We asked green-fingered writer Fionnuala Fallon, author of The Urban Farmer for the Irish Times and proud horticulturalist, what the ‘must-see’ gardens on the island of Ireland were. Needless to say, it wasn’t an easy task. This is what she said: “Could you write just a few hundred words on gardens in Ireland?, I was [...]

Picture it: Thirty men, each built like a Spartan warrior, puffed up with adrenalin and national pride, stalking their side of the pitch and eyeing each other cautiously over a painted white line in the grass. This is a modern pitched battle where the fifteen men clothed in deep green lock horns with their challengers for 80 tense and torrid [...]

Photographer and author Kevin Dwyer has produced three books of aerial photography of Ireland and is based in County Cork. Here he describes the waiting and celebrating experiences that comes with being an aerial photographer in Ireland, and how he captured the stunning image that became the cover of his latest book. In 2007, I [...]

Bet you thought all the best Irish festivals happen during the summer. And bet you thought live Irish music was mostly Céilís and Bodhráns, with the odd sell-out U2 stadium affair or screaming-tweens Westlife gig. Well have we got an October for you. The tuxedos and sparkling gowned-ticket-holders tottering around town will be your first [...]

This year journalism student Julie Basque left her home in Oregon to spend a summer as an intern in Dublin, with some dashes of travelling around the rest of Ireland as well. Here’s her story of a memorable and not-at-all-as-wet-as-she-expected summer: “Hello, what are you doing here in Ireland?” the poised and reserved man in [...]

It’s 100 years ago. The Manhattan Bridge has just connected Canal St to Brooklyn, Henry Ford has already sold 10,000 cars and the young aviation industry has yet to ‘take off’. In Belfast, the noise of the hammering of rivets echoes around the city from the Harland & Wolff shipyard. There, a local workforce of [...]

If you saw a camera crew in Ireland 20 years ago they were probably a news crew recording our football fans during Italia ’90, or making another U2 documentary. These days however, you can hardly walk through Dublin’s streets without tripping over film maker’s cables, bumping into booms, and running into, well, runners. Famous faces from the [...]

Readers, I’m warning you: I’m about to say something painfully geeky and tech-obsessed. I reckon there are two distinct phases in a person’s life, divided by the discovery of the magical world of Apps. When a person is Before Apps (B.A.) their phone is just a communication device; it makes calls, sends messages, and they [...]

Travel writer Paul Clements has long been inspired by the Burren. An area of limestone in County Clare, the Burren fosters a profusion of rare flowers and plants, underwater streams, caves and megalithic tombs, and is famous for its natural beauty. Here, Paul tries to explain his personal attachment to the place and how it [...]

“I burn fat not fuel!” Words of wisdom from cyclists buzzing around Ireland’s cities. They’re totally right, of course; there they are saving the planet, beating traffic and getting great exercise in a pleasant, wind-in-your-face, world-at-your-feet type of way. And if you, too, are a committed member of the two-wheeled tribe, listen up. Our neatly-sized, [...]