Christmas is coming and our Brussel sprouts are shaping up nicely. They are doing very well in the brassica cage, which has successfully kept the butterflies out this year. Keeping the butterflies at bay meant there wasn’t a caterpillar party chomping through the plants, which gave them a much better […]
Columnists
It almost took until the final quarter of the year for the weather to come good and that was welcomed by farmers across the country. It took serious pressure off and allowed field work to be complete for tillage farmers and allowed livestock farmers graze later than usual to make […]
The hallowed period of Christmas was celebrated by the ancient Irish with great pomp and festivity. Fleming’s ‘History of Ancient Irish Customs’, gives an elaborate account of the festivity and amusement at this season of gaiety and mirth. He writes: “On Christmas Eve the village maidens went to the woods […]
I remember having a debate with a history teacher from a school in Dublin. He was dead set against conflating events from the past with the ones we are living in. I respectfully disagreed. History is not consigned to the past. For me, the past is a continuous force that shapes […]
We’re just in the door from a trip to Greece. It wasn’t our usual island hopping, we were on the mainland this time. We started off visiting the Acropolis in Athens and then drove through the plains where the wheat had been harvested leaving a golden stubble in the sunshine, […]
Every year I find it difficult to accept that summer is over. I know that Autumn is a lot of people’s favourite season, but I’m slow to give in to the joys of the season. I’ve lived in Ireland for over thirty years, but I still can’t accept that it’s […]