Christmas as a time of celebrations and revelry goes back to the customs of pre-Christian times. Mistletoe, yule logs, holly and evergreen trees are of pagan origin, sacred to the Romans and Celts. Of all the Christian festivals, Christmas was considered the most important in Ireland, and preparations began some […]
During the War of Independence, the last IRA attack on an RIC barracks in Ireland occurred in Ballinhassig on the morning of July 7, 1921. In the attack, the Ballinhassig IRA company launched a gun attack on the barracks, which resulted in the death of one RIC constable and the […]
“I only did my duty, and what I was told to do as well as I could.” – Simo Häyhä The Winter War, sometimes referred to as the First Soviet-Finnish war, began on November 30, 1939 and ended 105 days later on March 12, 1940. Out of this war, which […]
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) Annual Appeal launched in November will be one of the most difficult in the Society’s 177-year history: According to the Society, calls for help this year will be at their highest level ever and could reach almost 200,000 by the end of […]
An annual challenge for the staff of Edel House, Cork’s emergency shelter for women and children, is to make sure that all the children in the shelter have a merry and memorable Christmas. One major improvement on all previous Christmases in Edel House is the impressive new building the service […]
Sherkin Island Development Society (SIDS) has launched a fundraising initiative to purchase Sherkin Island’s national school buildings and gardens for island community use. Under the ‘Neart Initiative’, SIDS wants to keep the school in community ownership and is asking for public donations to cover the initial purchase of the school […]