This St Patrick’s Day is our first as emigrants. Since arriving in England last summer, we’ve gone through all the usual things that face families moving overseas: finding schools and a place to live, filling out myriad forms, importing our cars, getting set up in work, registering to pay tax and to vote. All the…
Category: Your Faith
A time of change in Catholic education
Mags Gargan speaks to the National Director for Catechetics about her first year in the role There is a lot happening in the area of religious education in Ireland at the moment, so when Kate Liffey took the role of National Director for Catechetics early last year, in some ways she didn’t realise the challenge…
The rise of diabetes
Increasing numbers of people in Ireland are developing diabetes, which is linked to our more sedentary lifestyle, writes Mags Gargan Diabetes is “a global pandemic,” according to Dr Aisling O’Leary, Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), which recently hosted a public health lecture on the ‘Rise and Rise…
An Easter chick for the dinner table
Over the Easter holidays, a fun Easter activitiy is visiting a petting farm to see new life being introduced onto the farm including eggs hatching and lambs being delivered. If you can’t wait until then, create your own fuzzy friend with this pom pom Easter chick. A pom pom maker is ideal but if you…
Obesity is reducing our life expectancy worldwide
Are you overweight? It may be a sobering thought, but in fact about 80% of Irish adults aged over 50 are overweight or obese according to the TILDA study of ageing. What’s even more alarming is that approximately 20% of Irish children and adolescents also fall into this category. Overall, the rate of obesity in…
Some people struggle to gain weight
This column regularly deals with the pitfalls of obesity and advises those weight conscious readers on how to avoid gaining weight unnecessarily or how to shed excess pounds in a healthy fashion. I’m conscious, however, that some readers may in fact be struggling to maintain their weight or indeed gain some on doctors’ orders. Weight…
Patriotic Irish coffee cardamom cupcakes
These Irish coffee cardamom cupcakes are incredibly rich and just the dessert for St Patrick’s Day. You can use any whiskey of your choice but this recipe has been tried with a Bushmills and Laphroaig. For a non-alcoholic version, omit the whiskey and the syrup from the frosting and instead grind the seeds from five…
It is in the giving that we receive
Orlaith Barrett describes her experience of being part of a St Vincent de Paul youth conference Orlaith Barrett As Transition Year (TY) students we decided to set up the Nano Foundation (St Vincent De Paul Youth Conference) because the St Vincent De Paul Society (SVP), which was founded in Ireland in 1844, is the largest…
Practising Gratitude
Being thankful has positive impacts on your mental and physical health, and your relationships, writes Wendy Grace Perhaps many of us woke up this morning feeling thankful, but many of us probably started our day rushing around and feeling stressed. What if you could start your day a different way with a habit that will…
Shamrock mascot for St Patrick’s Day
St Patrick’s Day is nearly here and it will soon be time to pin fresh shamrocks to our coats. Legend has it that St Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the people of Ireland. Since then it has become a much loved and recognised symbol of our culture. This paper strip…


Mags Gargan

Erin Fox
Dr Kevin McCarroll
Cathal Barry


Wendy Grace
