Culture - West Cork People

A mini cruise to Roscoff

Fionnuala Harkin July, 2026

My mother comes to visit me every year in Clonakilty for a gorgeous week in O’Donovan’s Hotel. The trad session in the bar is one of the highlights for my mam, both for the music and the chats with locals and visitors. It was one of these random encounters, which […]

The Irish heatwave

Tina Pisco July, 2026

What a difference a month makes. Last month we were all revelling in the fact that after a thoroughly rotten start to 2026 (when it rained for 54 days straight), the sun finally came out. May was awful – wet, windy and cold – so when the season got itself […]

Photography, ships and the myth of ‘Lange Wapper’

James Waller July, 2026

On a recent trip to Antwerp my intrepid partner and I found ourselves in hardhats traversing the city’s historic canals. But for flash lights we were in darkness, walking in a line along a canal bed, for the waterways, known as ‘ruien,’ had been vaulted over, enclosed, for many hundreds […]

Dogtail Soup and other recipes

Moze Jacobs June, 2026

Camilla Griehsel has everything on board to be a diva. And in several senses of the word she is one. Exceptionally talented, a highly accomplished performer, she’s had her brushes with fame and fortune, brief or enduring. But the word ‘diva’ also has negative connotations and those do not apply […]

Costa del Cork

Tina Pisco June, 2026

What a difference a day (and ten degrees) makes. After three weeks of wet, grey and cold, the sun finally came out. There is an Irish saying about April borrowing days from May, but I can’t remember any terrific warm, sunny days in April. I’ve also heard some say that […]

Dialogue and dreams

Mary O'Brien June, 2026

There’s a heavy drizzle falling on the country road. Framed by the lush green of the softly humming hedgerows, a man sits on his bicycle in the mist, waiting to greet the farmer coming his way. “Soft,” remarks the cyclist with a smile, acknowledging the weather. “Soft indeed,” replies the […]

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