Everyday Philosophy On discovering that I study philosophy, scientists (or people who think of themselves as having scientific leanings) often ask passive-aggressive questions about philosophy’s progress. “If science can tell us the age of the universe and give us a pretty good idea of how species evolved on earth, why can’t philosophy come up…
Category: Your Faith
Making it happen
Chai Brady explores seven ways to make New Year’s resolution a solid reality Don’t give up on your resolutions, especially if they’re for your physical or mental health. That’s the message a professional addiction counsellor wants to expound. It could be as small as forgoing your cheeky weekly chipper, to more insidious habits such…
Dad’s Diary
The strangest things happen when you find yourself without Internet connection for weeks on end. That is the situation I recently found myself in thanks to the incompetence of my broadband supplier, and the fact that our old farmhouse in west Cork is down in a valley, and has two-foot thick stone walls which serve…
Sr Wendy Beckett – RIP
No community should botch its deaths. The renowned anthropologist, Mircea Eliade, suggested this and its truth applies to communities at every level. No family should send off a member without proper reflection, ritual and blessings. On December 26, 2018, the family of art and the family of faith lost a cherished member. Sr Wendy Beckett,…
My husband’s blues are getting to the whole family
My husband suffers really badly with the January blues, whereas I don’t. This has an impact on the atmosphere in our house and I’m finding it difficult. What should I do? This is difficult as I am sure you depend on your spouse as do your children, and when he is sluggish or low…
Did God create Jesus?
Questions of Faith In the last few decades there has been a resurging belief within popular culture and even among Christians that God created Jesus – and this is no small number. A survey conducted by Lifeway Research a few years ago, which interviewed 3,000 Americans about their theological views, revealed that 78% believed that…
Family News and Events
Getting in the zone For Boyzone fanatics this will be a dream come true as the boyband celebrates 25 years as a group, and releases what they say will be their final album, ‘Thank You and Goodnight’. The four remaining members – Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch – have come a long…
A school for wellbeing
Schools are increasingly faced with the challenge of understanding how adversity affects children’s growth, writes Bronagh Starrs Several generations ago, the school environment was a compartmentalised space where children carried their books and a simple lunch to each day – and even maybe a clod or two of turf for the fire. The world…
Act FAST to fight strokes
Medical Matters Speed is of the essence when faced with a stroke. The latest figures for life expectancy in Ireland have once again improved with the average age of death for males now at 79.9 years and females 83.6 years. This puts life expectancy for males here at higher than the EU average and…
Faith in the Family
How is your January going? I have a feeling it is going to be a challenging month. The calendar is already looking rather full and I have a strong feeling of “Oh dear, here we go again!” I would have to admit that I tumbled into the Christmas season exhausted and dosed with a very…

Ben Conroy
Chai Brady

Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Wendy Grace
Colm Fitzpatrick


Dr Kevin McCarroll
Bairbre Cahill