It is hard to imagine now when strolling around Omey Island's sand-dunes and marshes that the island was once home to 397 people, writes Dan MacCarthy

One of the country’s oldest independent bookshops, Liam Ruiséal’s in Cork City, is set to close later this year after more than a century in business.

The underworld has always held a fascination for mankind. From the fabulous Cave of Swallows in Mexico featured on David Attenborough’s Planet Earth to the Lascaux Caves in France which has elaborate paintings of animals from 17,000 years ago.

IN Timoleague, west Cork, where the famous 13th century abbey overlooks the sea, there may be seen, these evenings, one of the most extraordinary displays of coordination and swarm behaviour in nature, a murmuration of starlings, says Damien Enright.

Tarquin Blake’s history of Irish castles charts beautiful buildings and a grant-aid culture that goes back six centuries, writes Tommy Barker

Whole swathes of country hedges are red with haws. If we contrived to harvest them, we’d be millionaires, writes Damien Enright. 

THE Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC) was established on July 23, 1920. They were the inspiration of the British Secretary for War, Winston Churchill.

The Camino of St James has been the walking tourism phenomenon of the 21st

Strong leadership, huge determination, and persistence were some of the qualities cited by judges as Susie Horgan of Springboard PR and Marketing was crowned Cork Businesswoman of the Year.

In this entertaining book, former MaGill editor Damian Corless casts a wry eye over Ireland in the ‘swinging’ sixties.

ANY song book that has its introduction written by legendary balladeer Christy Moore is surely indicative of the value of its contents.

Alannah Hopkin discusses the inspiration behind her new book of poems and songs about Cork City, On the Banks.

Winter swimming sounds daunting but Tommy Barker has been doing a seasonal swim for 30 years. He says it’s an ideal way to remember a loved one or just gather with friends.

Olympic hero Rob Heffernan has hit out at his sport’s governing body in Ireland for failing to support his dream of establishing a race walking academy in his native city.

From Rory Gallagher to Frank O’Connor, there’s an eclectic mix in a new anthology of Cork writings, says Colette Sheridan

WHEN you have the option of downloading apps such as Strava and Map My Ride to your phone, creating your own cycling routes or browsing someone else’s, why would you buy a book compiling nearly 50 cycles around Munster?

AT THE western fringes of Co Galway at the hamlet of Claddaghduff an old road leads down to a beach. 

Journalist Jody Moylan and artist Mateusz Nowakowski used a new approach to focus on the life of the Great Liberator, writes Don O’Mahony

The pilgrim paths of Ireland are once again echoing to pilgrim footfall as a new imitative offers a chance for Irish people and overseas visitors to rediscover their pilgrim inheritance.

Irish Examiner journalist Dan MacCarthy speaks to Irish Olympic medallist and Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy, as well as Collins Press publisher Con Collins about his new book, Cycling Munster – Great Road Routes

ONE of the more obscure incidents of the Easter Rising took place near Galbally on the Tipperary/Limerick border.

FOR a superb outdoor experience, salted with a bit of history, none will serve better on this Bank Holiday Monday than a coastal walk from picturesque Courtmacsherry village to Coolbawn (aka Blind Strand) on the Seven Heads.

The framing of Harry Gleeson was a shameful episode in the history of Irish criminal justice.

A Cork e-book distribution company has launched its latest classroom-based web application in a Douglas school for hearing and speech-impaired children.

Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer

According to press reports, two traumatised lions have been moved from Gaza to a new home in Jordan. Let me apologise in advance for dwelling on the plight of animals when more than 1,200 people, including hundreds of innocent children, were killed in the 50-day onslaught on that beleaguered enclave.

THERE’S so much we don’t know about birds. For example, the diets of blackbirds and song thrushes are radically different, although they belong to the same family. 

WHY is it so many people automatically squirm at the sight of insects and bugs, most of which are utterly harmless and are living closer to us than we think? I’ve seen normally fearless, grown men recoil on seeing a cockroach crossing a kitchen floor or a spider weaving its web.

Don’t Poke A Worm Till It Wriggles by Celia Warren (Bloomsbury; €6.30) is a ‘book of poems to make you squirm’.

IF you have a vegetable garden May and June are the months when the weeds try to take it over. They seem particularly aggressive this year, probably because May was rather wet and the soil is still holding a lot of moisture. So I’m spending time using the hoe, or on my knees hand-weeding the spots where the hoe is too indiscriminate a weapon. This year, however, I have a new interest. I’m looking out for the forget-me-not shield bug.

MANY of us will take the opportunity this bank holiday weekend to get out and enjoy Ireland in bloom, for we are now in probably the premium time of year for viewing the wonders of nature.

Michael became interested in photography when a friend taught him how to develop black and white pictures. He brought his first camera at 14, having saved up for it for a year. It cost £3.26.

THE short daylight hours of the Christmas holidays and of winter in general offer the opportunity for those who enjoy the outdoor world to read up on the finer details of natural history and be replete with knowledge and curiosity when the world reopens to welcome a new spring.

Forging a Kingdom: The GAA in Kerry, 1884-1934

THE month began with reports of a tornado in Galway. Or was it extra-strong wind? Within 24 hours, a restaurant owner had admitted that the striking image of the ‘tornado’ was a Photoshop fake.

MIKE CARNEY describes his birthplace as the ‘’most beautiful place on earth’’.