Food for thought walk For those who are enthusiasts of Ireland’s ancient past, the Ennis Gourmet History Walking Tour will be right up your street. The walk takes attendees on a journey that serves as an edible experience of the town’s past and present. The tour, led by Jane O’Brien of the award-winning Ennis Walking…
It used to be the playroom, the place where our four played school all through the summer holidays, where they rehearsed and performed their own nativity plays each year. Now, it is more like the old-style grocery store in rural Ireland where you could buy a heavy iron skillet, a tin of beans and a…
The back-to-school routine doesn’t have to be a daunting military operation, writes Colm Fitzpatrick It’s been a summer of late nights, gluttonous meals and relaxed rules, but with school just around the corner, the dread of dealing with tantrums from a pouting child is becoming more palpable. Every year, parents around the country must…
Medical Matters The Fair Deal Scheme has once again come under increasing pressure and scrutiny this year as costs rise and concerns loom that delays will ensue for older adults waiting to access nursing home care. Introduced in 2009 as a new way to help finance long term care, it replaced a wholly inadequate…
Personal Profile Working in South Africa for almost 50 years, a Franciscan friar has been teaching and shepherding despite many challenges, including Apartheid, in a land that is very much “missionary territory”. He taught in the National Seminary of St John Vianney in Pretoria for 35 years in total, which was difficult in several…
Making mature students feel at home Family support is very important for mature students, and with this in mind, Technological University (TU) Dublin are organising a family fun afternoon, so the family will have a chance to see some of the university and get a better understanding of the new experience. Organisers say: “Bring your…
I’ve been awake since 2.30 this morning, when I was jolted awake to the screams of a five-year-old girl. She’d had a “very bad dream with monsters in it”. Despite hours spent comforting her, she could not easily get back to sleep, and she tossed and turned until dawn. When she at last found slumber,…
Children’s Corner Refraction is a word that would make many people switch off instantly, it’s not something that regularly comes up in conversation – unless perhaps you were studying physics in school or university. The term is actually profoundly important and explains a natural phenomenon that everyone comes across daily. For kids, and some…
Vegan and vegetarian diets are not necessarily the healthiest, writes Madison Duddy The Economist dubbed 2019 ‘The Year of the Vegan’. With a continued increase in veganism, they might not be far off with their prediction. Over the past few years, more people have decided to adopt vegan and vegetarian diets for health and…
Mindful Living In the preface to Benedictus, his book of blessings, John O’Donohue, philosopher, poet, priest and author, writes that: “There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to…
Bairbre Cahill
Colm Fitzpatrick
Dr Kevin McCarroll
Chai Brady
Rory Fitzgerald