While Saoirse Ronan is our best hope at the Academy Awards on Sunday, Esther McCarthy looks back at magic Irish moments of previous events

Trish Dromey discovers a stone-fronted dormer home at a scenic Kerry spot dubbed millionaires’ row.

A diver rescued by a Naval Service ship after getting into difficulties at the site of the Lusitania wreck was later airlifted to hospital, reportedly suffering from decompression sickness, otherwise known as 'the bends'.

A huge happiness and positive thinking industry, estimated to be worth US$11 billion a year, has helped to create the fantasy that happiness is a realistic goal, writes Rafael Euba.

THE arrival of Monkstown’s oft-coveted Castle House for sale on a weekend when Cork celebrates all things ocean and harbour related is an irony that would not have been lost on this home’s long-time owner, the late, great and erudite Cork gentleman Charlie Hennessy.

TWO lawyers, John and Paul, meet in the foyer of the Four Courts. Or maybe they are in Cork City courthouse, writes Michael Clifford

While the subject matter of Jimmy’s Hall is serious, the play is also filled with joy, celebrating the power of music and dance in helping overcome intolerance and oppression.

‘Humanae Vitae’ is the defended gateway that has held the ground against further ideological incursions into the ecclesial sheepfold, writes Margaret Hickey.

It’s easy to see how magical Skellig Michael captured Hollywood’s imagination, writes John Daly.

Yesterday was World Toilet Day, a battleground for everyone from the Suffragettes to the freedom riders, who have fought for access to the bathroom for people of all persuasions, races and genders. Caomhan Keane reports.

Eoin O’Callaghan on the curious friendship between a boxing legend and a Nobel Prize winning author.

WHY, OH why did The Guardian have to do it? Why did it have to resort to the type of clichéd hatchet-job it would shake its head at in a less lofty publication?

Censorship in Ireland, which was largely overturned 50 years ago, meant the public couldn’t easily get their eyes on work by our best writers, making it a badge of honour, says Donal Ó Drisceoil.

How healthy is it to use our national school system to preserve the cohesion of a faith community, asks Victoria White.

Majella O’Sullivan travels the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle route, and goes off the beaten track to meet some of the charities that will benefit from the event. 

The hustings would be ‘like playing Galatasaray,’ reckoned Kerry TD Brendan Griffin. But the two leadership candidates addressed the fiery final meeting in Cork with low-key, measured addresses, writes Lise Hand

What does the future hold for Ireland?

1. Say it with Flowers

EDUCATING RITA has a special place in the hearts of Irish audiences, cinema audiences at any rate.

From the Kino in Cork to Free Derry Corner, Ellie O’Byrne tells the stories behind the best wall art in Ireland.

I’m confident enough not to be a perfectionist. I move on with things. Try and get them done.

Joe Gill charts the declining popularity of golf and contrasts it to the burgeoning cycling industry and explains that such gradual shifts happen all the time

Your letters, your views...

A trip to the Skelligs is like dipping into a history book. It’s a pilgrimage. How apt, writes Margaret Hickey

The country vet, along with the priest, teacher, doctor and creamery manager, was always a pillar of rural life.

Six years ago, estate agent Stephen Clarke put the restored lodge of the 17th century Monkstown Castle above Cork harbour, up for sale.

Despite literary figures’ pleas for clemency, Roger Casement was hanged for his part in the Rising after a four-day trial in London, says Ryle Dwyer

Youth, as George Bernard Shaw so accurately asserted, is wasted on the young. For car manufacturers, however, supplying the youth of today with fantastic things whereby they can flaunt their well-being and, let’s face it, their youth, is something which presents a variety of problems.

In his Newcastlewest play, Kerry writer Dick Walsh is again pushing the ’post-dramatic’ boundaries, writes Padraic Killeen

Make the most of the week ahead with these five things to check out.

Everyman, Cork

Now in his 80th year, Des Keogh will finish with touring once he completes his current show on George Bernard Shaw, writes Colette Sheridan

Des O’Sullivan expects strong competition among sporting collectors for a rare nine-carat gold All Ireland medal.

“All professions are a conspiracy against the laity” — George Bernard Shaw’s observation retains a frightening degree of validity, albeit at the rhetorical end of the social commentary ‘meter’. 

Michael Clifford submitted a request to attend a forum today aimed at reviewing new building regulations but was declined. He explains that others from the meeting include consumer representatives and independent voices within the building industry. In addition, the ‘independent

Susan O’Shea sets up base camp at Muckross Park Hotel and comes away as liberated as a former guest, The Liberator.