Columnists - West Cork People

Retrofit of traditional buildings

Ruairi Kay June, 2025

The heritage council defines traditional buildings as those constructed before World War II. There are estimated to be 270,000 traditional buildings in Ireland that were built prior to 1945. A traditional building doesn’t necessarily indicate that the property is of particular architectural or historical merit (i.e a listed or protected […]

Shark!

Dr Jeremy A. Dorman June, 2025

Have you ever eaten shark? Perhaps you have, unwittingly, if you’ve tried rock salmon or huss, because they are names given by fishmongers and chippies to various species of small sharks; few people in these islands would eat them otherwise. In many parts of the world, however, shark meat is […]

Wild food in ancient Ireland

Eugene Daly June, 2025

A good deal of the countryside of ancient Ireland was covered with trees and scrub. Hazel was one of the most important providers of food. The nutritious nut (cnó) of this tree can be kept for up to a year and must, therefore, have been a valuable winter food. It […]

Easing eczema

Dr Rosari Kingston June, 2025

Atopic dermatitis, often known as eczema, is a chronic skin disorder that causes patches of dry, itchy, and irritated skin that can flare up at any time. While not a cure, there are remedies that may alleviate it. Environmental causes, a weakened immune system, and heredity all contribute to eczema. […]

Gone wild

Tina Pisco May, 2025

And so here we are. It’s May. (“Tra la! It’s May!” sang Guinivere in the musical Camelot. The lusty month of May!) In the over thirty years that I’ve lived in West Cork, the month of May has always been pretty good. Sometimes it’s been spectacular. This time of the […]

More close encounters of the bird kind

WCP Staff May, 2025

This month West Cork Branch committee members Fiona O’Neill and Damaris Lysaght share their ‘best bird experiences’. Fiona’s best experience in Ireland was In the winter of 2017/18. “During the autumn of 2017, small groups of Starlings began to meet up over farmland near Timoleague, before roosting for the night […]

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