Single combat was a high point of many of the old heroic stories in the Fianna Cycle and Ulster cycle of Irish Mythology. In the Táin conflict between Ulster and Connacht, Cúchulainn fought and killed many of Queen Maeve’s warriors. Finally Cúchulainn was pitted against his closest friend, Ferdia, who […]
Columnists
The Israel invasion of Gaza has caused a huge reaction worldwide. Yet despite the tens of thousands of civilian deaths, it has been allowed to run for five months unabated. Over the next two issues, I want to explore the history and politics of this conflict, to bring a deeper […]
The opening line in Charles Dickens’ much-loved novel, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is the often quoted one – ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. Has it ever been any other way? The narrative of the book spanned the run-up to the French Revolution, […]
Following on from last month, Eugene Daly continues sharing some of the legends and sayings around cats in Ireland and other countries. There are many legends of cats in other countries. In Brittany a silver or ‘money’ cat (chat d’argent) could serve nine masters and make them all rich. In […]
Happy New Year! I hope you had a peaceful and relaxing Christmas Break, and are feeling great about 2024. This month I decided to focus on a fascinating compound called sulforaphane – a big name with big health benefits! In fact, it is one of the most potent food-derived anti-carcinogens […]
Today is Women’s Christmas and, as every year, I’m delighted to see the end of the holiday season. It was lovely and relaxed but by New Year’s Eve I was ready to move on. I hang in there for the first few days of January, but I’m itching to get […]