The loneliness of a long-distance runner is nothing compared to the isolation and fear experienced by the principal of a one-teacher school, the INTO annual congress has heard.

Susan O’Shea went in search of the happy time she spent on the Shannon as a 13-year-old and found her halcyon memories were not misplaced.

‘Consequences of Wild Atlantic Way success must be managed’

THERE’S luck and there’s talent, and in rough-and-tumble contact sports one often depends on the other. But for All-Star winning hurler Ollie Canning it’s all down to luck.

Connacht 47 Leinster 10: On a day when Connacht bade farewell to their talisman from Portumna, along comes another farmer’s son from a few miles away on the other side of the River Shannon to lay down a marker and offer hope for the future with hooker Shane Delahunt producing a remarkable display on a day of celebration in Galway.

Gardaí are investigating a death on a farm in Portumna, Co. Galway.

John Muldoon looks set to remain involved in rugby and having built up considerable coaching experience during his playing career, Connacht supporters will be hoping that the province’s finest player will return in due course when he hangs up his boots in May.

One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the drive and the creativity of people living and working in rural Ireland, writes Fergus Finlay

Its All-Ireland Hurling final week, and Galway is buzzing. How much of the buzz is down to hurling is anybody’s guess. I don’t blame the people, I blame the City

The Irish Coast Guard raced to assist a cruise boat with four people on board after their vessel suffered engine trouble and its anchor line snapped yesterday afternoon.

The Munster Indoor Masters Championships drew a wealth of experience to the Nenagh track last weekend. Stephen Barry was there to watch veteran track and field stars who remain forever young.

I love team environments. I love the competitiveness when you come up against your opponent.

What a wonderful story. What a wonderful, uplifting, happy-ending romance. What an against-the-odds achievement. What a challenging, inspiring act of individual and collective defiance — and how very easy and uplifting it is to celebrate. But it offers so much more.

The mayor of Galway said the Connacht rugby team epitomises all that is good about the West of Ireland.

A trip to Athlone, the geographical heart of Ireland, left Eoin Edwards able to indulge his passion for all things historical.

Whether Galway win or lose, John McIntyre will be outside their dressing room tomorrow evening seeking out words of despair or triumph. Win or lose, he will feel despair and triumph too.

A white-tailed sea eagle chick that became a tourist attraction over the past month in Glengarriff, West Cork, has died of natural causes.

Fáilte Ireland have launched a quality standard for quirky, innovative or unusual tourist accommodation like glamping, lighthouses, pods, and log cabins.

A fearful teenage mother says her former boyfriend is torturing her in her dreams following their break-up.

Safety authorities take steps to stop rising death toll on farms

115 news jobs are being created at Green Isle Foods in Longford and Galway.

THIS is the time of year when pike spawn. They usually travel considerable distances to do so, moving into very shallow water. The males and females travel separately, as the females are much larger and have cannibalistic tendencies.

The K Club’s Ryder Cup course has been voted the country’s top parkland course for 2014 by readers of Golfing Weekly. Its sister course at the Straffan estate, the Smurfit Course, came in at No 15.

In the run-up to the new rugby season, our rugby correspondent Daniel Pitcher previews the four provinces ahead of the Rabo Direct Pro 12 openers on Friday. First up is Connacht and tomorrow he will take a look at Ulster.

Wild mink have been fleeing across the sea to islands as mainland traps cut their attacks on endangered birds.

A man is being treated for serious head injuries at a Galway hospital after a crash this morning.

Four men accused of cutting turf illegally have been sent forward for trial to the Circuit Criminal Court.

St Thomas (Galway) 1-11 v Kilcormac-Killoughey (Offaly) 1-09

Five trappers are to be deployed across the country from Monday to hunt down predators, including feral mink, that are ravaging trout and endangered birds.

There’s always been an elitism in Galway hurling that influenced the way the county used to play.

It was the major talking-point during the game, it was the major talking-point immediately after the game, it’s been the major talking-point ever since.

A woman in her fifties has died in a crash in Co. Galway.

A row which threatened to drag on for weeks was resolved yesterday when talks between high-ranking officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the gardaí, and turfcutters resulted in the end of an 18-hour protest at Clonmoylan bog in Co Galway.

The Taoiseach says turf cutters will have to observe and adhere to the law of the land.

Defiant turf cutters have claimed they won a battle against officials, but not the war.

Gardai say they are at the scene of a peaceful protest at a bog in Co Galway.

The Galway West tally is 58% yes in favour of the Fiscal Treaty referendum, and 42% no.

The State is to spend over €130,000 this year to halt and reverse the decline of breeding wader birds in the Shannon Callows.

A SERIES of wet summers has impaired the growth of wild flowers in wetland areas along the River Shannon, according to recent research.

SIX dogs were stolen from an animal sanctuary and office equipment and windows were broken in a weekend raid which has baffled and angered animal welfare staff.