Culture: Northern Ireland breeds Stars!

Someone said to me the other day "Famous people from Northern Ireland, sure there are none" and I replied "Yes there are" to which they replied "Who?" So I provided them a list of people (see below) and out of that list they said the only people who generated google results when they googled them were:

C.S Lewis, Liam Neeson, George Best & Seamus Heaney. I find that very hard to believe as there are some more that would generate google hits like Kenneth Brannagh, Rory McIlroy, James Nesbitt, Jamie Dornan & Snow Patrol plus more.

Pah I say to that person, Pah! Northern Ireland is a great place and even though it has its issues like every country does, it has produced quite a number of people who have made an impact in the world of Sport, Literature, Music, TV & Film etc

Check out the list and see if you recognise a few stars!

Actors

Kenneth Brannagh

Liam Neeson

James Nesbitt

Amanda Burton

Richard Dormer

Colin Blakely

Jamie Dornan

Aidan Dunbar

Derek Thompson

Michelle Fairley

Bronagh Gallagher

Colin Morgan

Conleith Hill

Geraldine Hughes

John Lynch

Susan Lynch

Paula Malcomson

Sam Neill

Stephen Rea

Michael Smiley

Jayne Weisner

Writers / Poets / Playwrights

C.S Lewis

Seamus Heaney

Colin Bateman

Brian Friel

Brian Moore

Singers/Bands

Snow Patrol

Van Morrison

Two Door Cinema Club

Ash

Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy)

Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy)

Stiff Little Fingers

Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard)

Nadine Coyle (Girls Aloud)

Neil Hannon

The Divine Comedy

Duke Special

David Holmes (Composer)

Brian Kennedy

Ian Mitchell (Bay City Rollers)

Them

The Undertones

The Outcasts

Therapy?

D:Ream

Juliet Turner

The Answer

Footballers

George Best

Steven Davis

Jonny Evans

David Healy

Pat Jennings

Kyle Lafferty

Peter McParland

Neil Lennon

Michael O’Neill

Martin O’Neill

Brendan Rogers

Norman Whiteside

Rugby Players

Rory Best

Tommy Bowe

Andrew Trimble

Willie Anderson

Brendan Foley

David Humphreys

Jack Kyle

Willie John McBride

Formula One

Eddie Irvine

Golfers

Darren Clarke

Graham McDowell

Rory McIlroy

Ronan Rafferty

Motorcyclists

Joey Dunlop

Robert Dunlop

TV & Radio

Christine Blakely

Patrick Kielty

Colin Murray

Eamonn Holmes

Zoe Salmon

Inventors

Harry Ferguson

Wrestlers

Dave Finlay

Snooker

Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins

Dennis Taylor

Artists

John Lavery

Athletics

Mary Peters

Book Review:Five Go Gluten Free: Bruno Vincent / Enid Blyton

Five Go Gluten Free is a spoof version of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books which saw Julian, George, Anne, Dick and Timmy the dog go off on adventures and face challenges during these adventures.

Five Go Gluten Free sees the four chums go on a diet which is not just gluten free, its diary free as well, actually it seems to be an everything free diet which was inspired by a spiralizer which Anne got for her birthday from George and a cook book that she got from Dick, which outlined all the things that they have been eating are actually bad for them.

Bruno Vincent puts the Famous Five into the context of a modern world and before reading this book I thought that this would be a book to make me laugh but it isn’t that funny, it is excruciating just like the originals are. This book could have been funnier but it is still wroth a read anyway, because even if its not rib tickling funny it is still quite amusing.

I do feel like there is something missing from this book especially at the end because it ends quite abruptly in my opinion with one of the chapters unexplained and not very realistic! 

Book Review: The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Prisoner of Heaver is the third novel in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a series written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  The story continues on with the Sempere Family and is set the bookshop in which Daniel and his father work in – however the main focus is on Fermin Romero de Torrres - who is an employee in the bookshop and a close friend of Daniel’s.

Zafon tells of how Fermin ended up working in the Sempere bookshop – we read about this time locked up in Montjuic Jail and how with the help of fellow prisoner David Martin he escaped from the prison with a plan inspired by the Dumas novel “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

This novel is a story fraught with jealousy, suspicion, vengeance and lies but it also a story about the search for the truth, transformation, love, family and friendship.  It is a story full of emotion and intrigue and helps to bring together the stories of the “Forgotten Books Comedy”

Prisoner of Heaven is a very well written book, however for me it’s not the strongest in the series – that will also be Shadow of the Wind which was the first book and at the time was something new and full of intrigue and mystery, but Zafon is a strong writer and his books can stand alone.