In 1942 James Kerr wrote the following in the Dublin Historical Record: ‘The extraordinary persistence of traditional knowledge in Ireland is illustrated by the fact that a prescription of Diancecht’s is known and used in Ireland to the present day. It is known as ‘Diancecht’s porridge’, and is given for […]

Meán Fómhair, the Irish for September, translates as the middle of autumn and is a time when Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) begins to affect many people. SAD is a kind of depression that occurs primarily during the autumn and winter months, when sunshine hours are reduced. While the specific origin […]

We live our lives around the solstice, be it the longest day or the shortest day. The recent Christmas celebrations marked not only the Incarnation but also the relief that the long hours of darkness had passed, and we could look forward to increasing daylight. Our planet’s path around the […]

June is the height of midsummer, and the Wheel of the Year turns inexorably onwards as the longest day comes and goes for us in the Northern hemisphere. Because the days are still long, with an early sunrise and  a long twilight, we take the opportunity to move from urban […]