Our daughter Deirbhile started university in Dublin this year and was home last week for a few days during her Reading Week. She lives out near DCU but takes the bus into the city now and again. Over the weekend she said to me: “In Dublin, it’s great, almost every single person getting off the…

Students Sharon O’Neill and Alison Bryan describe organising a welcome Mass for first years

In the December garden, frost-encrusted berries resemble rubies as if to decorate the garden for Christmas. With the dwindling amount of daylight the amount of work in the garden also dwindles, but there are still jobs to do. Reduce the height of shrub roses to prevent wind rock. Leave the pruning to March. Remove accumulated…

It is a tender moment when you are called to school to pick up a poorly child. The call came from reception, with tales of a pallid, weak boy, almost asleep with his head on his desk. It fell to me to ride to the rescue.  Driving to school, late autumn leaves clung to the…

Some people love the onset of winter because it means cosy fires and nights in together. Others find that this can be a difficult time of year. Many adults and children find the shorter daylight hours hard to deal with.  It is a fact that winter can lower mood for very many people because the…

Science of Life

Our parish is using the Do this in Memory programme this year to support the children and families who are preparing for First Reconciliation and First Eucharist. The response to the programme from parents has been very positive with many commenting on how good it is to be involved, to feel more connected to the…

I was fortunate enough to win a trip for two to Lithuania recently, the beautiful city of Vilnius to be exact. I was thrilled that my obsessive liking and sharing of Facebook competitions had finally paid off. Apart from an odd weekend away in Ireland, it had been several years since my husband and I had…

Seán said it was going to be “the biggest adventure he had ever been on ever in the whole world”. We were in sudden need of a second car and Seán’s granddad kindly offered us an old Land Rover he had. The only catch, if there can be a catch to such a generous offer,…

I walked out of my back door into a world of wonder this morning. It was the first of the truly autumnal mornings. A heavy fog blanketed the town below us and even the wood behind our house was barely visible but there on the apple tree, the hedge and the raspberry canes were jewels.…