A joint initiative of the Irish embassy and members of various Irish communities in Rome, the ‘Ireland in Rome Map’ will act as a guide for Irish pilgrims to Rome during the Jubilee year and includes historical and religious sites associated with Ireland and significant people in Irish history. The map details 12 sites across…
France has long been admired – notably in the English-speaking world – as a society which has a much more “sophisticated”, even “civilised’ approach to love and sex. I once very much bought into these legends myself – especially after reading, as a teenager, the novels and biographies of Nancy Mitford. Why, the French accepted…
I didn’t know what subjects to study when I started at UCG in 1988. I tried out different classes in first year and settled on English and French for the degree. I had a nagging regret through in my second year that I hadn’t taken Gaeilge. But there were other ways to improve at Irish,…
I have never acquired a GPS gadget to guide me on car journeys – yet another piece of technology one has to fuss over, it would seem. I know people who can’t set out on the simplest journey without one (I recall being a passenger in a trip from Dublin’s Stillorgan to Carrickmines, which is…
One Green Party politician described their recent election experience as being spat out by the Irish people. It is somewhat ironic that while there is general agreement that climate change is the great issue of our generation, the one political party dedicated to highlighting the problem and coming up with solutions is the one that…
I love the time after Christmas Day. The preparations that take up most of December are over. It’s a time to relax with family and a good book or six. The quieter days of the Christmas season lend themselves to reflection. For our family, it has been a momentous year. In August, our elder daughter,…
Bishop Paul Dempsey I’ve experienced and I’ve seen a lot of great signs of hope as well, indeed, we have the building hope initiative in the diocese and there’s very much a sense of working together in partnerships as parishes and that’s synodality in action. Pope Francis obviously talks about synodality and I think…
My neighbour’s Christmas display has been giving me a much needed smile, but perhaps not as he intended. His holiday garden features giant blow-ups of two cartoon characters, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and a snowman, I have dubbed Olaf, in honour of the Disney snowman. Every morning, in the run-up to Christmas, I have…
“Influencers” seem to play an important role in our world, although many of us know little about some of these influential individuals, who, via social media, have such sway over the lives of others. But there are also “influencers” who have a quieter, yet profound and consistent, following, more through a network of personal admirers…
We had an unusual Advent in the Kent parish of Deal: the parish priest, Canon Brian Coyle (originally from Northern Ireland) invited one of the parishioners to give a talk, with response and reflections from parishioners in true Synodal fashion. The subject involved the German Jesuit martyr, Fr Alfred Delp, hanged by the Nazis in…
Mary Kenny
Senator Ronan Mullen
Breda O'Brien
Martina Purdy