In Brian Friel’s masterpiece drama, ‘Translations’, a young English soldier and a local Irish peasant girl fall madly in love. This happens, in spite of their inability to communicate through language and the fact that they come from cultural, polar opposites – the conqueror and conquered. The local learned school […]
Columnists
“I am disappointed to hear that some people are going to boycott the event, I think that is regrettable…. I think it’s a shame that people are boycotting it, but the Government stands over the decision to uphold the event.” – Leo Varadkar The above is a direct quote from […]
‘Life begins the day you start a garden’. For the past 35 years, this proverb has rung true for many who have stepped foot in Deelish Garden Centre, one of the most reputed nurseries in the country for specialising in rare and unusual plants. So many of West Cork’s gardens […]
One of our greatest weaknesses when reading and studying history about Ireland is often our failure to contextualise Irish history in comparison to what was happening elsewhere in the world. I have written a lot about the revolutionary period in Ireland, which covers our War of Independence and Civil War […]
We all love Christmas, but the extra stresses and strains that inevitably occur over the festive period can really take their toll – I remember when we were young, my mother used to go down with the flu like clockwork on Christmas Day, having exhausted herself during the weeks before. […]
Looking back at 2019, I’m sure we all noticed that there has been a youth-led paradigm shift regarding life on earth. However, the elephant in the room –– with by far the largest carbon footprint – is Christmas. All those unnecessary gifts! It is the most capitalist event of the […]