As the amazing spectacle of the blackthorn covered in white blossom fades, we are honoured with the pink and white blossom of hawthorn adorning the hedgerows during May. This bush is rich in folklore and a lone hawthorn tree is associated with the ‘sí’. These bushes are also to be […]

This morning I noticed the above plant growing on the wall of an old stone building. It is a familiar plant and its botanical name is ‘Umbilicus ruperstris’. It is more commonly known as wall pennywort or ‘Cornán chaisil’, ‘Cornán Leacáin’, and ‘Lus na Pingne’ in Irish. This is a […]

In the final article in her series on fertility Dr Rosari Kingston talks about implantation and how issues relating to this may be resolved. The final stage of the journey for the fertilised egg is to implant itself in the lining of the womb, the endometrium. This is the layer […]

I am interrupting my series on infertility this month, February, to write about one of the Irish quarter days. These four days are, Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa and are approximately twelve weeks apart. The cross-quarter days are Nollaig, St Patrick’s day, St John’s day and St Martin’s day. Taken together, […]

As mentioned last month, there are four steps involved in becoming pregnant. These are ovulation, fertilisation, transportation of the fertilised egg and finally, its implantation in the womb. Approximately, one in four women who seek help for infertility have ovulation disorders.  This means that they are not ovulating or are […]