As part of their on-stage banter, The Dubliners used to quip that ���All the books that are banned in Ireland should be published in Irish, to encourage more people to learn their native tongue.���

There was no shortage of banned books back in the day. I���m reading one of them now. The Country Girls by Edna O���Brien.

About halfway through the book, I read this passage:

The parcels for the Halloween party were coming every day. I couldn���t ask my father for one because a man is not able to do these things, so I wrote to him for money instead and a day girl brought me a barmbrack, apples, and monkey-nuts.

Emphasis mine, because that little list sounded so familiar to me.

Back in 2011, I wrote a candygram for Jason. It was called Monkey nuts, barmbrack and apples.

It���s not exactly Edna O���Brien, but looking back at it fifteen years on, I think it turned out okay.