Jonathan Self

Jonathan Self: The Irish words for a visit to neighbours, from airneál for a sing-song, bothántaíoch for telling old stories — and scoraíocht if you're there to gossip

Jonathan Self on airneál, fiosrú and why the Devil himself is the reason you shouldn't be picking blackberries any more — at least not according to his grandmother.

An entire feature on sarcasm? Oh, yeah, that's a GREAT idea

Well, okay, actually it is. We asked Jonathan Self to write it — and to pick out his favourite examples from history.

10 sustainability myths busted, and six things you can do to make a real difference

Jonathan Self: 'Tend your vines and crush the horror'

Jonathan Self has turned his eyes inward during social isolation – not just to his mental health, but to his garden.

Jonathan Self: ‘Going plastic-free for a week – how hard can it be? Jolly hard is the answer’

Jonathan Self finds that eschewing plastic for a week is testing, but achievable, even if his quest for locally grown strawberries packed in wooden punnets proves fruitless.

10 terrible but terribly funny school reports of the world famous, from Einstein to Churchill

Jonathan Self picks out 10 of his favourite bad school reports of all time, and laments the fact that the age of political correctness has robbed parents, children and teachers of the refreshing honesty which once characterised these important communications.