A tale of family traditions and the inculturation of a Christian feast. My great grandfather was the first Christian in my family tree. I figure he converted to Catholicism around the time of the first World War. Like nearly all his contemporaries, he was polygamous. He did not quite get why he needed to leave […]
Western exceptionalism is one of the fiercest battlegrounds of contemporary history. And far from being a purely academic argument, it has immediate repercussions on today’s culture wars.
We’ve selected 20 films from the hundreds released during 2019. Not all of them are Oscar material, but they all have that combination of artistry, engagement and reasonably humane values which put them a cut above the rest. We’ve done our best to cater for all ages and interests. No doubt we’ve left out some […]
Willie Clancy was born into a musical family in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute. Clancy’s father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper Garret Barry. Willie started playing the whistle at age 5, and later took up the flute. He first […]
99 years ago the Government of Ireland Act passed through both houses of parliament in London. The Act divided Ireland into two territories, “Southern Ireland” and “Northern Ireland”, each intended to be self-governing. “Northern Ireland” as defined by the Act, amounting to six of the nine counties of Ulster, Down, Derry, Armagh, Antrim, Fermanagh and […]
Thanks to a much less rigid regime compared to China’s, Vietnam never managed to completely destroy its demographic future, despite falling for the population control trap.
In the December Scientific American, brain expert Christof Koch takes up the question of whether a machine will ever manifest consciousness. This seemingly abstruse issue may arise in actual systems sooner than we think, and so considering it is worth doing before it happens.
If you don’t get your kid a cell phone this Christmas, you’re a veritable Scrooge forcing your child to remain in the dark ages. But before you jump on the cell-phone band wagon, consider the pros and cons
Seventeen years ago today, Fr Paddy McCafferty’s made a powerful call to Irish bishops on the cover-up sexual abuse of children. This Christmas he shared these memories to help others similarly suffering, to give them hope to find some healing. ******** For me personally, the weekend of December 13th to 15th in 2002, was momentous. […]
I find it very interesting when I read left dissension. Growing up and learning about politics the biggest influence on me was the Troubles and I identified with that in a Nationalist sense: Irish good, English bad kind of way. I’ve always thought the media were biased, and I had a pre Celtic Tiger social […]
The Department of Justice’ public consultation on reviewing the legislation on hate speech comes to a close on Friday the 13th. (You can make a submission or answer a survey here) No more suitable day for the shambles of a process that it has been. In parallel, the Irish Human Rights Commissioner Emily Logan stated […]
ON THIS DAY: 12TH DECEMBER 2001: Nuala O’Loan, Police Ombudsman for the North of Ireland presents report to relatives of the Omagh bombing victims As the Police Ombudsman for the North of Ireland, Nuala O’Loan met with and presented the relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing with a report into her findings into […]