Imbolc (or Imbolg); the first day of spring in Ireland! Imbolc also marks the publication of this wonderful new memoir In Ordinary Time by Carmel McMahon. While this is the first year we have a public holiday to mark it, this day has long been associated with Saint Brigid, one of the three Patron Saints of Ireland. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. Many of us who grew up in Ireland …
Category: Essays
#ReadIrishWomenChallenge22 #RIWC22 It’s April so I’m back once again with the Read Irish Women Challenge – the month where we celebrate outstanding books by Irish women. Starting on April 1st, …
How different are we from the people who lived a thousand years ago or more? We all experience certain fundamental, universal emotions: grief, love, joy, despair. Sometimes we have to …
After much consideration and reading, here are our bookseller's favourite reads of 2021. In here you'll find titles old and new, with enough recommendations to keep you going well into …
Oh William by Elizabeth Strout. The welcome return of Lucy Barton. Recently widowed, she reconnects with her first husband, William, the father of her two grown daughters. Having forgiven past …
Before openhearted was published I had written reams in minute detail about my life growing up, about my husband Peter, about how he became ill and his subsequent suicide. I …
I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay was written over a decade, in between books. But it really took shape over the last year. I was remote working, …
OK, Let’s Do Your Stupid Idea is what I say to myself silently whenever a loved one, bandmate or colleague has an idea I am unsure of. Then I smile …
Literary journals have thrived in Ireland and have repeatedly succeeded in their goals of finding, supporting, and showcasing new writing. These journals have published works by writers who go on …
Many years ago, my mother met Maeve Binchy at an event and they got on like a house on fire: two Dalkey women with a lot in common. From then …
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