Personal Profile Fr Paddy Kelly CSsR always wanted to be a priest and 50 years on he’s still itching to get to work once the lockdown ends. Much of those 50 years Redemptorist Fr Kelly devoted to ministering with Ireland’s traveller community, for whom he has worked tirelessly. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, he said that…

Ruadhán Jones discusses how children can improve their word skills at home Many parents have struggled to effectively help their children with schoolwork during lockdown; for parents of children with dyslexia, it’s even more challenging. Experts suggest that around 10% of children in Ireland are affected by dyslexia. This suggests that there are many school…

Personal Profile Jason Osborne It was perhaps more than a little symbolic that Fr Michael Toomey should be ordained on June 14 in 2009, the feast of Corpus Christi. It makes sense that a man who would do so much to bring communities together should enter his ministry on the day celebrating the oneness of…

Creatures of habit, we’re lost without our routines and rituals, but they’re vital for our wellbeing writes Ruadhán Jones Since the start of the pandemic, days have melted into each other. I’ve seen a cartoon shared a number of times recently; it’s of a calendar which runs as normal until April, when it disintegrates entirely.…

Personal Profile For many religious communities, the coronavirus pandemic has been a time to discover the importance of an online presence. It’s something that the Oblates of Mary Immaculate have been wrestling with for some time, and has come into sharper focus during the crisis. Rebecca Roughneen, digital communications specialist for the Oblates in Inchicore,…

Weird dreams and disturbed sleep have been frequent complaints during lockdown, so now’s the time to consider your sleep hygiene writes Ruadhán Jones We’ve all heard how important good hygiene is to combat the coronavirus. Even before that, no doubt, the practice of washing your hands after going outside and always brushing your teeth would…

Personal Profile Music and faith are the two passions of Tom Conroy’s life, who believes firmly in St Augustine’s teaching “he who sings, prays twice”. Though as a child, Tom wasn’t too interested in music, it was something that was always in the background. “Music is in my family – all of them play, my…

Without a consistent routine, we may be eating more than usual or finding it difficult to think of what to cook writes Ruadhán Jones What’s for dinner, when can we eat, can I have snack now – all these questions have piled on top of us during lockdown. Many are cooking regularly for children and…

Personal Profile Father of six, co-ordinator of Síolta Retreats and co-founder of charity Another Pair of Hands, faith and good works has always been central to Armagh man Bosco McShane. “Faith was always a big part of my life,” Bosco said to The Irish Catholic. “A big influence on my life was Mother Teresa and…

The pandemic is a monolithic event, yet its effects differ from person to person writes Ruadhán Jones The pandemic has resulted in far reaching, monolithic difficulties for us all. It has reminded us that we are not invincible, that we are, in fact, incredibly frail beings. However, it has also underlined our common humanity, as…