It was a moment of madness. Just as Storm Jorge charged towards the Irish coast, I spontaneously booked a holiday cottage perched just yards from the West Cork coastline.  I felt the whole family needed a getaway, after a remarkably busy few weeks, and since our Christmas holidays were marred by one of the kids…

I was listening the other day to the radio and an Irish conductor was talking about being asked by Elmer Bernstein to work on the music for Martin Scorsese’s film The Age of Innocence. Things were not sounding as they should and the conductor was trying to listen intently to isolate the problem. Behind him…

A parent’s perspective I attended a really fascinating talk recently in St Saviour’s Priory in Dublin, part of the  Symposium lecture series which takes place on the first Thursday of every month. A large, enthusiastic crowd was attracted by the title ‘Edith Stein’s Understanding of Human Flourishing’. Otherwise known as St Teresa Benedicta of the…

Children’s Corner Are you a budding magician or maybe even fully grown one? Magic tricks are great fun for everyone and often have an element of science involved in their secret methods. In this trick you will make water totally disappear from a cup. This is based on science so get your goggles on, but…

I am trying to get out more to walk and to pay attention to my surroundings when I do. There is something about having a camera or a decent phone with me, I find it makes me more observant. I am looking around, seeking out beauty, noticing little things that otherwise might escape my attention.…

A child’s first words are a huge milestone. At first, amongst the babble that emerges from a baby, something resembling a word occasionally emerges, like “da” or “yeah”. Yet, you cannot be quite sure if was merely accidental. Perhaps, you think, she is also inadvertently saying the occasional coherent word of Swahili or Russian, as…

I am going to be doing some work over the coming months with social enterprises. A social enterprise addresses challenges or needs in the community through an entrepreneurial business approach. An example of a social enterprise could be a bakery which employs people with learning difficulties or a community venture which provides classes, activities and support…

A parent’s perspective An article on The Catholic World Report website discussing Pope John Paul II’s vision of marriage and the family describes love in marriage as the union of one man and one woman to form “a communion of persons, through a sincere gift of self”. It talks of love forming the inner dynamism…

A deep frost had carpeted the garden with diamonds. A white mist rose from the stream in the woods, cut through with shafts of golden sunlight. The branches of the naked trees stretched their frosted limbs to the blue sky, where a half moon loitered. From the warmth of the kitchen, where last night’s fire still…

Children’s Corner Magicians are probably most well known for the trick in which they make a coin vanish, only for it to reappear behind a spectator’s ear. It’s a funny piece of conjuring and usually elicits a roar of laughter from the audience if performed correctly. Believe it or not, there’s a whole branch of…