Went for a walkabout in Cork today, so good for the spirit, and here is what I saw in the face of the political shambles and recessionary gloom. I saw at start of journey a taxi driver who refused to take more than 5 euros for a 12 euro ride, because he was new to the game after...Read more »
I journeyed this week to County Mayo to attend the funeral of a dear cousin, who had moved to the lovely town of Westport with his partner Tricia a few years ago to open a marvellous used bookshop, called Gibbons Interesting Books. John was an extraordinary figure, wiry, world-travelled, and knowing. He was in...Read more »
Perhaps fitting for a place with its name, Blarney — that icon of Ireland to foreign eyes — is often not what it seems, and is as clouded with ill winds in this troubled tourist season as any place in this rapidly changing land. Forget for a moment Blarney’s gab stone and schlock. With...Read more »
As surely as the swallows fly to Capistrano, thousands of Leaving Certificate students will be jetting off this summer to places like Ibiza, Cyprus, and Crete in pursuit of the great group bacchanal abroad, a ritual born of cheap airfare and encouraged by any number of package tour operators. Once free from parents, the...Read more »
