Do you remember Summer 2018? Ed Sheeran came to Ireland and played ‘Galway girl’ to hundreds of thousands of people (including me) in a series of concerts. In Cork the English Market celebrated its 230th birthday. Storm Emma hit Ireland in early 2018 and during the summer Storm Hector left many households without power. In…

A Parent’s Perspective A young woman I was talking to thought it would be difficult to ask her four friends, who are atheists, to accompany her into the church to light a candle. She’s Catholic, while they don’t believe in God; the presumption might be that such an invitation would be rejected. It’s a pretty…

Children’s Corner Energy is constantly changing forms and transferring between objects. There are many forms of energy, a few science whizzes may have heard of what is known as the law of conservation of energy: “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed – only converted from one form of energy to another.” Why don’t we…

Gerard Gallagher By the time we get to October many of our conversations cite how tired we are of the routines of life. Some people look forward to mid-term. Others just want to survive till the Bank Holiday. As we all begin to reconnect with the new normal in a life with less restrictions, it…

The other day, I awoke early and checked the time. For one strange half-awake moment, the second hand on my watch seemed to be moving unnaturally fast. It soon settled to its normal pace. This odd temporal misperception seemed like a warning of the speed at which time is passing by. The parents of small…

A Parent’s Perspective I was suffering from laryngitis recently and needed to rest my voice for a few days to give my vocal cords a break. It was an unusual occurrence for me which I found quite challenging. In my family, we’re all very talkative and love to chat at length about every topic under the…

Children’s Corner Some people rather hot temperatures while others prefer cold, it’s a matter of personal preference at the end of the day but a scientific mind might want to explore how hot and cold temperatures react with certain substances. Our bodies are made up of more than 60% water, so why not have a…

Gerard Gallagher Without a doubt, restrictions and measures employed during the Covid-19 pandemic have had a lasting impact on our parishes and our families. For 18 months we were unable to physically gather in our parishes. It was the same with families, many were unable to meet during this period. Clearly the Church missed the…

Can the tooth fairy get Covid? That was the perplexing question I had to ask myself, when my 7-year-old Covid patient lost a tooth. She and I recently spent 10 days isolating in the apartment at the side of our house, to protect the rest of the family. It was strange to spend all day…

Gerard Gallagher One of the daily rituals and traditions we have as a family is saying grace before meals when we gather at the table. This has continued over the years from when my children were young. It took place regardless of who was at the table, friends, grandparents, visitors and now girlfriends! There is…