A group of staff from Tralee’s Bon Secours Hospital are preparing to spend the aftermath of Christmas offering much needed healthcare in South Sudan. The group, which will include three doctors and 12 nurses, as well as support staff, will set out for the conflict-stricken African country on December 27, and will remain there till…
Youth Space Imelda Hartnett gives an insight into the life of ministry Most days I would wake up not knowing what the day ahead would look like. Every couple of mornings I would wake up in a different bed, a different house, heading off to a school I’ve never been to before. I…
Fr Conor McDonough “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil 4:8). This beloved passage often comes to mind when I’m struck by a…
The poet can help us declutter to prepare for the coming of Christ, writes Sr Una Agnew SSL When Patrick Kavanagh leaves home to go to live in Dublin in 1939, he does so in the belief that, relieved of the constant constraints of farming, he will be free to pursue his writing ambition.…
Marriage – An Unlikely Blessing Marriage’s benefits are hardly something The Irish Catholic has skimped on extolling in the past, but one thing perhaps neglected in these pages is how it may lower the risks of developing dementia. A study of worldwide studies suggests that single people are between 24% and 42% more likely to…
DIT chaplaincy celebrates Luas opening Celebrating the opening of the new Luas line at the Grangegorman campus of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), the Pastoral Care and Chaplaincy Service at DIT are offering “a vibrant week of events” from December 11-14 in St Laurence’s Church. Admission to all events is free and begins on Monday 11…
This week we present a selection of books available this Christmas time for smaller children and young adults. Younger children The President’s Glasses Peter Donnelly Gill Books, €14.99 This must be the delight of the season for both children and parents. It presents the president as slightly forgetful – well it comes to us all.…
The Sisters of St Mary’s Abbey celebrated their new book ‘A Year in the Life – Glencairn Abbey’ on Saturday with an Advent Service. The book was launched by Mairéad Lavery, editor of Country Living, with Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan. Also present was Mother Marie Fahy, Abbess of Glencairn Abbey and Dom Richard Purcell, Abbot of…
The Church’s overseas development charity Trócaire have launched their Christmas 2017 appeal with a new video entitled ‘Until Love Conquers Fear’. The video highlights the plight of all those facing fear this Christmas, and the work Trócaire does to respond to those in need. The director of Trócaire, Éamonn Meehan, said: “The people we work…
Dear Editor, I have noted your piece on the proposal to relocate some holy days to the nearest Sunday, that of All Saints on November 1 and that of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 (IC 16/11/17). I would see that as one more instance of an ongoing cave in or sell out to secularism.…