Columnists - West Cork People

Is Paul Lynch’s novel ‘Prophet Song’ a tale of things to come?

Kieran Doyle January, 2024

On November 23, 2023, Dublin bordered on the brink of anarchy. The riots fuelled by far-right propagandists and lit by criminal opportunists, racists and anarchists engulfed Dublin for a few scary hours. Scary, not by virtue of scale or duration, but because something like this, was happening in Ireland. Three […]

The prominent role of cats in folklore: Part I

Eugene Daly January, 2024

In part one of two-part article, Eugene Daly shares the many superstitions and stories connected with the cat in Irish folklore. A traditional Irish greeting on entering a house was; ‘God save all here, except the cat’, on account of its association with the devil. Despite this, it was believed to […]

Columnists

A new beginning

Dr Rosari Kingston January, 2024

We live our lives around the solstice, be it the longest day or the shortest day. The recent Christmas celebrations marked not only the Incarnation but also the relief that the long hours of darkness had passed, and we could look forward to increasing daylight. Our planet’s path around the […]

Why do flatfish look so miserable?

Dr Jeremy A. Dorman January, 2024

Have you ever looked closely at the head of a flatfish? Probably not, unless you are a fisherman or fishmonger. In Ireland, we generally like our fish beheaded; for many people, a fish is just a white fillet, or, in the words of the late, inimitable Keith Floyd, ‘an unidentified […]

The evolution of primary education in Ireland

Dr Michael Crowley January, 2024

As we approach the bi-centenary of the Irish National School system, in 1831, Michael Crowley looks at its evolution and says it’s time to start a conversation about the role of primary education in the new Ireland in order to create a more inclusive and innovative force in Irish society […]

Trouble with the waterworks

Dr Paula Stanley December, 2023

In almost 30 years of seeing women of all ages – in the UK for 29 years and here in Ireland for the past five months – female urinary symptoms are something that women rarely volunteer: I have to specifically ask about leaking or peeing problems. What I find horrific […]

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