland's UN Youth Delegate and Chairperson of the Northern Ireland Youth Forum amongst a myriad of distinctions.

In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore some curiosities and unanswered questions from Greg's research, including a novelist's ashes, some bathing fairies, the mists of Dartmoor, and a ballooning leopard. We'll also revisit the Somerton man and puzzle over an armed traveler. Intro: Amanda McKittrick Ros is widely considered the worst novelist of all time. John Cummings swallowed 30 knives. Sources for our notes and queries: The Pony Express ad is quoted in Christopher Corbett's 2004 history Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express. It appeared first in Missouri amateur historian Mabel Loving's posthumous 1961 history The Pony Express Rides On!, but she cites no source, and no one's been able to find the ad. The anecdote about John Gawsworth keeping M.P. Shiel's ashes in a biscuit tin appears in John Sutherland's 2011 book Lives of the Novelists. "The comedian and scholar of nineteenth-century decadent literature, Barry Humphries, was (unwillingly) one such diner -- 'out of mere politeness.'" Sutherland gives only this source, which says nothing about the ashes. (Thanks, Jaideep.) Henry Irving's observation about amateur actors and personal pronouns is mentioned in Robertson Davies' 1951 novel Tempest-Tost. Joseph Addison's definition of a pun appeared in the Spectator, May 10, 1711. Theodore Hook's best pun is given in William Shepard Walsh's Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities, 1892. Richard Sugg's anecdote of the Ilkley fairies appears in this 2018 Yorkshire Post article. The proof of the Pythagorean theorem by "Miss E. A. Coolidge, a blind girl" appears in Robert Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan's 2011 book Hidden Harmonies: The Lives and Times of the Pythagorean Theorem. They found it in Elisha Scott Loomis' 1940 book The Pythagorean Proposition, which cites the Journal of Education (Volume 28, 1888, page 17), which I haven't been able to get my hands on -- the Kaplans couldn't either, until they discovered it had been mis-shelved in the stacks of Harvard's Gutman Library. Neither Loomis nor the Kaplans gives the proof as it originally appeared, and neither gives Coolidge's age at the proof. The anecdote of the Dartmoor fog appears in William Crossing's 1888 book Amid Devonia's Alps. The Paris fogs of the 1780s are described in Louis-Sébastien Mercier's Tableau de Paris (Chapter CCCLXIV, 1:1014), a 12-volume topographic description of the city that appeared between 1782 and 1788, as quoted in Jeremy Popkin, ed., Panorama of Paris: Selections From Tableau de Paris, 2010. "I have known fogs so thick that you could not see the flame in their lamps," Mercier wrote, "so thick that coachmen have had to get down from their boxes and feel their way along the walls. Passers-by, unwilling and unwitting, collided in the tenebrous streets; and you marched in at your neighbour's door under the impression that it was your own." The anecdote about Charles Green and his ballooning companions appears in John Lucas' 1973 book The Big Umbrella. The best image I've been able to find of the Dobhar-chú, the "king otter" of Irish folklore, accompanies this 2018 article from the Leitrim Observer. Does a photo exist of Grace Connolly's entire headstone? According to WorldCat, G.V. Damiano's 1922 book Hadhuch-Anti Hell-War is held only by the New York Public Library System; by Trinity College Library in Hartford, Ct.; and by the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago. If it's available online, I haven't been able to find it. The incident of the dividing typewriters is mentioned in this article from the Vancouver Sun, and there's a bit more on this Australian typewriter blog. The anecdote about Enroughty being pronounced "Darby" appears in the designer's notes for the wargame The Seven Days, Volume III: Malvern Hill. This 1912 letter to the New York Times affirms the pronunciation, and this 1956 letter to American Heritage gives another explanation of its origin -- one of many. A few more confirming sources: Robert M. Rennick, "I Didn't Catch Your Name," Verbatim 29:2 (Summer 2004). Parke Rouse, "The South's Cloudy Vowels Yield to Bland Consonance," [Newport News, Va.] Daily Press, Feb. 23, 1989, A11. Earl B. McElfresh, "Make Straight His Path: Mapmaking in the Civil War," Civil War Times 46:4 (June 2007), 36-43, 5. But even if it's true, there's no consistent explanation as to how this state of affairs came about. Listener mail: Daniel Keane and Rhett Burnie, "The Somerton Man's Remains Have Been Exhumed — So What Happens Next?" ABC News, May 19, 2021. Hilary Whiteman, "The Somerton Man Died Alone on a Beach in 1948. Now Australian Scientists Are Close to Solving the Mystery," CNN, May 31, 2021. "Operation Persist Enters New Phase," Crime Stoppers South Australia, Jan. 30, 2019. "Most-Wanted Iraqi Playing Cards," Wikipedia (accessed Jul. 9, 2021). Leon Neyfakh, "An Ingenious New Way of Solving Cold Cases," Slate, Feb. 1, 2016. Jean Huets, "Killing Time," New York Times Opinionater, Sept. 7, 2012. "1863 Complete Set of Confederate Generals Playing Cards (52)," Robert Edward Auctions (accessed July 10, 2021). James Elphick, "Four Ways Americans Have Used Playing Cards in War," History Net (accessed July 10, 2021). "WWII Airplane Spotter Cards," The Museum of Flight Store (accessed July 11, 2021). "Vesna Vulovic," Wikipedia (accessed July 4, 2021). Richard Sandomir, "Vesna Vulovic, Flight Attendant Who Survived Jetliner Blast, Dies at 66," New York Times, Dec. 28, 2016. "Yeast Hunting," myBeviale, June 1, 2020. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Sarah Gilbert, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

The Daily News Male and Female Athlete(s) of the Year in Hopkinton's Will Abbott and Natick's Grace Connolly join host Tommy Cassell to talk about their noteworthy honors. Abbott was a once-in-a-generation type athlete this past school year when it came to football, hockey and lacrosse. He raised the bar athletically at Hopkinton High by setting a boatload of new school records and was named an All-American for lax.  Connolly was in a class of her own this past school year when it came to running, earning All-American status and Mass. Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year, while also setting a bunch of new school records.​ Cassell’s Corner Each week, Tommy Cassell of the MetroWest Daily and Milford Daily News will talk with a high school sports figure from the MetroWest and Milford areas. A new episode is released every Wednesday. Follow Cassell on Twitter at @TommyCassell44 or by email at tcassell@wickedlocal.com You can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or any other podcast provider. Don’t forget to rate and review. And if you aren’t a podcast listener, every episode of Cassell’s Corner is available on our websites. 

This week we’re in Ireland learning about the dobhar-chú, a vicious creature that might be an otter but might be a KING otter! Either way, it’s a killer. The weird creature carved on Grace Connolly’s gravestone: How can such an adorable floof be so MURDEROUS? Eurasian otter: The giant otter (from South America) imitating a sea serpent (hmm): Giant otter has teeth: Further reading: The Search for the Last Undiscovered Animals by Karl PN Shuker Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I’m your host, Kate Shaw. We’re one week closer to Halloween, and it’s time to learn about a mysterious, deadly animal from Ireland called the Dobhar-chú (pronounced do-war-coo). Appropriately enough, our story starts in a graveyard. Conwall Cemetery is in the town of Drummans, near the valley of Glenade. In the cemetery is a sandstone grave marker lying flat on the ground. It’s about 4 ½ feet wide and nearly two feet high, or 1.37 by .6 meters, and is dated September 24, 1722. The name on the stone is Grace Con, wife of Ter MacLoghlin. But the main part of the stone is made up of a carving of an animal. I’ll put a picture of the carving in the show notes. It’s not very clear, but basically, it looks like a heavy-bodied dog with limbs folded beneath it as though it’s crouching. It has a long tail although that has mostly worn off. Its head is small, with tiny ears, and its neck is folded back so that its head lies along its back. A hand holds the hilt of a sword that is plunged into the animal’s neck, with the tip of the sword just visible below the belly. There are various stories and poems about what happened to Grace Con, or Grace Connolly, but they’re all basically the same. Incidentally, it was Gaelic custom for women to retain their maiden names, which is why Grace’s last name doesn’t match her husband’s. One morning Grace went down to the lake either to wash or to do laundry, reports differ. When she didn’t return home, her husband Terence McGloughlan went to find her. But when he reached the lake, he found his wife’s body--with a monstrous animal, the dobhar-chú, feeding on it. Terence killed the beast, but as it died it gave a piercing whistle or squeal. The squeal was answered by another animal from the lake, which surfaced and charged Terence. He fled home just ahead of the monster, leaped on his horse, and galloped away with the monster pursuing. Eventually his horse tired, so Terence dismounted and turned the horse sideways across the road to act as a sort of shield. When the dobhar-chú ducked to run beneath the horse’s belly, Terence stabbed it through the heart. Dobhar-chú is an Irish term meaning water-hound. It’s used as a name for the Eurasian otter, but can also refer to something called a master otter or king otter. But before we go any farther, let’s get some background on the otters that live in Ireland and Scotland, since the legend of the dobhar-chú is known in both places. The Eurasian otter lives throughout Europe and Asia. It’s shy, solitary, and territorial. It’s a pretty big animal, and some big adult males can grow as long as four and a half feet, or 1.4 meters, including the tail. Females are smaller. The otter’s toes are webbed, which makes it a good swimmer. It’s dark brown above, grayish-brown below, with white or cream-colored markings around the throat and cheeks. It has a long, slender body and flattened head with tiny ears and sensitive whiskers. Oh, and it’s incredibly cute. Oh my gosh is it cute. The otter eats fish, frogs, and invertebrates like crayfish. It lives in rivers and lakes and likes plenty of cover around the water’s edge. While it prefers fresh water, it will enter the ocean, but it needs fresh water both to drink and to clean salt from its coat. It’s usually nocturnal and is especially active at dusk and dawn, although if an otter’s territory is along the coast it will be more active during the day since it forages...

Daily News Female Athlete of the Year Grace Connolly talks with podcast host Tommy Cassell about her success in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track. Connolly finished her sophomore year at Natick High this past year. During which she was an individual All-American for both cross country and indoor track, and an All-American as part of a relay team in outdoor track. She talks about her season at Natick and choosing to focus solely on running instead of playing lacrosse. Connolly also talks about competing at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional race in New York in November, where she finished fourth (18:01). With a top-10 finish there, she garnered a spot at Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego, where she finished ninth with a time of 17:50. Cassell’s Corner Each week, Tommy Cassell of the MetroWest Daily and Milford Daily News will talk with a high school sports figure from throughout the MetroWest and Milford areas. A new episode is released every Wednesday. Follow Cassell on Twitter at @TommyCassell44. You can subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or any other podcast provider. And if you aren’t a podcast listener, every episode of Cassell’s Corner is available here on our websites. Related Links: Daily News Female Athlete of the Year: Natick’s Grace Connolly true greatness on track Natick’s Connolly graceful in victory Natick’s Connolly named 2016-2017 Gatorade Massachusetts girls cross country runner of the year.

GREAT: A Radio Play by Parrish Turner. Performed by Steve Allen. Directed, Edited, and Produced by Grace Connolly. A production of Cleaver Radio.

In the inaugural episode of On the Edge, playwright Grace Connolly reads her piece, "In the Way I am Alive". This is the first episode in our Life as Activism series, prose and poems of trauma, protest, hope, and healing as they relate to this past U.S. election, social justice, and activism going forward. Follow Grace on Twitter @reforminghpstr More poetry, prose, and artwork can be found at www.cleavermagazine.com or follow us on Twitter @CleaverMagazine Music for the episode created by Simon Aspinall, more of his music at soundcloud.com/simon-aspinall01

With this production, we decided to harken back to a 1940’s classic radio drama. The epic scope of this story serves this purpose well, as does a timeless, crackling fuzz, which we hope throws you back—beyond 2008 when the arc of this play comes to a head, and into another century, to the golden era of radio. We took a contemporary story line, and infused it with classical music, civil war era songs, and sound effects, creating a new take on an old form. —Grace Connolly

DREAMS OF THE CLOCKMAKER, a Radio Play by Sean Gill Performed by Kelly Chick Produced by Grace Connolly for Cleaver Magazine October 2016 Close your eyes, and look within. Imagine gentle, creased hands unclasping the clutch on an old-fashioned doctor's bag and withdrawing a hypnotic spiral, coiled black-and-white. The hands are gradually pirouetting the edge of the wheel, faster and faster, and a soothing voice instructs you to begin counting backwards from ten...