Journalists

From high life to high court, saga of the €20m mansion and changing fortunes 

As he served with British Intelligence in Persia and later Palestine, Bill Magan dreamed of the hunting fields of Westmeath which he had abandoned to go to war, and of re-establishing himself in Ireland in the style of an old Gaelic chieftain.

Liam Collins: 'Time to blow the whistle on sports thuggery' 

I was shocked at a recent GAA minor hurling match in south county Dublin at the undertone of violence on, and particularly off, the pitch.

Derek Hutch left €136,000 

Murder victim Derek Hutch, who was shot dead in a gangland feud in Dublin, left an estate valued at €136,360, according to documents lodged in the Probate Office in Dublin last week.

Liam Collins: 'Meet Ireland's 'silver serfs', whose job of parenting never ends' 

Like a lot of things, you only really see them when you start looking. The older woman pushing a young child in a buggy; the grey-haired man waiting each day at the school gate; the elderly couple hanging around the shopping centre with a clutch of kids still dressed in their school uniforms, waiting until 5.30pm so they can deliver them back to their parents.

How my drinking pal Bernard had a brilliant eye for the absurdity in life 

What Jeffrey Bernard, who started each day with a vodka and orange juice for breakfast, was doing in Kerry seemed to be a mystery, even to him.

The doctor, the drugs and his own case of addiction 

He doesn't remember the moment he first injected morphine - but Liam Farrell will never forget the consequences of what he now calls, "that pivotal act in my own destruction".

'In all the talk about housing, real people often get lost or forgotten' 

I've always wanted to have a pint of Guinness with a Guinness, but when I put it to Rory Guinness, he politely declines.

Stage and screen stars bid farewell to Donall 

fAMOUS faces from the worlds of theatre and television joined family and friends at the funeral of Donall Farmer, RTE's former head of drama, who was probably best known as Fr Tim Devereux, the parish priest "with the kindly face" in the long-running television series Glenroe.

Stage and screen stars bid farewell to Glenroe's Donall Farmer 

Famous faces from the worlds of theatre and television joined family and friends at the funeral of Donall Farmer, RTE’s former head of drama, who was probably best known as Fr Tim Devereux, the parish priest “with the kindly face” in the long-running television series Glenroe.

The story of Ireland's would-be astronauts and the space shuttle that never took off 

Twenty-seven years after they set off to join the space race, Ireland's four would-be astronauts were reunited in Dublin recently, a little older, but still doing what they were doing when they were recruited for the European Space Agency project in 1991.

Urban foxes get too close for comfort 

My daughter was coming home from babysitting one night recently when a fox casually trotted past her with someone's pet rabbit in its mouth.

Benchmark of a father and his genius son 

When his rakish father John Stanislaus Joyce died in the Whitworth Hospital in Drumcondra, Dublin in December 1931, his son James requested that he be commemorated with a bench adjacent to the grounds where people could sit and chat.

Iron out a few details and Ross's 'granny flat' grant is actually a pretty good idea 

If you put aside Shane Ross's obsession with the grey vote, his latest 'granny flat' grant is a very good idea on a number of levels.

Unveiled at last, the secret of a naked artistic mystery 

Before there was the Playboy ''centrefold'' there was the erotic realism of Gustave Courbet's The Origin of the World which was painted more than 150 years ago and inspired one of the great mysteries of the art world.

Last tributes to TV quizmaster Bunny 

"He was an ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life," Alan Carr said at the end of the funeral Mass for his father Bunny in Sutton, Co Dublin yesterday. "But most of all, his story was a love story of Bunny and our mother Joan, who are together now," he added.

Obituary: Mick O'Toole 

The flamboyant horse trainer and gambler Mick O'Toole, who has died aged 86, had notable successes in training Davy Lad to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1977 and Dickens Hill to win the Irish 2000 Guineas, in 1979.

A very special street party for dissenters and devotees 

To a cacophony of church bells and helicopter blades, Pope Francis swept through Dublin city centre yesterday.

Final farewell to a gilded age as Garech Browne's ashes scattered in dark waters 

His leave-taking had little of the spontaneous entertainment that sometimes went on for days at Luggala, but then Garech Browne is gone, even if his spirit lives on in the brooding Wicklow fastness he once called home.

The night the bloody Triad wars erupted on the streets of Dublin 

The photographer Art O'Callaghan had left Higgins's pub near the junction of Liffey Street and was making his way back to the newspaper's office in Middle Abbey Street, Dublin when a whirling mass of Chinese men spilled out of the doorway of a narrow little restaurant known as The New Universal brandishing meat cleavers, long kitchen knives and iron bars.

The saga of the senior counsel, the hotel owner and the miniature Pomeranian 

Eighty-year-old champion Bridge-playing barrister Barbara Seligman was wheeling her 14-year-old miniature toy Pomeranian dog Topaz in a pram towards the apartment she rents in Gorey from Mary Bowe - owner of Marlfield House - when a neighbour stopped her to admire 'the baby'.

Exclusive Gavin Duffy: From 'Dragons' Den' to the dark arts of a tough Presidential campaign 

There is an unexpected solemnity about Gavin Duffy, as he officially opens his campaign to seek a nomination to contest the Presidential election, which is expected to take place on October 28.

Artistic legacy of the Irish beauty with 'the exotic name' 

It was the sumptuous portrait of a beautiful woman dressed in Venetian carnival attire by the painter Sir Oswald Birley that caught the eye.

A sea dip is the last thing you can do for free 

Treading water in the slightly snot-coloured Irish Sea off Blackrock, Co Dublin, one of the other swimmers pointed to the clear blue sky, splashed the water and said: "They still haven't found a way to tax the sheer pleasure to enjoying something for free."

Ruth Ross, gardener and wartime codebreaker, leaves €4m 

The well-known gardening writer, horticulturist and wartime codebreaker Ruth Ross, whose son is Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross, left more than €4m in her will which went to probate in Dublin last week.

'Yesterday's man' planning to battle on in centre stage for some time to come 

Towards the end of his 1997 book Thanks a Million Big Fella, Sam Smyth concluded: "Then there's Michael Lowry, who after suffering personal and political disgrace faces financial ruin and possibly prison... Michael Lowry was yesterday's man before he was 44 years old."

Obituary: Judge whose one Irish rugby cap was filmed by Movietone 

JUDGE John Blayney, who has died aged 93, had the distinction of scoring a spectacular try in his only appearance for Ireland at Lansdowne Road in February 1950, after running 40 yards with the ball to cross the Scottish line at a time when such exploits were rare in rugby.

Sun, boaters and oysters come out for Bloomsday 

As if on cue, the "snot green sea" beneath the Martello Tower in Sandycove took on a Mediterranean-like hue as the sun came out to give a Bloomsday of "mild morning air".

A wealth of opportunities to dream of life in leafy Dublin 4 

Leafy Eglinton Road doesn't so much drip wealth as ooze it. It is quintessential Dublin 4 with its mixture of red-brick villas, semi-d's of a very different kind to the suburban estates on the outskirts of Dublin, and some modest, but expensive properties, at either end.

Revealed: Broadcaster Jimmy Magee leaves €1.7m in will 

Sports commentator and journalist Jimmy Magee left more than €1.7m in his will, according to documents lodged last week in the Probate Office in Dublin.

Portraits of the artist as friend and chronicler of his times 

There was a certain air of one-upmanship in the sunshine-bathed government guesthouse Farmleigh, at the opening of Anthony Palliser's 'Irish Portraits' exhibition.

Obituary: Tommy Wade 

The showjumper Tommy Wade on his ''glorified'' Connemara pony, Dundrum, not only electrified audiences at the annual Horse Show in the RDS, Dublin in the 1960s but can be credited with popularising the sport of showjumping, then regarded as an elitist pursuit of the Anglo-Irish ascendency.

'Evangelist for words' with a passion for life 

"Tom used to say the Greeks thought there was only one question worth asking about a man when he died: was he passionate?" Tom Murphy's widow, Jane Brennan, told the attendance at his funeral service yesterday. When they applauded, she continued: "Well, that answers that.".

Shrewd Magnier's art of picking out beauty, excellence and value 

When Modigliani's Reclining Nude was on display in Room 45 of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin for six years, it didn't cause anything like the stir that erupted after it was sold in Sotheby's "tepid sale" in New York last week for €133m, or indeed when the Parisian police closed down the gallery where it was first exhibited in 1917.

Dear Dot... the Irish friend with a very special place in the life of Kennedy clan 

To President of the United States John F Kennedy she was 'Dear Dot' - and his warm and informal letters to her in the wake of his Irish visit typified the close relationship between her and the Boston/Irish clan which lasted a lifetime.

Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave left estate worth €33m 

Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave has left more than €33m in his will, including €6,000 for Masses to be said for his soul.

Rolling Stones storm Croke Park and rock 70,000 with stunning show 

Archbishop Thomas Croke and Michael Cusack must have been spinning in their graves but that didn't bother the rubber-lipped Mick Jagger and his ageing band of British rockers, the Rolling Stones, when they stormed Croke Park with the opening chords of 'Sympathy for the Devil'.

Triumphal celebrations as heart is returned to cathedral 

After a sojourn of more than five years, the heart of St Laurence O'Toole was returned to Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin last Thursday evening with all the pomp and circumstance befitting an 800-year-old desiccated relic.

Maureen Haughey - wife of former Taoiseach Charles J Haughey - leaves €9m fortune 

Maureen Haughey, wife of the former Taoiseach Charles J Haughey, has left more than €9m in her will, one of the largest personal legacies recorded in the Probate Office this year.

O'Reilly comes home to old friends at Old Belvedere 

"I could not think of a nicer homecoming than you have given me here today," an emotional and entertaining Sir Anthony O'Reilly told an audience of old school and international rugby friends at the opening of the O'Reilly Room in his old clubhouse in Dublin yesterday.

Maureen Haughey, stoic wife of Charlie, leaves €9m fortune 

Maureen Haughey, wife of former Taoiseach Charles J Haughey, has left more than €9m in her will, according to papers lodged in the Probate Office in Dublin last week.

Big Tom MacBride: The giant of jive 

From the sophisticated radio and television studios where his music was rarely played to the by-ways around Oram where he was laid to rest last Friday, Big Tom exited stage left with a final chorus of Gentle Mother echoing behind him.

The last vaudevillian in town - the show must go on for Noel V Ginnity 

'I am the last of the vaudevillians," he says - and like most of his kind, Noel V Ginnity has that melancholy streak common to comedians, a moment when laughter turns to tears as he talks emotionally about a pivotal moment in life when he realised he'd almost thrown it all away.

Red Flag, Gatsby and the Dossier 

On Friday last, The Irish Times published almost a full-page interview with businessman and political activist Declan Ganley in which he claimed that he never had "personal animus" towards businessman Denis O'Brien, who recently had him "joined" in what are now "conspiracy" allegations in the High Court.

Raise a glass to new Good Friday drinking era 

I'm sitting in The Swan, a fine Victorian pub in Aungier Street, Dublin, having a usual Friday evening pint. But this Friday, it just doesn't quite seem the same.

Inside the text exchange at the heart of claims of 'a criminal conspiracy' 

'I'm good at this sort of s**t," declared Karl Brophy, the man behind Red Flag Consulting, in a text to the one-time Fianna Fail TD Colm Keaveney. They were texting back and forth about the billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien and how much he paid for his loans and the purchase of Siteserv from the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly Anglo Irish Bank.

Late Irish socialite Vi Lawlor (94) leaves €380k estate 

A glamorous socialite with a glass of "bubbles" in her hand, Vi Lawlor became a by-word for style with the social columnists at a time when celebrity was in its infancy in Ireland.

Liam Collins: Denis O'Brien's Red Flag legal action sets out web of texts and tales of intrigue 

The fascinating world where big business, lobbyists, politicians and the media intersect was aired over two days in the High Court last week, illuminating a web of texts, clandestine 'non-meetings' and secret briefings that led to front-page stories and headlines on television and radio news bulletins.

Leading clerics left contrasting fortunes in their wills 

Two of Dublin's most respected clergymen over recent decades, who died within months of each other, have left contrasting fortunes according to documents lodged in the Probate Office in Dublin last week.

Sun sets on gilded life of crown prince of Luggala 

Some of those who became lifelong friends (the poet John Montague and film-maker John Boorman among them) would at first dislike the young Garech Browne, believing him to be a trust fund toff playing at being Irish with his Aran sweaters, tweed suits, his interest in antique horse-drawn carriages and the lavish entertainments at his remote castellated Wicklow home.

Murdoch's Irish media arm under the spotlight over interference 

Whether or not newspapers can influence the outcome of an election or a referendum is arguable. But certainly the world's most powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch believes they can, otherwise why would his newspapers continually intervene in everything from the Brexit referendum in Britain to the looming battle over the Eighth Amendment in Ireland?

Tangled up in a web of murder 

Catherine Nevin, who became known as 'The Black Widow' in sections of the media following the murder of her husband Tom at Jack White's Inn, near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, was convicted of his murder and conspiracy to murder after a lengthy and highly publicised trial nearly 18 years ago.

Unlocking land banks to bring life back to towns and cities 

We've all lived with Ireland's 'urban/rural divide' and claims that major infrastructure projects tend to go to Dublin, with the population shift which inevitably follows.

Historic Waterford's ambitious bid to build for a brighter future 

For historic reasons Waterford is lopsided, all on the south side of the deep River Suir which runs through the heart of the city. The north side was once the industrial port but when it moved to a new purpose-built site at Belview, in the early 1990s, the land on the north side of the river became largely redundant. Since then the city has continued to expand southwards into its Waterford hinterland.

Ireland Inc should sell AIB while the going is still good 

The sudden volatility in the financial markets tumbling all last week on Wall Street should be a warning to Paschal Donohoe and the Government that the time has probably arrived for the State to get serious about cashing in its chips and bailing out of Allied Irish Banks.

Carpet king Des leaves €13m in will and cash for 'Saint Matt' 

Carpet king Des Kelly left a gross estate of more than €13m in his will which included charitable bequests to two Dublin homeless shelters and €71,425 for the canonisation of Matt Talbot.

Obituary: Paddy Harte 

Paddy Harte, who has died aged 86, said he was persuaded to stand as a candidate for the Letterkenny ward of Donegal County Council only because his father James had twice failed to get elected and following his sudden death at the age of 49, “I simply wanted to complete something he had started”.

Sister Francis, the Irish nun who left a €10m fortune in her will 

An Irish nun has left more than €10m in her will.

Femme fatale shot to cult fame after a stormy start 

She was the most famous Irish actress most people never heard of.

Politicians and civil servants alone will never solve our housing crisis - so here's an idea... 

It should be very clear to us by now that politicians and civil servants cannot solve the housing crisis.

High Court dogfight ends in humiliation for Ryanair 

A casual observer might wonder why it took seven weeks, including 24 full days in the High Court in Dublin, to decipher an email headed: 'Pilot update: what the markets are saying about Ryanair'. Even some of those in court were perplexed by the length of a trial that was expected to last three weeks and ended in a humiliation for the Irish airline.

Ward’s road from Irish gentry to society pimp 

Stephen Ward, portrayed as a dark and malign figure in the life and downfall of the beautiful young Christine Keeler, reported here last week, was the wayward son of an English vicar and Irish mother, who came from a distinguished Irish landed family.

Turbulent spell ahead for Irish Times Trust after Examiner deal 

There was a glaring, if not unexpected, lack of analysis of Irish Times DAC's acquisition of Landmark Media Investments, the company behind the Irish Examiner newspaper and related provincial papers and radio interest, last Wednesday.

A journey into the future of city transport 

Before the first passenger-carrying tram glided from the GPO to Broombridge yesterday, the Taoiseach set guests at the official opening a riddle: "How many Ministers for Transport does it take to extend the Luas?"

Baby, it's cold outside - and that's just fine 

Ah, but it's very, very cold," they say. But nothing, I reply.

Husband's 'chattel case' court victory was turning point in women's rights 

Werner Braun was sitting on the bed waiting for his wilful wife Heide when she returned to her bedroom in the Imperial Hotel, Cork, where she had hid for a week to escape their crumbling marriage.

When stars ended Dublin nights with fine wine - or baked beans 

Walking through the streets of Dublin on Friday night, with young people spilling out of restaurants and bars, sipping pints and smoking cigarettes in the cool night air, suddenly transported me back to another time, another place, a drab city of the not-so-distant past that now seems like an alien land.

Porterhouse pub founder Oliver Hughes left over €20m in his will 

Colourful publican and businessman Oliver Hughes, founder of the Porterhouse pub chain and Dingle Distillery, has left more than €20m in his will, according to documents lodged in the Probate Office in Dublin.

A green prism of history held us for too long: now we take a wider view 

For those of us indoctrinated with claustrophobic nationalism, seeing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar wearing the 'shamrock poppy' in Dail Eireann last week, ahead of Remembrance Sunday today, was a milestone in our maturity as a nation.

Strong-minded and brave kidnap victim Jennifer Guinness left €9m 

Jennifer Guinness, who was at the centre of an eight-day kidnap drama in the mid-1980s, left €9m in her will according to documents lodged in the Probate Office last week.

Johnny Ronan's Tara Tower will cast a long shadow over the future of the city 

The future of Dublin's skyline hung in the balance last week as one of the country's Lazarus-like developers, Johnny Ronan, battled to save his 22-storey development on an elbow of the River Liffey facing Liberty Hall.

'The Saint' writer's widow left almost €400,000 in Irish estate 

Audrey Charteris, wife of the creator of debonair television sleuth Simon Templar from The Saint, has left estate in Ireland valued at nearly €400,000.

'Examiner' woes that could sink 'The Irish Times' 

There is a widespread view that The Irish Times is sailing perilously close to the edge with its 'exclusive' talks to purchase Landmark Media Investments, the disaster-prone publishers of the Irish Examiner newspaper.

NCB and Quinn veteran Killeen's 'Post' exit plans 

If Conor Killeen harboured any ambitions to become a newspaper magnate, then the changing of the guard at Key Capital appears to have put an end to them.

Chuck Feeney: Giving it all away 

The greatest distraction about Atlantic Philanthropies is, ironically, its founder Charles 'Chuck' Feeney, the secretive Irish-American billionaire who gave all his money away, yet left nothing behind bearing his name.

Cosgrave laid to rest in simple ceremony devoid of pomp 

The former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave was laid to rest yesterday in Dublin in the way he wanted - with a simple religious ceremony and none of the trappings or pomp of a State funeral.

Liam Cosgrave, 1920-2017 

Liam Cosgrave, who has died in Dublin at the age of 97, was a former Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach and member of the 'old guard' of the party, which he led from 1965 to 1977.

A 'no nonsense' farewell to one of our greatest leaders 

When his wife Vera died late last year Liam Cosgrave rang his friend, Monsignor John Wilson, in Ballymore Eustace and told him he wanted a low- key funeral for his wife and for himself when his time came: "no speeches and no nonsense", which, the priest added, "was the type of man he was."

What horses and art tell us about the other side of O'Leary 

If not exactly the end of Michael O'Leary, this week looked very like the beginning of the end.

'Memory Man is dead...but what memories he has left behind him' 

No Mass booklet was needed to remind mourners at his funeral yesterday of what he looked or sounded like.

'This really is grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented' - Murderer's attendance at Shatter's book launch sparks outrage 

THE ATTENDANCE of notorious killer Malcolm Macarthur at the launch of Alan Shatter's memoir has been described as "appalling" and "despicable" by one of Ireland's leading crime detectives.

Pictured: Moment convicted murderer asks former justice minister to sign his book 

NOTORIOUS killer Malcolm Macarthur mingled with politicians and members of the legal fraternity at the launch of former justice minister Alan Shatter’s memoir.

Irish Volkswagen heir leaves €60m fortune in his will 

One of Ireland’s wealthiest businessmen, Irish Volkswagen heir Nigel O’Flaherty, who died last year at the age of 79, has left almost €60m in his will.

Will reveals a €60m fortune built on the humble VW Beetle 

One of Ireland's wealthiest businessmen, Irish Volkswagen heir Nigel O'Flaherty, who died last year at the age of 79, has left almost €60m in his will.

A personal life almost as tangled as his likeable rake's 

In some ways, JP Donleavy was a one-hit wonder with his novel The Ginger Man - but what a hit it was.

Call for musicians to claim cash 

Irish musicians are losing millions of euro in royalties, according to one of the most respected figures in the industry, Paddy Cole.

Obituary: Don Cockburn 

Donald 'Don' Cockburn, who has died at the age of 87, was an accidental news reader in the sense that his early ambition was to join the Irish diplomatic service, to which end he learned Russian and Spanish - an interest he maintained for the rest of his life.

Valerie battles her own Greek tragedy and retells the history of ploughing 

As an old-style reporter Valerie Cox has never been the story herself until now, when she least expected it.

Make or break for Matt on the ratings front line 

A lifetime in the bear pit of politics and the cauldron of business has prepared Ivan Yates for the challenges and the tyranny of a late-night political television show. But what of his co-presenter Matt Cooper? Has he got it in him to present The Tonight Show, which has been billed as the centrepiece of TV3's political coverage in the autumn.

'Remember James with pride, recall his personality and his achievements' 

James Osborne packed much into his 68 years on earth and it was this zest for life and laughter, his devil-may-care attitude and his charming smile and laser blue eyes that were celebrated at a memorial service in the Examination Hall of Trinity College Dublin on Friday.

Hundreds at service for businessman Osborne 

Family and friends of the late James Osborne were joined by hundreds of leading figures from the corporate, business and legal worlds at a memorial service in Trinity College Dublin yesterday to mark his life and achievements.

Art market perking up after years in the doldrums 

When a William Scott painting, Blue Still Life, was sold at Whyte's Irish & International Art Auction in Dublin earlier this summer for €460,000, observers of the art scene began to sit up and take notice.

We muddled through and survived - but austerity has taken its toll 

When I missed a mortgage payment and had to put €3,000 on the credit card to pay college fees for one of the kids, I knew that financially I was in real trouble.

Robert 'Pino' Harris 

The first time those outside the trucking business heard about Robert 'Pino' Harris was a grainy, black and white BBC documentary back in the late 1960s. It showed a priest walking along a line of Hino trucks waving his aspergillum vigorously as he shook Holy Water over the assembled fleet before they were exported from the North Wall to England.

How a secret syndicate managed to 'buy' the Lotto 

It was a Whit bank holiday weekend - and while most ordinary folk were heading off to enjoy the holiday, a small but dedicated band of gamblers spent the days leading up to that Saturday night in smoke-filled backrooms, plotting a coup that would make headlines around the world.

Brendan Smyth's evil deeds can never be forgotten 

It is high summer in Kilnacrott, Co Cavan. Not even the ominous evergreen trees that surround the one-time Norbertine house and its small graveyard can darken this glorious summer's day.

Drug and alcohol addiction swamps our overstretched rehab services 

It emerged from the wreckage of the unrequited love affairs between Monaghan peer Lord 'Paddy' Rossmore and the heroin-addicted Marianne Faithfull. That glamorous story of the 'swinging 60s' masked the harsh reality of drug addiction that is swamping therapeutic services, but inspired the founders of Coolmine in west Dublin.

Martin Molony 

It is a tribute to Martin Molony, who died last Monday at the age of 91, that although he retired from horse racing in 1951 at the age of 26, his exploits as a jockey were still remembered and celebrated well over a half a century later.

Tommy Carberry 

It was ironic that racing legend Tommy Carberry, who died last week at the age of 75, made his name on a horse called L'Escargot, or The Snail when translated from French.

The day the house of cards came tumbling down on CJ Haughey 

The headline said it all: "Haughey's Humiliation - former Taoiseach counts the cost of his £1.3m gift".

A tough, shrewd detective who led the murder squad 

When Malcolm Macarthur opened the door to No 6 Pilot View that Friday evening in August, the Attorney General Paddy Connolly, in whose apartment he was staying, was accompanied by John Courtney, head of the 'Murder Squad', and two of his ablest detectives, Noel Conroy and Tony Hickey.

Obituary: Des Hanafin 

Des Hanafin, who died last Thursday aged 86, was a Fianna Fail senator and fundraiser, businessman, campaigner against divorce and abortion and a heroic drinker before giving up alcohol altogether.

Money moves in on streets of big change 

Over the past few years a casual observer of the landscape of some of our more salubrious streets and suburbs would have seen some far-from-subtle changes.

Obituary: Fred Cogley 

Fred (Frederick) Cogley was 'the voice of Irish rugby' in the pre-professional era when the Interprovincial series and the four-yearly internationals, including the Triple Crown, were the highlight of the rugby calendar.

Reflections on a fearless life as Ann Louise is laid to rest 

Six weeks after their first meeting in 1981 "we decided to spend the rest of our lives together", Children's Minister Katherine Zappone told those gathered at the funeral service for her wife Dr Ann Louise Gilligan (61) who died last Wednesday from complications following a brain haemorrhage sustained 87 days before.

Joyceans celebrate Anthony Cronin's legacy 

Last Friday night was a fitting occasion to commemorate the literary and life work of the poet and writer Anthony Cronin, who died two days after last Christmas.