The sister of a man who died while climbing Carrauntoohil in Co Kerry last weekend has paid tribute to the “hero” father of three.

Mary Arrigan selects her top 10 long reads for older children in search of a good book.

Rose Martin looks at the new Ovo range of furniture and Ikea’s wild venture into Saville Row tailoring

The family of an Irish sporting legend who died in the UK 13 years ago said they're delighted he's finally home after scattering his ashes on a famous Cork cricket ground. 

The ashes of one of the country’s greatest sportsmen are to be scattered on a cricket pitch close to where he was born.

Many stars from the worlds of music, film and television were lost in 2017.

Tributes are pouring in for author and actress Biddy White Lennon who has passed away.

It has long been an aspiration of the Rose of Tralee International Festival but having a permanent dome could be in reach with work commencing in the next two years.

The mixed-race daughter of an Irish Traveller mother has told how she grew up believing her mother set fire to her as a tiny baby because she was born after an out-of-wedlock affair with a black British man.

4/5

The dying wish of Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt has finally been granted as his family scattered his ashes in Limerick to coincide with the eighth anniversary of his passing.

It’s already been quite a year for Billy O’Callaghan. In January, he placed second in the Costa Short Story Awards with ‘The Boatman’. 

Hampstead ****

Korean creativity and a couple of top western stars have combined for one of the year’s most

Greening Grey Britain is an RHS initiative to convert dreary grey and tarmacked spaces into beautiful green and vibrant garden areas.

The world of showbusiness collides in London this week with the world of gardening in the form of the colourful explosion that is the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

In a lonely landscape near Castletownbere four friends gather by candlelight with two bottles of Jamesons and some memories to share. Here is an exclusive extract from Billy O’Callaghan’s new novel, The Dead House.

There’s a home fragrance industry developing in Ireland to meet the tastes of an increasingly discerning Irish audience, writes Carol O’Callaghan.

With three of the four Goldsmiths prizes for experimental and inventive writing going to Irish writers (Kevin Barry, Mike McCormack, and Eimear McBride), perhaps we should get ready for a deluge of wannabe invention. 

When it comes to tattooed “fighting Irish”, Conor McGregor is top of the tree. A trawl through his family background shows he didn’t lick it off the stones.

Valerie O’Connor is in broody form - she’s looking at taking on an avian family.

The British prime minister and the new US president are meeting today for the first time, in Washington, and her best strategy may be an offer of friendship to the isolationist, says John Lloyd.

The testimony of a man aged 91, who died earlier this year, has provided an intriguing insight into the strong republican affiliations of a group of set dancers photographed at a crossroads in Ireland more than 100 years ago.

When British prime ministers assume office, they usually deliver high-sounding speeches. Margaret Thatcher famously quoted from St Francis of Assisi back in May 1979.

STANDING up for what is right is at the centre of this big novel but there’s also a strong sense of the righteous here being unhinged and unreliable. 

The Legend of Tarzan 3/5

 

Valerie O’Connor visits a garden in Limerick and is prompted to add edible flowers to her recipes.

Maggie’s owner caught her mid-sneezing fit and caught it on video.

This dog has the funniest sneezes we’ve ever heard.

An encounter with a celebrity that showed the misery of fame inspired Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, she tells Jonathan de Burca Butler.

LaRose is a slowly developing tale of grief, growth, and retribution, with revenge on the minds of just about everybody.

One of the world’s elite female assistant soccer referees believes that Maggie Farrelly can fulfil her dream of becoming a leading GAA whistler in a male-dominated arena.

****

AT 18, Emma O’Donahue is beautiful, smart and supremely confident. She’s also controlling and fond of getting her own way.