Among the different types of plantain growing in Ireland the most well-known are Plantago major or broad-leaved plantain, and Plantago lanceolata or narrow leaved plantain, also known as ribwort. Broadleaf plantain (BP; Plantago major, Plantaginaceae), also known as great plantain, is a flowering perennial, which often grows in disturbed soils, in fields […]
Columnists
At time of writing a decision on the levels of emission reductions that has to be delivered by farmers between now and 2030 has yet to be made. It feels like you can’t turn on a radio or open a news site without having to hear or read of the […]
The diminution of the Gaelic language and consequent sense of a broken tradition is one of the utmost importance in arriving at any adequate assessment of life in Ireland today. Here I attempt to show how proverbs reflect the old Gaelic tradition, now very weakened, mindful of what Thomas Davis […]
This summer of 2022, saw a return to international holidays. Dublin airport hit the headlines with its four-hour check-in queues, but it wasn’t just an Irish problem. The airport authorities in Heathrow, as I write, have forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights to cut back on the throngs of […]
As I sit myself down to write this August 2022 column, I am thinking back to the day thirty years ago that changed my life forever. It was one of those three-seasons-in-one sort of day when we unloaded the car in front of our rental home on Inchydoney. My sister […]
Yarrow is a herb, found in the temperate regions of Europe, North America and Asia. It has been used medicinally for thousands of years by many cultures. In North America the Navajo people considered yarrow one of the ‘sacred life’ medicine herbs. In Greek myth, the god Achilles used yarrow […]