ROAD deaths in Ireland are on the increase despite the introduction of penalty points and a raft of new laws to curb speeding. By August, a total of 239 people were killed on Irish roads, 18 more than at the same time last year. Significantly, almost 50 percent of fatal accident victims were aged under 30 years... FILM director Neil Jordan was granted permission to use the … [Read more...] about News in Brief
Frank Shouldice
The Greens of Ireland
The American love of golf has created a new form of business in Ireland – golf tourism. ℘℘℘ A mean Atlantic southwesterly howls up the sand dunes, blasting a wintry chill across the grassy headland. Out on the exposed hills a slow procession catches my eye. Leaning into the gale is a hardy knot of Arctic adventurers, pressing on and pausing, driving forward for all their worth. … [Read more...] about The Greens of Ireland
Music
It started like a scene from The Commitments. - Hello, Glen? - Yeah? - It's Frank Shouldice from Irish America magazine. - Oh, how's it going? Is this for an interview? - Well, we have one scheduled. - Oh right. I'm just having me dinner at the moment. Could you ring back? Glen Hansard is founder find front man of The Frames, once featured as Outspan, the woolly-headed … [Read more...] about Music
The Last Word:
The Priestless Parish
On the surface everything at two County Clare villages in the west of Ireland appears as it's always been. Church bells tolling across Lough Graney call the faithful to Sunday services at Kilanena and Flagmount. The two churches make up one parish either side of the lake, but these days the parish is getting by without a priest of its own.
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By the time Fr. Michael Collins … [Read more...] about The Last Word:
The Priestless Parish