ENNUI   A recent article in the British Medical Journal dealt with the findings of a Singapore-based team of researchers. The results of a survey,

With joy in heart and spring in step, we walk Down the shallow steps to take our seats. All settled in, we gladly turn to

THE IRISH CIVIL WAR IN PERSPECTIVE   Much will be written, over the coming year, about the Civil War in Ireland. There will be tales

TOURISM FOR THE DISCERNING   Slightly off the well-known Wild Atlantic Way is the ancient settlement of Tuam, or Tomb as our American friends call

Ordinary Life   I was thinking about all the changes we go through in life and how long it takes us to make the changed

Martin Joe Kearns was born in 1919 in Carraneany, Williamstown. Co. Galway, the youngest of a family of 6 and named after his father.   He

So much to learn…   As well as alleviating social isolation intergenerational groups help young people and old to abandon unconscious and conscious biases they

Your beaming smile is bright beyond compare: The sight of you makes my heart leap with glee. The softness of your skin so clear and

I saw your face and heard your name today, It threw me for a second, I’ll admit. What my main feeling was is hard to

Blooms on a tree trunk, Oh! so bright and visible,Like a traitor’s kiss.   This Haiku was my response to a poetry “challenge” on Twitter

On the train from the ferry,I’m pointing, enthusing;nose snug in the guidebook,you snigger at ‘BUTT Bridge’.   Five minutes later,while crossing the Loopline,you’re lovestruck…  

AUNT KATE AND THE MATCHMAKER   Though my father lived to be 92, I never heard his speak about his own father. Like many men

I KNOW A WOMAN   I know a woman who forgot to grow up. She never made it past childhood; it seems. Though she has

Just Imagine  …               … The Covid-19 pandemic is a Blessing in Disguise.   It has taught us some life lessons.               Imagine all

Patience Regained     Diagnosis of illness acute or chronic renders previous challenges small. Human beings suffer, you know its true when the pain is

THE HOUSE WITH NO BACK DOOR (revised edition)     Every now and then a memory suddenly chrysalises. Sometimes it’s triggered by the scent of

Last Day at the Strand   “I didn’t know we were coming here,” my mother accused.        “Neither did I; I just decided as we drove

(A new book, called “In Fact” by Mark Henry has just been published. It is subtitled “An Optimist’s Guide to Ireland at 100”. I wrote

    It must have been a street photographer who snapped them as they passed – 2 young men striding purposely along a Dublin street.