Medical Matters One of the most commonly prescribed medications in Ireland are proton pump inhibitors which are used in the treatment of acid reflux and peptic ulcers. In fact, up to 20% of adults suffer with gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) which appears to be increasing in prevalence and is more common in those of older…
What is rare, becomes precious. During an Irish January, sunlight is perhaps the most precious commodity in all of nature. On this icy morning, it shines low and golden across frosty fields. Its light touches the soil, awakening snowdrops from their winter sleep. The sun causes stirs of life within the trees limbs, as furled…
Personal Profile The lockdown has hit everyone hard, some more than others. For Fearghal O’Muineachain, the virus has cut into a pastime that is something of a passion – visiting churches. Since the age of 15, Fearghal has visited more than 1,100 Catholic churches, cathedrals and Abbey’s in Ireland, as well as a handful of…
“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamott Division Those are words worth contemplating, on all sides of the political and religious divide today. We live in a time of bitter division. From our government offices down…
Laudato Si’ Jane Mellet Happy New Year everyone! This month the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg celebrated her 18th birthday. In August 2018, Greta sat outside the Swedish parliament, striking from school, in protest of the failure of world governments to urgently address the environmental crisis our world is facing. It takes great courage…
Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians Ancient people brought the plague to Siberia about 4,400 years ago, which may have led to a collapse in the region’s population, new genetic analysis suggests. Evolutionary geneticists Gülşah Merve Kilinç and Anders Götherström, both of Stockholm University, led a team which extracted DNA from the remains…
Attempting to follow in Our Lady’s footsteps, Sarah Deegan places the utmost emphasis on our common foundation as children of God, whether it’s in her work as a secondary school teacher or in her work with the Legion of Mary. Her faith is wrapped up in the Legion, with her parents being strong proponents of…
While Irish cuisine can seem simple or plain, it is nothing if not hearty. Colcannon, Irish stew, chowder and potatoes of all kinds – they’re hearty, filling and rely on a limited selection of ingredients. I read recently the account a nun gave of her childhood in the West of Ireland in the early 1900s.…
We went walking in Glenveagh yesterday. It is a walk we have done many times but this time we took a notion and walked it backwards, beginning at the end and ending up at the beginning. What has always been a nice walk was transformed. Coming from a height, down now towards the lake, with…
Today, the common question in spiritual circles is not, “What is your church or your religion?” but, “what is your practice?” What is your practice? What is your particular explicit prayer practice? Is it Christian? Buddhist? Islamic? Secular? Do you meditate? Do you do centring prayer? Do you practice Mindfulness? For how long do you…
Dr Kevin McCarroll
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Bairbre Cahill