I wouldn’t dream of expressing an opinion over the current spat between Mary McAleese and the GAA supremo Jarlath Burns. I merely follow with interest Mrs McAleese’s claim that the Gaelic Athletic Association is showing a tincture of misogyny by not expediting integration between the men’s and women’s sports. Mr Burns, for his part, finds…
magine a priest somewhere in Ireland sitting at his kitchen table tonight with a laptop open in front of him. He has several parishes to look after, and this week there have been funerals, sick calls, meetings and all the ordinary demands of parish life. There is also administration to complete, correspondence to answer and…
“The family of faith is the greatest gift” parents can give their children, Fr Willie Purcell has said, as relics of Sts Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux, were welcomed to the Carmelite Monastery in Tallow, Co. Waterford. The relics of the canonised married couple and their daughter St Thérèse…
Speaking ahead of the opening of a new fertility and female health centre in Co. Meath, co-owner Kay O’Dwyer and NaPro Fertility doctor Kirsty Chapman, who runs a clinic at the centre, said the education on female sexual health from a Catholic perspective is lacking in the current curriculum. The St Brigid’s Centre of Female…
Commenting after Irish Aid published their 2025 Annual Report, which demonstrated Ireland’s leading role in overseas development aid, Trócaire CEO Seán Farrell said the organisation “remain[s] grateful to Irish Aid, Barry Andrews MEP, and Minister Neale Richmond’s continued support and commitment to our programmes.” In a recent interview with this newspaper, Mr Farrell also cited…
During the US President’s courtesy call to Áras an Uachtaráin on Saturday, September 12, President Connolly presented President Trump with three gifts: a St Brigid’s Cross, a copy of the book Navigato Sancti Brendani – The Voyage of St Brendan and a collection of Michael Longley poems, including his sonnet ‘Ceasefire’. The gifts reflected the…
It was the grin that got me. From a former St Dominic’s Catholic schoolgirl who is now Lord Mayor of Belfast. Róis-Máire Donnelly was about to endorse a decision to illuminate City Hall to mark “safe” abortion day on September 28. She caught someone’s eye and smiled. Perhaps it was a thoughtless moment, but given…
“An emerging Church of co-responsible action depends on relationships of genuine trust,” said Bishop Ger Nash in his homily at his Installation ceremony as Bishop of Ossory, on Sunday, September 13, in St Mary’s Cathedral, Kilkenny. The now Bishop of Ferns and Ossory spoke about synodality and how the “The Synodal Pathway calls us to…
Ardens missionaries have begun work at University College Cork, continuing the campus ministry developed by FOCUS over the past three years. The new Europe-based Catholic apostolate includes 17 missionaries previously trained by FOCUS and is deploying teams to Cork, Belfast, Passau and Vienna. Bishop Fintan Gavin of Cork and Ross welcomed the new missionaries during…
The Catholic Mothers Ireland received families from across the island of Ireland at their annual National Mass and Family Day, which, this year, took place in Termonbacca, Co. Derry. As the organisation is composed of small groups in local parishes, the annual Mass is thought to be a moment for all members to come together…
Mary Kenny
Martina Purdy
Renata Steffens