In 1918, when Britain and Ireland were still politically conjoined, the vote was finally extended to women. Yet it was initially restricted to women over 30 years of age who were property owners. The male politicians who still held the reins were nervous of the ‘flapper’ element among younger women: fearful that those under thirty…
The community of the Church of the Holy Child, Whitehall, Dublin 9, gathered on Sunday, March 6, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of ordination of Fr Thomas Kearney, Larkhill, Whitehall and Santry’s Parish Chaplain. Mass of Thanksgiving, with Archbishop Dermott Farrell as chief celebrant, took place to mark the 60 years of Fr Kearney’s devoted…
When Fr Gary Chamberland CSC arrived in Dublin to take up the role of rector at Newman University Church just off of St Stephen’s Green, it was not the beginning anyone could have expected. “It was the middle of the Covid shutdown about 100 years ago,” Fr Chamberland recalled with a laugh. The Massachusetts-born priest…
With First Communion and Confirmation season in full swing, the Education Nation podcast is turning its attention to the primary sector for a while. Next week’s guest is Seamus Mulconry, CEO of the Catholic Primary School Managers Association. This week, in the first of our ‘focus on primary education’ series, the spotlight falls on someone…
Dublin Zoo found itself in hot water last week following the launch of its ‘All Things Irish Takeover’ campaign to celebrate Mother’s Day and St Patrick’s Day. The source of the controversy was Dublin Zoo’s decision to feature a male drag artist in their Mother’s Day promotion. The image of a bearded man in a…
Fashions in baby names can be revealing. The CSO has an online facility where you can check the popularity of various baby names, although it only goes back to 1964. Patrick was the second most popular boy’s name in 1964, and stayed in the top three until 1974, and in the top five until 1990.…
Just twenty minutes from Belfast city centre, the final remnants of the infamous Long Kesh internment camp still creak and sway in rusted decay, suspended somewhere between demolition and preservation. Of the notorious H-Blocks where the IRA hunger strikers died, only one remains. Guard towers still stand watch over a prison complex that otherwise lies…
For the retention and restoration of the faith in this city, no place contributed so much as the blessed District of Hannahstown. To its hills in times of persecution, our people rushed for safety. Its secluded spots supplied their places of worship, and its homes and caves gave protection to the priests who braved all…
Just like Christmas, St Patrick’s Day is now associated with secular traditions. Parties drowning in green shamrocks and leprechaun hats. But the creator of the St Patrick’s Dawn Prayer Gatherings doesn’t see that as a problem. Siobhán Brennan considers it “good fun and children love it. It’s creating memories.” What she believes is that this…
There are moments in life when we look, and yet we do not really see. Our eyes function perfectly, but something inside us is still blind. Only when something shifts within the heart do we begin to notice what was there all along. The readings of this Sunday speak precisely about such a miracle: the…
Mary Kenny
Renata Steffens
Breda O'Brien
Fr Dominik Domagala