The charms of Tuscany are well known, but some of the more popular spots have become confected, where streets that once had butchers and bakers are now populated only by tourist shops. For this reason, I’ve always been smitten with Umbria, Tuscany’s poor cousin next door. Ever since we went […]
This month, branch committee member Mark Loughrey lauds the mallard. There is an old Irish saying that goes: ‘An rud is annamh is iontach’. It means ‘what is seldom is wonderful’. This is certainly true in the bird world. The elusive penduline tit that was spotted in Macroom a few […]
Since its inception nine years ago, Kinsale Arts Weekend (July 10-13, 2025), has grown from a small but lively weekend into a well-respected annual celebration of creativity with national reach. While over the years the festival has grown in both scale and confidence – it now boasts a multidisciplinary programme […]
This month Andrea Reichstein, a member of the Save Murragh Action Group committed to protecting the Bandon River Valley, discusses the importance of fresh water pearl mussels. They’re not wearing capes, but they might as well be. Freshwater pearl mussels are quiet superheroes of our waterways. They can clean water […]
Pádraig Whooley of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and the ‘Save our Sprat West Cork’ campaign explains why sprat, along with a handful of other forage fish, are critically important keystone species and the detrimental effect their decline will have on coastal communities in West Cork. Sprat feed […]
‘Babies Beneath My Feet’ – a handwritten plaque observed at the site of the former St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Institution Tuam, Co. Galway where a small grotto created decades ago remains. I have just returned from a gathering of Irish and international retreatants, who joined together for five days to […]