WHEN my son, Gabriel Cormac, was accepted to Law at the University of Glasgow, I had never been so proud of him. I paid for his rites of passage sixth year leavers’ party trip to Corfu. But I wanted to give him gifts of value rather than something that had a mere price. So, I decided to give him my two most prized possessions that I have carried with me throughout my adult life.

THE recent World Irish Dance Championships once again saw a plethora of fantastic performances from our own talented dancers.

LONG before the fictional exploits of Dumas’ Three Musketeers, the fishing village of Rush, County Dublin, produced its own trio of real life adventurers whose story rivals any Hollywood epic. At the centre of it stood Luke Ryan, an Irish privateer and smuggler whose audacious career during the American War of Independence made him one of the most notorious raiders ever to prowl British waters.

LONG before the age of instant messaging, online shopping, or next-day delivery, Christmas in Ireland carried a quiet magic of its own. But for countless families across the country, nothing compared to the thrill of receiving a parcel from the US, a tangible, festive connection to loved ones who had crossed the Atlantic in search of a better life.