Leafing through a tome for 3.5 hours a week can add almost two years to your life, researchers have found. Margaret Jennings talks to people aged over 50 about their reading habits Reading by the book to expand your lifespan.

Galway advanced to the Connacht final with a facile win over Leitrim in Tuam.

The threat of bacterial epidemics is something that threatens all countries, island or not.

Martin Kavanagh fired 11 points for Carlow, but he was unable to get them over the line for victory as Galway claimed the win in their Leinster SHC opener at Pearse Stadium.

Mayo got their 2019 championship campaign off to an impressive start with a facile win at Gaelic Park against a New York side who were outclassed.

Connacht’s focus for the remainder of the season will be trying to claim a knockout spot in the PRO14 and a place in next season’s Champions Cup but they will be disappointed to bow out of the Challenge Cup without firing a decent shot.

Waterford 1-18 Galway 0-19

St Michael’s College were crowned Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup champions for the third time in their history with an emphatic victory over Gonzaga College at the RDS Arena.

For the third consecutive year, the fifth time in the last 10 runnings, and a record ninth time in total, the familiar green and gold colours of JP McManus were carried to victory in the Unibet Champion Hurdle.

The Unibet Champion Hurdle, the headline act on the opening day of the 2019 Cheltenham Festival, pits a hat-trick-seeking champion against a superstar mare as well as a mare with superstar potential

Many’s the time most of us of a certain generation have been heard to utter the old country saying, “Well, that beats Banagher!” when shocked and awed by an unexpected development of one kind or another.

Jack Carty crowned a glorious week as he celebrating his call-up to the Irish squad by scoring the match-winning try three minutes from time to send Connacht into the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.

Tottenham can see the glint of silverware at the end of what has been a very long tunnel after they held on to a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

Larry Ryan: Fashioning narratives out of the week’s big big game

Comedy hit Episodes, starring Matt LeBlanc, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan, is back after a long wait for its fifth and final series. Creators David Crane - who co-created Friends - and Jeffrey Klarik, talk about why it is ending now and how it is the closest thing to a Friends reunion we’ll ever get.

Well now, this was a turn up for the books. The NUIG celebrations, after five drama-filled minutes of second-half injury-time, told as much.

Tipperary 3-16 Cork 1-16: A dominant second-half showing from Tipperary in the curtain-raiser at Páirc Uí Chaoimh handed the Premier footballers their second competitive victory over Cork in three years.

Zebre 24 Connacht 10: Michael Bradley knows all about building from the bottom in professional rugby — his seven years at the Sportsground took Connacht through the most difficult period in their history — and he is happy with the progress he is making in his first few months with Zebre. 

DIT 3-15, GMIT 0-11: DIT manager Derek Brennan was delighted that his side gave themselves a fighting chance of making the knockout stages of the Fitzgibbon Cup after they scored an emphatic at Carnmore in Galway.

Westmeath 1-9 Offaly 0-9: Westmeath maintained their Division 3 status for another week at least with this hard-earned three-point victory over Offaly in Cusack Park, Mullingar.

Clare 2-28 Kerry 1-9: Sometimes you wonder if things happen by design or default in Clare but the unveiling of their €2.1m stand could not come at a better time next Sunday when a bumper crowd is expected at their Cusack Park HQ when the host rivals Limerick in a battle for promotion to the top flight of the Allianz Hurling League.

Munster restored some much-needed Champions Cup pride as they rebounded from Parisian humiliation with a bonus-point victory over Stade Francais in Limerick today.

Templenoe (Kerry) 2-17 Coolmeen (Clare) 0-3: Josh Holland, with the second last kick of this Munster final contest, billowed the Coolmeen net with a rasping left-footed drive.

Wexford 1-20 Antrim 1-8: Wexford have developed immunity to Kevin Ryan’s mind games.

A mother who lost her son after an unprovoked attack is leading a fundraising drive to help the family of a Limerick man who died in the US as a result of a violent incident.

An attorney for Republican presidential contender Donald Trump apologised for making the incorrect assertion that "by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse".

OUR attitude to eating oysters can be pretty similar to the treaty some of us sign — metaphorically at least — when steering our children through religious rites of passage. 

Our former Riches to Rags columnist was served with a repossession order in recent days, despite establishing a new business, dealing with arrears and paying the mortgage in full again.

Thirty four years have elapsed since Bob Champion partnered Aldaniti to one of the most celebrated wins in the illustrious history of the Grand National. But now the legendary fundraiser hopes that a certain AP McCoy can guide Shutthefrontdoor to victory this afternoon and produce “the best fairytale for the race since when we won!”

For the second day in a row, the jurors in the Graham Dwyer trial were yesterday given a warning about the difficult nature of what they were about to hear.

One imagines Nigel Carolan and the rest of his U20s management team have spent many an hour poring over footage of England’s opening Six Nations loss to Wales in Colwyn Bay this last two weeks.

New Kerry captain Kieran Donaghy will make his first competitive start of the year in Sunday’s Allianz Football League Division 1 clash with Dublin in Fitzgerald Stadium (2pm).

Limerick IT 1-19 DIT 1-13: Limerick IT registered their second successive win as they overcame DIT in their Fitzgibbon Cup, Group D clash at the Parnells ground in Coolock.

Now that the dust has settled on the January winter transfer window, a number of clubs hoping to have made the signings that will make the difference for them between now and May.

Ardfert 1-12 Spa 0-10 (after extra time)

The new series of X Factor kicks off with “a flashback” for a tearful Cheryl Fernandez-Versini when one of her old acts returns in a bid to restart her career.

As Niall Horan turns 21, Liz O’Brien visits the town that made him.

Willie Mullins’ Indevan easily reversed previous Kilbeggan form with Bally Longford in the Benchmark Hospitality Novice Chase at rain-swept Killarney last night.

Newtownshandrum 1-19 UCC 0-21

HOME, 8am, and my husband has made fresh plans to dislocate his new hip.

Many children and teenagers keep a diary to process their daily lives, but what advice would their grown-up selves give? Arlene Harris meets four women from different fields to find an answer.