Sligo Lifestyle News and Features – Health, Beauty, Home, Garden, Money & Parenting News for Connaught

The Chough is a member of the crow family with glossy, metallic black feathers, a red downturned bill and matching red legs

National survey launched to see how Choughs are faring

The Chough is a distinctive member of the crow family. It is slightly bigger than a Jackdaw and has glossy, metallic black feathers. It is distinctive in that it is the only crow with a red bill and matching red legs. The bill is long and pointed and is downturned for probing in short coastal grasses for insects, leatherjackets, spiders, earthworms, and such like as well as grains.

Tartan teen sensations, The Bay City Rollers

Top ten albums this week in 1975: Rollers rule the roost at the height of Rollermania

The death of singer Les McKeown last month closed the door on another chapter in the history of a band once trumpeted as being 'as big as the Beatles'.

Saoirse Kelly doesn’t let her condition get in the way of her love of food and she even has her own Instagram account documenting her dishes - The Happy Coeliac

Living life to the full after coeliac diagnosis

There are an estimated 50,000 people living with coeliac disease in Ireland, and a further 400,000 who are gluten intolerant, but still, there are many misunderstandings about the disease.

Captain Haddock (voiced by Andy Serkis) and Tintin (Jamie Bell) in The Adventures of
Tintin (Sunday, Channel 4, 2.15pm)

Top films to watch on television this weekend

Saturday: Sicario (2015) Channel 4, 11.10pm - Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is part of the FBI's Special Weapons and Tactics team, who are at the forefront of the war against drugs.

Sligo’s Vanessa Job, who features in a TG4 documentary, speaking about her experience with cancer

'If the last year of cancer and Covid has taught me anything it's that there's nothing like slower pace of life'

Vanessa Job's cancer experience hasn't been straight forward, but she's not keen on feeling sorry for herself.

Your phone is a wonderful tool to add to your life. But keep it in its place and don’t allow it to rule your mind and life

Your wellbeing and your phone: how to maintain good boundaries

In September 2019, the average smart phone user in Ireland was spending 4.5 hours a day on their phone. Only 10 percent of that time was for phone calls. Most of the time was spent on social media, streaming music, watching movies and on youtube etc. COVID and the 3 lockdowns have changed many of our habits - including our phone habits.

Wellness journey brought Emma home

The wellness industry is growing all the time in Ireland, and has come some way since it was estimated to be worth around €2bn in 2018.

The Red-necked Wallaby is a medium-sized marsupial, common in temperate parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania

Kangaroos can survive in the wild in Ireland

It may come as a surprise to some to hear that there are kangaroos living wild and thriving in Ireland. Well, to split a hair, they are not kangaroos in the popular meaning of the word, they are wallabies. And they are not widespread; they are confined to just one offshore island.

Ear candling - a technique that's been around for thousands of years

Do you suffer from excess ear wax, ear pressure problems, buzzing, or whistling sounds in your ears? Then you might be interested to hear about ear candling. This technique has been around for thousands of years and used by many different cultures. Modern ear candles like Otosan Ear Cones are based on these historic candles.

Top ten albums chart this week in 1988: final album from classic Fleetwood Mac line-up

Ten years after Fleetwood Mac released the seminal 'Rumours', one of the best-selling albums of all time, they scored another worldwide smash with 'Tango In The Night'.

Premium

Musings and other pieces about North Sligo by man who turned to writing in lockdown

A Sligo author has published two books recently - with a formal launch to come - and has plans for an interesting publication on his and others' time working at Classiebawn during Lord Mountbatten's time there in the 1970s.

Are you struggling to fit into your jeans?

Are you thinking about how you will fit back into your summer clothes? Looking for a supplement to help but confused by the sheer choice of supplements that could support you? Maybe you're struggling to get started? Do you need something for fat burning, fluid retention, or to help feel satisfied? Here are a few supplements I have selected to suit these different needs in combination with a healthy lifestyle.

Now that restrictions are slowly being lifted, what do you want your life to look like?

Use new freedoms to reinvent yourself

Covid-19 has transformed our lives in so many ways. None of us could have anticipated what happened in the last year. How we work, socialise (or not!), exercise, communicate, connect, shop, seek health care support, date and almost every other facet of how we live has changed.

Water Fern (above right) beside duckweed (above left) to show the ferns’ very different branched and overlapping leaves or fronds

Water Fern is an invasive alien from America

Water Fern is a tiny floating fern that has been reported from several parts of Ireland. It is not a native; it arrived here from abroad and spread rapidly. Water Fern is native to both North and South warm temperate and subtropical America and is spreading worldwide.

Bróna Connaughton with her son Finn. Pic: Carl Brennan

Finding fitness again following pregnancy

As fitness trainer Bróna Connaughton works her way back to fitness eight months after giving birth, she is sharing her journey with clients who are on the same path.

Killaspugbrone Loop Trail a wonderful slice of nature

As we get used to broadening our horizons, it's worth noting some of the natural experiences we can take in while walking around the county. In Strandhill recently, we caught up with Michael Bell, whose website NatureLearn.com, has been responsible for much of the information we see about flora and fauna on signage all around the county.

Brian (left) with his late brother, Steven

Brian's mountain challenge in memory of his dear brother

A Manorhamilton man is embarking on a gruelling seven-day challenge in order to raise funds for the Intensive Care Unit in Sligo in memory of his late brother.

The fast-flying Red Admiral is one of our biggest and most common butterflies with a distinctive red, black and white colour pattern

Some colourful butterflies are on the wing again

As spring progresses, the butterfly season is once again kicking off and we are all encouraged to become citizen scientists by recording the species that we see.

Ciara Rooney from Grange has been living in London for eight years

Leaving lockdown: 'Everyone is over the moon and people are racing to get back to normal life again'

Sitting in a beer garden having a pint or going to a clothes shop may seem like pretty alien activities, but across the pond people are enjoying a new sense of freedom.

The Carty family, Juani, Barry, Kyle and Diego

'If it can help any other father or mother, or boy or girl, just make life a little bit easier, that's all we wanted to do'

A Sligo Dad says he is 'amazed' with the reaction a message posted about autism on social media has received.

Cultural Companions Máire Dufficy & Musician Kieran Quinn

Companionship is to the fore in new theatre programme

The popular Hawk's Well Theatre's Cultural Companions initiative is returning and staff at the theatre are seeking new participants to take part in 2021.

Darragh McLynn, HSE Health & Well-being Officer, Cathaoirleach of Sligo Co Council, Cllr Dara Mulvey, Deirdre Lavin, Sports Coordinator, SSRP and Dorothy Clarke, Director of Services, Sligo Co Council

Biking at home to for better well-being

Keeping active to help look after your physical and mental health and well-being is a key theme of the Government's plan for 'Living with Covid 19'.

Connáire hopes to supply bespoke plants to customers

Growing it alone

During the pandemic most 25 year olds would be happy with having bought some pricey pieces like the latest phone or even some designer trainers but for Connáire McBride, he has bought his own farm of land in south Sligo.

Note the bulging yellow pollen basket on the hind leg of the bumblebee as it collects flower pollen to carry back to its nest

Welcome a new and improved Pollinator Plan

The very ambitious Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 was published on 23 March. It enshrines in law an interim target of a 51% reduction in emissions to be achieved by the end of this decade.

'It was always a decision between life and death. I take them or they go to the slaughterhouse'

The owner of a South Sligo animal sanctuary is hoping for more support as the number of animals in her care continues to grow.

The Gulf Stream is important to us as it sends warm water from the tropics to our shores to keep our climate mild in winter

Scientists fear the Gulf Stream is slowing down

We are warned by earth scientists that the Gulf Stream is slowing down. That great river in the North Atlantic Ocean that sends warm water from the tropics to our shores to keep our climate mild in winter is losing force. It is slowing and it is carrying less water.

Lifestyle

May 2021