Garden of Ghosts and Ghouls October is the month of frights, spooks and scares, and so there’s no better way to spend this time than by experiencing an ominous Hallowe’en tour. Wexford’s Wells House and Gardens is welcoming the return of the acclaimed ‘Dare to Scare’ Hallowe’en tour, taking place in its beautiful old country…

Green Fingers   During the month of October your garden performs the quickest and most dramatic change of all, from cool greens to fire reds, oranges and yellows, to bare branches. Go through your shrubberies/borders, remove all weeds so they don’t get an early start next spring. Give them a gentle tidy up, removing only…

Medical Matters   The winter is soon approaching and it may be time once again for you to get the flu vaccine which is now available. Reports from Australia and other countries so far this year suggest that the infleunza strains are not as viruent as last season but viral mutations can occur and so…

A ‘novel’ festival idea For writing fiends and imaginative thinkers, this October the ‘Dalkey Creates Writing Festival’ will give aspiring writers the opportunity to improve their craft and help them on the difficult journey to being published. The festival offers writing courses from published authors in an encouraging and supportive environment. There will also be…

I always find it really hard when the weather and seasons change, this affects my relationship, I find myself snappy and irritable towards my wife. How can I beat the winter blues?   It’s understandable that after a lovely summer of sun that it might be especially hard not to be affected by the winter…

Go to Babaró! With a range of workshops, literature, and artistic performances, the Babaró International Arts Festival for Children is certainly one not to be missed. Suitable for the whole family, especially the kids, the October 15-21 festival will be based in a variety of venues in Galway City and County venues, and aims at…

Science of Life   You might think that social class divisions are fast disappearing in our modern world as we all increasingly enjoy affording things that used to be luxuries, e.g. motor cars, foreign holidays, university education, etc. but a recent review by Antony Manstead  (British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 57, Issue 2, 2018)…

Food tingles in Dingle For food lovers and connoisseurs, the Dingle Food Festival which takes place annually on the first weekend of October will be right up your street. The festival in Kerry is organised by local people and businesses on a non-profit basis and has quickly become one of the highlights of the culinary…

Sweet Treats   There is nothing more satisfying then filling your kitchen with the sweet, sugary smell of chocolate chip cookies. These chocolate chip delights are a perfect treat that you can throw together in minutes. This recipe is really simple and doesn’t have a lot of ingredients. In fact, you probably have most of…

A lighthouse that hooks For those in the family with an interest in Irish history, the famous Hook Lighthouse will be offering special guided tours as a part of Culture Night on September 21. For the third year running, you’ll be able to access one of the oldest lighthouses in the world extra late as…