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r o t c a r e t c a r a h c ‘I’m a ’ y d o b ’s r a t s a in aul Newman on the Remembering P ar sc O n o -w rd a h is h f o ry a rs e iv n 40th an Shake, rattle and roll
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Issue 143 - September - October 2026
Contents 46
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News: 2 Paul Newman profile: 40 years after winning his hard-fought Oscar, Aubrey Malone recounts the life and times of one of Hollywood’s greats Shake, rattle and roll: Michael Fewer on the early days of cycling in Ireland
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Bridge: 30 More advice from Michael O’Loughlin A window of the world: Zoe Devlin marvels at the intriguing wonder of our bogs and fens
On Two Wheels: 52 John Feehan visits an oasis of vintage motorbikes Use code in ‘ST10AU’ the midlands
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Dublin Dossier: 46 Pat Keenan on happenings in and around the capital
Western Ways: 70 doro.com George Keegan on happenings in the West Wine World : 80 Golf: 84 Crossword: 86 Cosmetics and Beauty:
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Meeting Place: 90
Live life with easeCrafts: 96 Now available to buy direct from Doro, simply visit www.doro.com
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News Now 'A year of progress, impact, and innovation' Croí’s Annual Report 2025
Mark O’Donnell Chief Executive writes: ‘From community health programmes and cardiovascular prevention initiatives to patient support services, advocacy and research partnerships, our work continues to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people and families. In 2025, we delivered 7,642 free health checks at 211 events across the country (our highest ever activity level), as well as supporting hundreds of people who have experienced a cardiac event or stroke through our health programmes. The opening of the Joe & Helen O’Toole
Community Stroke Hub at Croí House was a particular highlight of the year and has underpinned a significant increase in our stroke support services.'
Croí Annual Repo rt 2025
‘This report is a reflection of the extraordinary commitment, compassion, and expertise of our staff and volunteers. Every day, they go above and beyond to support individuals, families and communities. I want to sincerely thank each member of the Croí team, our Board, volunteers,
partners, supporters, and funders for their dedication to our mission and for the impact they help us achieve together.
‘As we look ahead, we remain focused on addressing one of Ireland's greatest health challenges by expanding access to prevention, supporting recovery, advancing research, and advocating for better cardiovascular health for all’
St Patrick’s providing not-for-profit healthcare for nearly 300 years 280 years on, St Patrick's Mental Health Services has become Ireland's largest independent not-for-profit mental healthcare provider, with more than 700 staff working across clinical and non-clinical disciplines. It provides care through two adult inpatient hospitals and an adolescent inpatient unit, alongside a homecare service, more than 30 group therapy day programmes and several oneto-one therapies, and community clinics in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Grounded in a human rights-based approach, the organisation is committed to providing the highest quality mental healthcare; to promoting mental wellbeing and mental health awareness; and to advocating for those experiencing mental health difficulties. Speaking about this significant anniversary, Paul Gilligan, CEO of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services said: “As we celebrate 280 years of Saint Patrick’s, we honour the legacy of Jonathan Swift, whose founding vision was pivotal in
shaping a more humane approach to the care of people experiencing mental illness. Swift’s belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect continues to inspire our human rights-based work today. This milestone anniversary is an opportunity not only to reflect on our long history but to look to the future. Together with the people who use our services, our staff and our partners, we will continue to advance mental healthcare through excellence and innovation in clinical care, research, education and advocacy.” St Patrick’s Mental Health Services continues to invest in its people, services and facilities, while exploring new ways to improve mental health outcomes and support mentally healthy living. Recent refurbishment of the historic building, where this story began, reflects that ongoing commitment to renewal and progress, ensuring that it remains a place of care, learning and support for generations to come.
2 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Pictured (L-R): A selection of some of the archives in St Patrick’s University Hospital including a replica of Jonathan Swift’s death mask; Jonathan Swift’s writing desk; grandfather clock in the Boardroom of St Patrick’s University Hospital; minutes from the first meeting of the Governors of St Patrick’s Hospital in August 1746; bookcase containing the works of Jonathan Swift; the Historical Building at St Patrick’s Mental Health Services’ Dublin 8 site today; and another view of Swift’s writing desk.
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News
Major expansion of community-based counselling and talk therapy supports
Write By The Sea programme announced
25th – 27th September 2026, Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford
Faye Murphy, Elena Winch, Anne O'Brien, Anyta Freeman, Bonnie Connolly, Sylvia Kehoe, Sasha Wilson, Iaroslava Solovova at the launch of the 2026 Write By The Sea programme. Photographer – Mary Browne)
• Minister Butler announces new partnership with Community Therapy Ireland to deliver 9,000 counselling sessions • Over 5,200 men have availed of dedicated counselling supports since launch on 1 September 2025 • Men’s free counselling initiative expanded to include new programme in partnership Family Resource Centres
(Pictured: Faye Murphy, Elena Winch, Anne O'Brien, Anyta Freeman, Bonnie Write By The Sea, the boutique literary Sunday begins at sunrise with Go Moch Connolly, Sylvia Sasha Wilson, Iaroslava Solovova the launchMinister of for Mental Health, Mary Butler festival in the seasideKehoe, village of Kilmore ar Maidin, featuring readingsat from TD, has announced a major expansion Quay, Co. Wexford, fromprogramme. 25th Margaret Galvin, Philip–Quirke the 2026 Write Byreturns The Sea Photographer Mary and Browne) of community-based counselling and to 27th September 2026. Now in its 11th year, the volunteer-led festival once again gathers major international names and the best of contemporary Irish writing for a weekend of readings, conversations and workshops by the sea.
Paul Hennessy, accompanied by local talk therapy supports, backed by a total musicians. Throughout the day, Paul investment of €3 million in Budget 2026. Cullen discusses his memoir Outsider The investment builds on the success of the with Róisín Ingle; Órfhlaith Foyle and Men’s Free Counselling initiative launched Dermot Bolger celebrate the short story; in September 2025, through which more Francis Spufford and Ferdia Lennon than 5,200 men have already accessed free 25th – 27th September 2026, Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford explore historical fiction with Peter counselling and support services. Headlining this year's festival is Pulitzer Murphy; while Louise Nealon, Patrick The new funding will further strengthen https://writebythesea.ie/ Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford, Freyne and Sarah Maria Griffin make access to early intervention mental health who will appear in two special events, the case for friendship as fiction's most supports in communities across Ireland Write By The Sea, the boutique literary festival in the seaside village of opening the festival in conversation underrated love story in one of four and will support a new partnership Kilmore frompresented 25th to 27th September 2026.between the Health Service Executive with John Quay, BanvilleCo. and Wexford, Alex Clarke,returnsevents in partnership with the beforein returning foryear, the festival finale on Irishfestival Writers Centre. Now its 11th the volunteer-led once again gathers major (HSE) and Community Therapy Ireland Sunday afternoon. (CTI), a national association of counselling international names and the best ofThe contemporary Irish writing for a festival also reunites Oscar-winning and psychotherapy providers. weekend of readings, and workshops the Saturday morning opens onconversations a European filmmaker Neil Jordanby with Patsea. McCabe, note, marking Ireland's Presidency whose novels The Butcher Boy and Community Therapy Ireland member Headlining festival is Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist of the Councilthis of theyear's EU, with a Breakfast on Pluto Jordan adapted Richardorganisations will deliver 9,000 counselling the screen, for a conversation programme fiction, sessions as a result of the partnership. Ford, who spanning will appear inpoetry, two specialforevents, opening the festival in with filmmaker Alan Gilsenan about memoir, translation and history. Events conversation with John Banville andstorytelling Alex Clarke, returning for the acrossbefore page and film. include Michael Fortune exploring Announcing the investment, Minister festival finale onBrittany Sunday Elsewhere, Rosamund Taylor and the folklore linking andafternoon. south Butler said: Wexford; translator Laetitia Devaux Andrew Cunning discuss their debut discussing literary translation with novels with Neil Hegarty, while Sara “Expanding access to high quality talk Sheila Armstrong; Éilís Ní Dhuibhne in Baume and Danielle McLaughlin join therapies is a key commitment of Sharing conversation with Mary Costello; and Gemma Tipton to discuss their latest the Vision, our national mental health poetry readings from Jane Clarke, Eoin books and creative collaboration. policy. We know that early access to Devereux and Moyra Donaldson. Workshops and masterclasses with counselling can make a real difference festival writers run across the weekend. to people’s lives, helping them to address Other highlights include Molly Hennigan, Festival chair Anne O'Brien said: challenges before they reach crisis point.” Kate Phelan, Sinéad Gleeson and “There's a wonderful energy around Arnold Thomas Fanning celebrating Irish writing at the moment, and this “I have secured new investment of €5 million An Asylum for My Affections: Sketches year's programme reflects that. We're over the last two budgets to fund 39,000 of Maeve Brennan; Anne Enright delighted to welcome writers and readers additional hours of counselling, with a discussing her first essay collection with from near and far to Kilmore Quay, particular focus on reaching groups who Aoife Barry; debut novelists Neil Tully and — as Ireland holds the Presidency may face barriers to accessing services.” and Orla Mackey examining rural life of the Council of the EU — especially and community; Natasha Brown in proud to present readings in a number of “This funding is helping to ensure that conversation with Kevin Power about European languages across the weekend.” more people are receiving professional, her acclaimed novel Universality; Come spend a day or the whole weekend community-based supports in a timely and Rosaleen McDonagh discussing her at Write By The Sea, and feed your mind, accessible way.” debut novel with Emilie Pine; and Carlo your body and your soul. Tickets are on Gébler reflecting on family, memory sale now at www.writebythesea.ie Minister Butler secured €1 million in and his mother Edna O'Brien with recurring funding in Budget 2026 to Sinéad Gleeson. Saturday concludes with Write By The Sea Literary Festival is expand community-based counselling bestselling crime writers Sam Blake, generously supported by The Arts Council and psychotherapy services through a Andrea Carter and Rebecca Hannigan of Ireland, Culture Ireland, Wexford new partnership between the HSE and discussing the art of suspense and what County Council, Rosslare Municipal Community Therapy Ireland. draws them to the darker side of Irish life. District and RTÉ Supporting The Arts.
Write By The Sea programme announced
4 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
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Profile
‘I’m a character actor in a star’s body’
Aubrey Malone remembers Paul Newman on the 40th anniversary of the actor’s hard-won Oscar
Hard to believe it’s all of forty years since Paul Newman won his Oscar. It was for one of his more ordinary performances, that of pool shark Eddie Felson in Martin Scorsese’s “The Colour of Money.” Scorsese showed us some brilliant special effects on the green baize, whizzing the cue ball off cushions as if it had a life of its own, and Newman was no slouch at the game in real life either, but his performance in the film – a sequel to Robert Rossen’s “The Hustler” in 1961 – left a lot to be desired. In the 1986 film “Fast” Eddie is more an agent than a player. The playing duties are left to hot kid on the block Tom Cruise. But the black and white 1961 film is the one we mainly remember today. Newman had the excitement of a young Jimmy White in it. When I met Jimmy around the time “The Colour of Money” came out, he told me “The Hustler” was his favourite film. The original movie also starred Newman. He was Oscar-nominated for that as well but didn’t win. The next time you’re in a pub quiz you might find this as a question: What actor was Oscar-nominated twice for playing the same character in two separate films?
Newman won for the wrong movie. Why? Woody Allen says Oscars are all about timing. He’s probably right. It’s also about who you’re up against. In 1961 Newman lost to Maximillian Schell for “Judgment at Nuremberg.” Schell gave the performance of his life here – and never bothered trying to match it afterwards. Sometimes an actor can galvanise himself for one supreme turn and then leave it at that. After he did his first scene, Spencer Tracy (who was also in the film) said to Richard Widmark, “We’re in trouble.” Tracy was a good judge of acting - he saw Schell’s genius at work. Tracy was also nominated that year for “Judgment at Nuremberg.” When two actors are nominated for the same film it usually works against them as they split the vote. But not this time. Schell was too good. Newman licked his wounds, going out into the night a beaten man. He’d already been nominated three years before for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” another sensational performance despite Hollywood bowdlerising Tennessee Williams’ script and concealing the fact that Newman’s character was gay (as he was in the play).
6 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
With Robert Redford in ‘Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid’ in 1969
That year Newman had been up against Tracy too, for the film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” They both lost to David Niven for “Separate Tables.” It was a gross injustice. Niven’s part was fairly minor. Often the Academy gives the statuette to someone they figure will never be nominated again, like Niven. They felt Newman would be - and they were right.
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Paul Newman and Steve McQueen starred together in The Towering Inferno
An enduring partnership: Paul Newman and wife Joanne Woodward
In 1963 he was again Oscar shortlisted, this time for “Hud.” He played, as the poster put it, “A man with a barbed wire soul.” But he lost then too, this time to Sidney Poitier for “Lilies of the Field.” Again It was the wrong choice. Poitier was vanilla in the film. Newman had rarely been more credible – a seductive devil.
Oscar, thereby becoming an overnight success after a decade or so toiling in the vineyard as a “second banana.” How much more could Newman take? He made one of the most talked about films of his career in 1969, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” but there was no Oscar nod here either, despite it being nominated for Best Picture.
After he made the film he said he didn’t enjoy making the film because his character had no morals. It was an unusual thing to say. Playing villains gives actors much more leverage for experiment than playing heroes. Look at Marlon Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire” for instance. Interestingly enough, Brando poo-pooed that performance too, and for similar reasons, saying his character, Stanley Kowalski, was “a pig.” Brando was often identified with him in real life so maybe one can understand his frustration.
Posterity has come to see this ostensibly funny film as ushering in the death knell of the western genre, which gives it a kind of gravitas. The “freeze frame” deaths of Newman and his co-star Robert Redford, who went on to become lifelong friends in the aftermath of the film, was replicated in many films afterwards, most notably “Thelma and Louise”, a kind of distaff Butch and Sundance. The year before Newman finally won his Oscar he was given a Life Achievement Award, also known as the Deathbed Award, by the Screen Actors Guild. He didn’t like the sound of it, feeling his best work was, as he put it, “down the pike.” “I’m like a good cheese,” he sniggered, “just getting mouldy enough to be interesting.”
Newman was never identified with his character in “Hud,” however, going on to form a love affair with the American public if not the Oscar Academy in the years ahead. He became poignantly aware of the true priorities of life after losing his son Scott to a drug overdose. It changed the way he thought about everything afterwards. Scott aspired to be as successful as Paul but that didn’t happen. He became resentful of him as a result, leading to his life spiralling out of control. His death spurred Newman on to doing all he could to help people. Along with his friend Aaron Hotchner he went on to make a fortune marketing salad dressing for charity, thereby becoming a kind of Saint Paul to the public. His marriage to Woodward was also cast iron - a rarity in Hollywood - and copperfastened the sense of his integrity.
Poster for the 1962 film Hud in which Paul Newman once again missed out on the Oscar
“Our marriage works because we don’t see one another much,” he liked to say. That wasn’t true. The pair of them had a very old-fashioned marriage, preferring to stay in at nights rather than go out on the town. They also acted together, and formed an even further partnership when Paul started to direct Joanne, most notably in “Rachel Rachel”, for which she was Oscar nominated. He was disgusted she didn’t win but by then she already had one, for “The Three Faces of Eve.” She used to jeer Paul about it, saying she got there before him. He received another Oscar nomination in 1967 for playing a convict in “Cool Hand Luke.” Many people feel this was the best performance he ever gave but he lost to Rod Steiger for “In the Heat of the Night.” Once again the Oscar parade had passed him by. To add insult to injury, his co-star, George Kennedy, scooped a Best Supporting Actor
8 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
He was thinking about telling the Academy to put the so-called Deathbed Award where the monkey put the nuts but Joanne said that wouldn’t be clever, that if you rubbed the Academy up the wrong way they might wash their hands of you forever. Play the game instead and you might do well from them in the future. Her words proved prophetic. At this point Newman felt there was a kind of Oscar blacklist against him. He thought it might have been caused by the fact that he never “went” Hollywood. He didn’t socialise much with actors and lived in Westport, Connecticut rather than Hollywood itself.
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At last an Oscar at last for his role in The Colour Of Money
I lived in the town next to him in the summer of 1972, staying in a house rented by my brother in a town called Stratford. People told me that if I got up early enough on Saturday mornings and drove out to Westport I could see him mowing his lawn. I never got around to that, having had better things to do on Saturday mornings (i.e. snooze). Stratford was twinned with Stratfordon-Avon, Shakespeare’s native town in England. There was a theatre there which Newman sometimes went to. That was another reason Hollywood had problems with him. Film people often think theatre people are pretentious whereas theatre people often see screen actors as philistines. Newman straddled both divides. Dogged film buffs saw him as biting the hand that fed him. There wasn’t much money in plays. He did them to recover from the mundanity of many of his film roles. Was this behind the Oscar’s slowness in giving him his Oscar? Arguably.
looking to reclaim a last vestige of dignity in a hospital corruption case. By now he must have thought his chances were gone forever but he didn’t let it get to him. On the contrary. Being passed over for the umpteenth time made him feel strangely nonchalant. To quote one of his most famous characters, “Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.” Small wonder, then, that by now he was transferring his attention to his extracurricular pursuits – theatre, directing… and foodstuffs. “The embarrassing thing,” he quipped, “is that my salad dressing is outgrossing my films.” He also transferred his attention to car racing, like his rival Steve McQueen. Both McQueen and he had set up their own production companies in the sixties. They appeared together in “The Towering Inferno” in 1974. It was a blockbuster that was hugely successful at the box office but dismissed as junk by the critics. Paul and Steve just laughed their way to the bank.
In 1973 he was in another hugely successful film, “The Sting,” again with Redford, but it didn’t have anything in it to stretch him as an actor. For the rest of the decade he seemed to coast, perhaps from frustration that his trivial roles were garnering more attention than his serious ones. 1981 saw another Oscar nomination, this time for the forgettable “Absence of Malice,” and 1982 yet another one, for playing an ambulance-chasing lawyer in “The Verdict.” How could he not have won here? He was incredible as the washed-up alcoholic
Some actors spend their money on themselves. Newman used his, and his fame, to help others. This was most apparent in the late eighties when he formed his famous Hole in the Wall Gang Camps – a set of camps all over the world, including Ireland, to allow seriously ill children experience camp life. As well as being an all round Good Guy he was one of the finest actors of his time. He was often compared to Brando but he knew in his heart he could never be in Brando’s class. “I became an actor,” he said once, “because I was bored with myself and wanted to get into other people’s skin.” On another occasion he said, “I’m a character actor in a star’s body.” That was a more interesting quote. Because of that impossibly handsome face and those almost extra-terrestrial blue eyes, people often failed to take him seriously. This was something that haunted him. Whenever autograph hunters asked him to take off his glasses for a photograph he felt he was being emotionally raped. When you’re synonomous with something, even a pair of baby blue eyes, it works against you doing anything else of more moment. He broke out of that stranglehold often enough for it not to become an issue for him in any overall evaluation of his career but it remained a struggle, and perhaps best explains why he worked so hard “not” to be Paul Newman.
Paul Newman made a fortune with his salad dressing, with all profits going to charity. ‘It’s grossed more than all my films put together’, he quipped.
10 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
As well as being a great actor he was also a very funny man. Asked what he wanted written on his tombstone he said, “Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned from blue to brown.”
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SEASONAL FLU VACCINE Influenza (flu) is a highly infectious acute respiratory illness caused by the flu virus. Flu affects people of all ages. Flu symptoms come on suddenly with a fever, muscle aches, headache and fatigue. This is different from a cold which is a much less severe illness compared to flu. A cold usually starts gradually with a sore throat and a blocked or runny nose. Symptoms of a cold are generally mild compared to flu. Flu is unpredictable. While anyone can catch flu, some people are more at risk of getting seriously ill or needing hospital treatment. Serious breathing complications can develop, including pneumonia and bronchitis, to which older people, younger children and those with certain chronic medical conditions are particularly susceptible. Pregnant women are also at increased risk of severe complications from flu. Flu viruses change over time, so the flu vaccine changes each year to provide protection against the strains expected to spread during the flu season. This is why you need a flu vaccine every year. Getting the flu vaccine is the best way to protect yourself, and others from the flu. For the 2026/27 flu season, people aged 65 years and older are recommended an enhanced flu vaccine. The enhanced vaccine is designed to help the immune system respond better and provide stronger protection against flu. People aged 60 to 64 years who are recommended vaccination will receive a standard flu vaccine. This year the free flu vaccine is recommended for you if you are in one of these groups: • People aged 60+, children 2–17, pregnant women, people with specified long-term conditions, people with cancer, children on long-term aspirin, people who are immunocompromised and people with BMI 40 or over. • People with Down syndrome and children with moderate-tosevere neurodevelopmental disorders • Residents of nursing homes and other long-stay institutions • Healthcare workers • Carers • Household contacts of someone at risk because of a medical condition • People with regular close contact with poultry, waterfowl or pigs You should get your flu vaccine every year as soon as it is available. Getting vaccinated at the start of the flu season, before flu begins to spread, can protect you and help stop the 12 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
spread of flu. Flu vaccines have been given to millions of people worldwide and are very safe. The flu vaccine cannot give you the flu. The vaccine starts to work within two weeks. Flu and COVID-19 are caused by different viruses and the flu vaccine does not protect against COVID-19. Both flu and COVID-19 can cause serious illness. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended once a year for people aged 60 to 79 years and for people aged 6 months and older with a medical condition that puts them at higher risk of complications from COVID-19. People aged 80 years and older adults living in long-term care facilities for older people, and people with a weakened immune system that puts them at higher risk are recommended a COVID-19 vaccine twice a year. If you are recommended both a flu and COVID-19 vaccine, talk to your healthcare provider about getting vaccinated. Flu and COVID-19 are caused by different viruses and the flu vaccine does not protect against COVID-19. Both flu and COVID-19 can cause serious illness. People aged 80 years and older, adults living in long-term care facilities for older people, and people with a weakened immune system that puts them at higher risk are recommended a COVID-19 vaccine twice a year. More information is available from your GP practice , Public Health Nurse or Pharmacist. www.hse.ie/flu provides details about flu vaccination, along with answers to any questions you may have about flu. If the flu vaccine is recommended for you, the vaccine and your consultation with your GP or pharmacist are free.
PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE If you are over 65 or have a long term medical condition you should also ask your doctor about the pneumococcal vaccine which protects against pneumonia, if you have not previously received it. You can get the flu vaccine at the same time as the pneumococcal vaccine. The vaccine may be available for free through your pharmacy if you are age 65 or older. The consultation is free if you have a medical card or GP visit card.
Why do you need flu vaccine? Flu isn’t just a cold
Flu can cause pneumonia and bronchitis and can make chronic health conditions worse.
Flu vaccine protects you
You should get the flu vaccine if you: • are aged 60 years and older. If you are aged 65 years and older, an enhanced flu vaccine is recommended • have a long-term health condition that puts you at increased risk from flu • are pregnant
Flu vaccine protects others too
You should get the flu vaccine if you are a healthcare worker or a carer or if you live with someone with a chronic health condition.
Flu vaccine is f ree for people at risk
Talk to your GP (doctor) or pharmacist today about getting the flu vaccine.
hse.ie/flu Public Health Advice Order Code: HNI01089
Profile
Down in the forest.. Colette Sheridan talks to Carina McNally who has just published her debut novel Mithim
West Cork-based writer, Carina McNally, has based her debut novel, ‘Mithim’ in Wexford in 1657, eight years after Oliver Cromwell’s brutal military campaign in Ireland. Mithim is a herbalist and healer, daughter of a Gaelic lord and last keeper of her family’s secrets. With the family seat burnt down, she lives alone, in hiding, in the depths of a Wexford forest. But there are soldiers moving closer, threatening to unseat her again, this time from her crudely-built cabin, “made of daub wattle and stone.” Carina seems to have no problem getting into the head of a seventeenth century woman. As she says: “We have our phones and our technology and our satellites now, but inside, people are the same as they were (in the distant past). We all have our hierarchy of needs. That hasn’t changed much really, in terms of emotion.” All it takes is empathy for Carina to understand a character like Mithim. She can imagine her as a contemporary figure “because I can share her emotions.” Having read widely about the seventeenth century including reviewing Gerard Fitzgibbon’s ‘Kingdom Overthrown: Ireland and the Battle for Europe (1688-1691)’ for the Irish Examiner, Carina’s understanding of that tumultuous era was broadened. It was a time of international conflict, sectarian violence and colonial ambition. From reading accounts of the Williamite-Jacobite wars in Ireland, Carina saw that Catholic and Protestant divisions were not about theological disagreements but rather a means to determine land ownership, political rights, loyalty and often life itself. “Having been provided with the building blocks of a believable historical world, dynastic ambition, war, exile, colonial expansion and survival inside brutally unstable political systems, slowly my novel started taking shape. The sensory details contained within works I’d read were equally valuable to help me write about the texture of daily life; velvet gowns, sweat beneath brocade, banquets, candle wax.”
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Profile Having long been fascinated by the stories of women whose lives and achievements “have too long been overlooked,” Carina was actually approached by a publisher, Chronos Books, to write a new angle on the story of Gráinne Mhaol, Pirate Queen of Ireland. “I seriously considered it. What about all the other Irish women that history forgot? What happened to all these women when their men were butchered out of existence under martial law? Suddenly, the character of Mithim came to me. But oddly enough she did not appear in the time of Gráinne Mhaol but instead, almost one hundred years later in the mid 1650s, a period I’d been reading about.” Drawn to historical stories of women published by Chronos Books, Carina says that many of the women she had read about “shockingly never even made it to the age of thirty. From birth, they faced uncertain futures due to the complexity of political upheaval at the time of their untimely birth. ‘Mithim’ came to me as a young woman, uncertain of her life and future. So I stepped up to the mark and gave her both.” Writing since she was very young, ‘Mithim’ took eight years, on and off, to complete. She admits that there were times when she lost faith in the book – as happens to even the most assured writers. “I’d shelve it for a while, maybe for a year or two. But in the interim, I had been reading a lot about Irish mythology.” Carina is confident about bringing historical fiction to life. “You basically put yourself in your characters’ shoes. People grow within you.” Mithim is a very strong character. “When the book was published, it took a while for it to sink in because I had put it to bed. I didn’t actually realise how much trauma Mithim suffered until the book was done. I probably had been carrying all the trauma within me but I didn’t feel it like that because Mithim was a survivor. But my god, did she have a lot of trauma. However, there’s a lot of healing in the book. You can look for healing in the landscape if you want to.” While arranged marriages were “fairly pervasive I’d say in seventeenth century Ireland, I’m sure there were love matches as well. In Mithim’s case, because she came from Gaelic nobility, her father would have wanted to make a match for her.” Her lover, Neachtain, did not have paternal approval. He wasn’t of the right class. There is a surprising scene early on in the novel when a handsome man calls to Mithim’s hovel. With very little lead-in, she seduces him. She doesn’t quite trust him. “But she has to survive. I wouldn’t say her allure is all she has. But she is guided by the Cailleach.” The Cailleach is a mythological goddess who loved young men and was famous for seducing them. “That seduction scene is kind of strange because the Cailleach is pulling Mithim away but at the same time saying she can do it. Mithim is stuck. The soldiers are coming. She needs someone from the outside world who is kind of established as he is. Mithim can be bould. But basically if you’re up against a brick wall and you might be killed, I don’t think Mithim’s reputation was really on her mind. She didn’t have many choices.” The man is “a very confusing, complex character. He is not always on Mithim’s side. He fluctuates.” In terms of relevance to today, Carina is all too aware of the rowing back of women’s rights in some parts of the world. Mithim is gutsy but were she to abide by her father’s plan for her, she would have to rear children as God fearing Catholics to atone for Eve’s sins. “For me, one of the big relevant themes in the book, aside from women’s rights, has to do with biodiversity. “That is something 16 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
In terms of relevance to today, Carina is all too aware of the rowing back of women’s rights in some parts of the world. Mithim is gutsy but were she to abide by her father’s plan for her, she would have to rear children as God fearing Catholics to atone for Eve’s sins. that really worries me and upsets me. I think people need to be more in tune with nature instead of destroying it. There’s a lot of destruction of our world, our environment. It’s wholesale. Man can’t wait to destroy. If anyone gets anything from the book, it’s to look after the biodiversity so that the planet will look after us.” But is it too late? “You know, nature is strong and can fight back if it is nurtured. Looking after the planet is very important. Cherish what we have and it will cherish your life, rather than going out and spraying the garden with a pesticide that will kill all the insects.” In between writing, including plays, and doing publicity for Mercier Press (publisher of ‘Mithim’), Carina grows herbs and vegetables. And she does tour guides, often pointing out her local Cailleach (aka the Hag of Beara) to visitors. The Hag (the word has been reclaimed denoting respect for a wise woman) of Beara “is only one of many Cailleachs. This one was very powerful. She created the landscape.” The Beara Cailleach (a piece of stone) is close to where Carina lives in Eyeries. “It’s older than the other rocks. There are different stories about the Cailleach. It’s said a monk turned her to stone. But there is another story in Beara that says the Cailleach turned herself into stone so that there would always be a Cailleach.” She could be called a witch but Carina says witches have negative connotations. Like Mithim, the Cailleach is a kind of bean feasa (a wise woman) who has seen it all. Carina has three grown up children with her Swiss husband. One of them, Julia, gave up working as an architect and now calls herself Bean Feasa Beara, doing healing and “this and that.” There must be something in the West Cork air...
Hearing
Silent witness
Have you ever had to ask people to repeat what they said? Well, you are not alone observes Mairead Robinson My late mother was a very proud and independent woman. When she got older and her hearing was failing, she blamed it on the way people were ‘mumbling’. When we got her a hearing aid, she refused to wear it as she said ‘it just makes people mumble louder.’ I have recounted this story to many people as my own hearing has become weaker than it was a decade ago. And so it is very common as we get older that one of the first things to give us a problem, is our hearing. What I find really interesting is that many of us are embarrassed to admit that we wear hearing aids, and yet nobody makes an issue about wearing glasses! It is a fact that technology has developed in leaps and bounds in the area of hearing aids over the past number of years since my mum’s day, and now with blue tooth and advanced technology, wearing a hearing aid can be very easy, painless and indeed very effective. But first of all, what causes the drop in hearing? The explanation is that sound is a form of energy which consists of vibrations of air that move in a pattern called waves. The ear is able to pick up these vibrations and convert them into electrical signals that are sent to the brain where they are translated into meaningful sound. For most people, hearing loss takes place gradually, and often it is first noticed by those around you rather yourself. The most common symptom of hearing loss is the inability to hear soft sounds. In noisy places they are often not clear and so we hear speech sounds but we do not understand their meaning. This 18 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
is especially the case in crowded places – restaurants, parties, meetings etc. Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to the person not wanting to go out socially, as they just cant follow the conversations. This is particularly sad for many older people, as it contributes to a feeling of loneliness and isolation. And indeed it often results in the person not wanting to go to social events and eventually not wanting to go out at all. It is very demoralizing for a person who has a hearing issue to be treated as if it were a sign of a mental health issue. Nobody ever treats you like that if you wear glasses! So rather than put up with uncomfortable social situations, feeling left out and pretending to agree with the conversation around you, when in fact you did not catch what was being said, it is so much easier to deal with the issue yourself. So the first step should be to go to your GP and get a hearing test. The reality is that some hearing problems are temporary and may simply be due to a build-up of wax or a minor infection. Your GP will most likely refer you to an audiology clinic where you will have a series of hearing loss tests to determine the type and degree of your hearing issue. It is quite high tech now, completely painless and totally effective in determining the exact degree of your hearing issue, for each ear. The test will consist of wearing headphones and then sounds of varying volumes and frequencies will be played. By listening through the headphones, you will be asked to indicate (for each ear) when you can hear the sound produced. The results are plotted on an audiogram which is a record of your hearing.
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Hearing This can be revisited and updated over time as your hearing changes. It is certainly very interesting to look at the audiogram and see how the degree of your hearing loss is connected to the frequencies, and also is different in each ear. By keeping track of these frequencies, your audiologist can ensure that as time passes, your hearing can be always kept on track. And so the worry of not hearing what people are saying, having to turn up the television to the annoyance of everybody else in the house, and even refusing to go out to social events due to feeling uncomfortable in company, can all be sorted with the right hearing aids. The technology has certainly come a long way over the past couple of decades, and as well as increasing the volume of voices around you, now you can achieve greater clarity in what they are saying. Once you become comfortable and familiar with your hearing aid, you can modify the controls to best suit your immediate environment. The other really good news is that there is a PRSI grant of €1,000 towards your hearing aids, and if you go for a basic model, that will cover your hearing aids entirely. You can opt for more advanced aids by paying more. And so finally, there is no need to feel isolated and anxious in company because as my mother used to say ‘people are just mumbling’ there is help and technology out there these days which have greatly improved the quality of life for those whose hearing is not what it once was. And, just like getting a proper pair of glasses to make reading clearer, the hearing aids can
really improve your connection with the world around you. And that includes your family and friend’s conversation, radio and telephone conversations and my favourite discovery, the sweet clarity of the bird’s morning chorus! walkerhearingclinics.ie corkdeaf.ie
The Shackleton Experience, Athy, Co. Kildare The Shackleton Experience, located in the heart of Athy, Co. Kildare, is the only institution in the world dedicated to the extraordinary life and achievements of Ernest Shackleton, the legendary polar explorer who was born in nearby Kilkea in 1874. The world-class attraction uses cuttingedge technology, dramatic digital storytelling, and sensory effects to bring Shackleton’s inspiring journey to life - from his birthplace in Kildare to the vast polar ice caps. Visitors will gain a unique glimpse into the remarkable life of Shackleton and the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration as it unfolds across 11 immersive galleries. Housed in Athy’s beautifully restored 300-year-old Town Hall on Emily Square, the venue features a striking glass shard extension in the shape of an iceberg, while an iconic statue of Ernest Shackleton stands proudly at the entrance.
Visitors can trace Shackleton’s inspiring journey, exploring the determination and leadership that defined his legacy. They can also discover in detail the three expeditions he led to the Antarctic, including the legendary Endurance expedition (1914–1917) where Shackleton managed to bring the entire crew home safely without the loss of a single life after their ship sank in a frozen
20 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
sea hundreds of miles from civilisation. A highlight of this world-class attraction is a deeply immersive experience that places visitors alongside the crew of Endurance as they make their remarkable escape from the ice-bound ship, with crashing waves and wind effects making the journey feel as real as possible. www.shackletonexperience.ie
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©UNICEF/Ethiopia,2026/Asrtat
The most important tick on my bucket list Six-year old Nasim is thriving at school, where she receives a nutritious meal each day.
A personal message from Stephen Rea, UNICEF Ambassador I want to tell you about a six-yearold girl called Nasim.
The problem nobody talks about loudly enough
She lives in the Central Ethiopia Region and goes to Wente Sositro Primary School. Every day at school she receives a hot meal - rice with vegetables, haricot beans and one boiled egg.
Nearly half of all deaths of children under five are linked to poor nutrition. Not wars or natural disasters as most people think. But hunger, poor nutrition and the absence of sustained investment in tackling it.
The egg matters more than you might think. Nasim's community has been hit hard by drought. Fuel prices have doubled since the start of the Middle East crisis. Food prices have shot up. Her parents care enormously about her and want her to grow up healthy. But like so many families in that region, they struggle to put enough food on the table. Without her school meal, Nasim would go hungry. And hunger does things to a child that go far beyond an empty stomach. It steals energy and weakens immunity. At school it becomes almost impossible to follow what the teacher is saying, to learn, to begin to imagine a future for yourself. One egg and one hot meal changes everything. The director of Nasim's school, Kamil Geleto, has seen the difference. Attendance is up. Children who were previously too hungry to focus are now engaged and present. Girls - who in many communities are the first to be kept home, or married young, when things get difficult - are staying in school longer.
In sub-Saharan Africa, a child is 14 times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than a child born in Ireland. Fourteen times. That stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it. But here is another number: In Ethiopia the death rate of children under 5 has dropped by 77% since 2010. UNICEF and its partners long-term work has been critical to this progress. By sustained, patient, year-round investment in communities. By building the knowledge, infrastructure and local capacity to keep children alive and healthy, long after the initial emergency support has moved on. This is what UNICEF does. This is what a tick on my bucket list will help continue. Let me explain ...
What UNICEF is building The meal Nasim receives every day doesn't arrive from outside. Her school runs its own poultry farm, built with UNICEF
22 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
support as part of a programme called Feeding the Future - a programme now running across the Central, Sidama and South Ethiopia regions. Every day, more than 1,600 eggs are collected. The eggs not used by her school are distributed through a network of hubs across the district. These are managed by local young people who have been trained and employed to run the operation. This is a community feeding its own children. With the knowledge, infrastructure and confidence to keep doing it. And it doesn't stop there ... Across Ethiopia, UNICEF is also helping communities build resilience in food production in other ways. This includes hydroponic farming programmes in Tigray, where drought has made conventional farming almost impossible, allowing families to grow vegetables yearround without soil and with very little water. This is not aid that arrives and disappears. It is the kind of investment that changes what life looks like for a community ten years from now. And the kind of work that only happens when an organisation has the resources to plan ahead.
Why I decided to act I've been a UNICEF Ambassador for over twenty years. I've seen their work with my own eyes - the programmes, the people running them and the children whose lives have been transformed because of them.
And recently I did something I want to tell you about.
I call it the most important tick on my bucket list. Not the films, plays, awards or the places I've been - though I'm grateful for all of it. But this: the decision to make sure the values I've lived by keep going after I'm gone. A one-off donation does good; I'm not dismissing that for a moment. But what UNICEF is building in Ethiopia - the farms, the distribution networks, the trained local people who keep the whole thing running - this takes years to build and needs sustained funding to survive for decades to come. A gift in your Will costs you nothing today and nothing in your life changes. What changes is what your values get to do in the world after you are gone. I'd ask you to join me in adding one extraordinary tick to your bucket list. Thank you. Stephen Rea, UNICEF Ambassador for over 20 years
© UNICEF/Ethiopia,2023/Pouget
I left a gift to UNICEF in my Will.
Behailu Abreha, General Manager, tending to his vegetable crops at the hydroponic enterprise in Tigray.
A note from Pauline Murphy, Legacy Gifts Manager, UNICEF Ireland When Stephen told me he'd added this to his bucket list, I wasn't surprised. I've spoken with many people who have made the same decision and what they tell me again and again, is they didn't agonise over it. They simply decided their values deserved to outlast them. If Stephen's words have stayed with you, I'd love to send you our free Bucketful of Dreams pack. It includes a personal journal to help you think through what matters most to you. There's also a Will Planner that helps you prepare ahead of meeting with your
solicitor. And a legacy brochure that explains simply and clearly what a gift to UNICEF could mean for children who need someone in their corner. There is no obligation of any kind. The pack is yours to keep whatever you decide. Simply fill in the short form on this page or call me directly on 01 878 3000. If you'd prefer to talk it through first, please do call - there are no wrong questions and no pressure whatsoever. I mean it when I say I love these conversations. Pauline Murphy, Legacy Gifts Manager pauline@unicef.ie - 01 878 3000 unicef.ie/bucket
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Get in touch with our Legacy Manager to talk in confidence about your Will.
Pauline Murphy Legacy Gifts Manager
pauline@unicef.ie +353 1 878 3000
unicef.ie/bucket
Or complete the form to receive a free, no-obligation Bucketful of Dreams pack which includes a Will Planner. FREEPOST (no stamp required) to: Pauline Murphy, Legacy Gifts Manager, UNICEF Ireland, 33 Lower Ormond Quay, FREEPOST F407, Dublin 1, D01 R283 Name:
Eircode:
Address:
Phone:
Email: I would like to receive updates on how my support has helped children and information on other ways to help: Phone Email If you prefer not to be contacted by post in the future, please contact us at info@unicef.ie Visit unicef.ie/about/privacy-policy for information about UNICEF’s data management practices. Details you need to include a gift in your Will to UNICEF:
UNICEF Ireland: Registered Charity Number: 20008727 Revenue Number: CHY NO. 5616 Registered Offices: 33 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin 1
History
Shake, rattle and roll Michael Fewer on the early days of cycling in Ireland
With the introduction of electric-powered bicycles, there seems to have been a boom in bike sales in Ireland, and the considerable efforts of some local authorities to provide safer bike lanes along our urban roads, apart from causing some controversary, are encouraging many who have not done much cycling before, to take it up seriously. Cycling has come a long way since its popularity began in Ireland nearly 170 years ago. This mode of travel began in the early nineteenth century as what was termed a ‘dandy horse’, a two-wheeled wooden machine with a seat on which the rider sat as he (it was almost exclusively a male activity then) used his feet to propel the machine along. Later, the forerunner of the modern bike, a machine called a velocipede, driven by foot-peddles, became popular and the first ‘bicycle’ to be mass-produced. What we know as the penny-farthing came next, with one large wheel. These machines were not for the timid: a toss from one could easily be fatal, and the young men who rode them scoffed at the idea of having brakes. The first cycling club in Ireland, the Dungarvan Ramblers Cycling Club, was established as early as 1869. In the early years, cycling remained an exclusively male-dominated, upper and middle-class activity. The original ‘boneshakers’, cumbersome machines propelled by pedals attached to the front axle were superseded in the early 1870s by the ‘Ordinary’, popularly known as the PennyFarthing. The first recognisable ‘modern’ bike design, however, the Rover ‘safety bicycle’, came out of Coventry in 1885. After John Boyd Dunlop, a Scots veterinarian and inventor who spent most of his career in Ireland, invented the pneumatic tyre in 1888, the bicycle as a popular form of transport took off. What had hitherto been an exclusively male activity swiftly became popular with women. It is clear that while cycling was becoming a vibrant part of cultural and social life, it was particularly embraced by women because of the freedom and independence it provided. The American magazine Munsey’s pointed out in 1895 that what was ‘merely a new toy’ for men was for women ‘a steed upon which they rode into a new world.’ A publication with the title The Wheelwoman and Lady Cyclist ‘The Only Ladies Cycling Paper’, came out in 1896 with articles about notable society lady cyclists and suitable clothing for the activity. The ‘Ordinary’, popularly known as the Penny-Farthing. 24 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
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History
exactly the same number of legs as a man…and should clothe them sensibly, giving each leg its own covering rather than placing both into one. Has it ever occurred to anyone to put both arms into one sleeve?’ Regarding developments in Ireland, the Weekly Irish Times commented, on 13 July 1895: "The girls in town here are having the bicycle fever pretty badly – they are teasing their fathers and mothers and husbands and brothers to buy them a pneumatic steed, and those who have learned to ride, and some who haven't, may be seen whizzing in all directions about town."
John Boyd Dunlop and his invention, the pneumatic tyre, which revolutionised the development of cycling There were those, however, (mainly men) who believed that cycling might ‘intoxicate women to immoral acts’. Some trumpeted that riding bicycles would destroy a woman’s femininity by giving her muscular arms and legs and tempt her to wear masculine clothes: cycling for women would lead inevitably to immodesty, promiscuity and infertility. Women’s bicycle saddles were even causing consternation in medical journals: some medical men considered saddles to be potential stimulators of sexual desire for women and it was thought that the action of pedalling created rhythmic movement of the clitoris, thereby arousing sexual feelings. Some companies were quick to cash in on the controversy by producing special saddles for women, ‘relieving the sensitive parts of the body from pressure of any kind’, and labelled these saddles ‘Anatomical’ or ‘Hygienic’.
The first Irish guide book for cyclists, Cyclist & Pedestrian Guide to the Neighbourhood of Dublin, by R. J. Mecredy, the editor of Irish Cyclist and Athlete paper, was published in 1890. A cycling enthusiast, he won the 40km English tricycle championship in 1886, and in 1890, on a Humber machine with Dunlop tyres, he won all four English championships. His wife, Catherine, was one of the first Irish women to wear ‘rational dress’, that is, cycling bloomers, when riding bicycles. In 1891 Mecredy invented Bicycle Polo, a sport that before the end of the century had spread to Britain, France and the United States. The first international match was played between England and Ireland at Crystal Palace in London in 1901, with Ireland winning, 10-5. The game was a demonstration sport at the 1908 London Olympics, when Ireland won, beating Germany. It is still played today all over the world, and is officially recognised by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
All of these concerns were soon swept aside. The American social reformer and women’s rights activist, Susan Anthony, wrote in 1896 that cycling had done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. ‘It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by… the picture of free untrammelled womanhood.’ The year before, a young Boston woman and mother of three, Annie Londonderry, set out to cycle around the world, with little more than a forty-two-pound bicycle, a revolver, and a change of underwear. Astonishingly, she completed the journey in fifteen months. The usually conservative Dr Seneca Egbert, of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, wrote in 1890 with regard to women cycling, ‘it gets them out of doors, gives them a form of exercise adapted to their needs, that they may enjoy in company or alone, and one that goes to the root of their nervous troubles’. Amalie Rother, a cycling devotee who clearly had no ‘nervous troubles’, said in 1897 ‘an experienced female cyclist can only be amused by the question, ‘skirt or trousers?’ A woman has 26 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
In 1891 R J Mecredy invented Bicycle Polo, a sport that before the end of the century had spread to Britain, France and the United States.
The stories we leave behind can help transform a child’s life A student discovering a book they love. A reluctant reader growing in confidence. A child owning a book of their own for the first time. A young person finding escape and comfort in a book. Children’s Books Ireland believes children and young people deserve the chance to discover a lifelong love of reading, and all the opportunities that brings. By leaving a gift to us in your Will, you can help transform children’s lives, one book at a time. For more information on how you can leave behind stories that will inspire children for years to come, contact Children’s Books Ireland on 01 872 7475 or email development@childrensbooksireland.ie
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Diabetes free for 15 Years
Health
The Big Fat Swap How swapping one type of fat for another changed everything I thought I knew about aging well For years, I did everything right. I followed the advice. I cut the butter. I switched to vegetable oil. I chose the low-fat spread. I was a compliant, health-conscious person doing exactly what the experts told me — and I was getting quietly, steadily, unambiguously worse. The decline was gradual enough that I could explain it away. That’s what we do, isn’t it? We chalk it up to age. To stress. To bad luck. We assume the body simply deteriorates, and that our job is to slow that deterioration rather than question whether there is a root cause that we missed. I was in that camp for far too long. What changed everything wasn’t a doctor’s appointment. It was a question I started asking that nobody around me seemed to be asking: what if the problem wasn’t fat itself, but the type of fat we replaced the natural stuff with? Over the past century, the Western diet quietly underwent a revolution — without our consent, that barely registered in the public conversation. The fats humans had eaten for thousands of years — butter, lard, tallow, olive oil, the fat on a piece of fish or a steak — were replaced with something entirely new: industrial fats (seed oils). Oils extracted from corn, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and cottonseed using high-heat chemical processes that would have been unrecognisable to any previous generation. We were told these were healthier. We believed it. The timeline of that substitution maps, with uncomfortable precision, onto the rise of the chronic diseases now overwhelming our health systems. Heart disease. Type 2 diabetes. Metabolic syndrome. Inflammatory conditions that medicine treats but rarely traces to their source. I’m not a doctor. I am an engineer, trained to identify the root cause when a system fails. Once I started looking, I couldn’t stop. My own experiment was simple. I eliminated industrial fats entirely — no more vegetable oils for cooking or dressings, margarine, processed spreads, or the seed-oil-laden packaged foods lining every supermarket aisle. In their place, I returned to what people ate before the industrial ‘fat’ revolution quietly rewrote our kitchens: butter, animal fats, full fat dairy, eggs and oily fish. The so-called “bad” fats. The ones we’d been warned away from. The change I experienced was not subtle. The health condition I’d been managing — Type 2 Diabetes and quietly accepting as permanent — began to reverse. Not overnight, but with a consistency that was impossible to ignore. Seven months later I was free and that was fifteen years ago. My energy returned. I felt, to put it plainly, like myself again. I wrote a book about it called The Big Fat Swap — not to replace medical advice, but to share the questions I wish someone had put in front of me decades earlier. The research I gathered, the historical record of how our food supply changed, the biochemistry of why omega-6-heavy industrial oils — heated and reheated, behave so differently in the body from the natural fats we evolved eating. And my own story, which I offer not as proof, but as a starting point for a conversation we urgently need to have. 28 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Older age communities sit at the centre of this conversation. People over fifty are the primary targets of the chronic disease epidemic. We are also, in my experience, the generation most likely to have been faithfully following the low-fat, "vegetable-oil" guidance for the longest time. That compliance may itself be part of the problem. I’m not asking anyone to distrust their physician. I am asking a question that I believe every person over fifty deserves to sit with: what if one of the most significant health interventions available to you isn’t a new drug, a new supplement, or a new exercise programme — but simply a swap? A return to the fats your grandparents cooked with, and away from the industrially processed fats that arrived in your kitchen within living memory? The Big Fat Swap makes that case — clearly, personally, and with the evidence laid out so that readers can make their own informed decisions. One medical doctor who read the Big Fat Swap and urged me to bring it to a wider audience, put it better than I could: “People need to know about this stuff.” I agree. And I believe the readers of this essay are exactly the people who deserve to hear it. Raymond Neville is the author of The Big Fat Swap. He lives in Ireland and writes about the relationship between industrial food processing and modern chronic disease. His book is available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Fat-Swap-Experiment-Consentebook/dp/B0H36VNQ8H
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Michael O’Loughlin has enjoyed teaching bridge for over 40 years; his book, “Bridge: Basic J 8 6 2is available Card♠Play” from the Contract Bridge ♥Q 92 Association of Ireland ♦K43 (01 4929666), ♣ 8 7 3 price: €10.
Bridge
♠Q63
♠2
♦75
♦J97542
♥J753
♥ Q984
♣KJ98
Calling all Novices – Intermediates!
♣K8
Partner opens 1♦, holding (4) you respond 1♠ – not 1NT which denies a higher-ranking 4-card suit. Partner opens 1♦, holding (5) you respond 1♥ – not 1NT which denies a higher-ranking 4-card suit. Partner opens 1♠, holding (5) you respond 1NT – finally we have a hand that is forced to bid notrumps (1NT) to a suit as you lack the strength to respond 2♦.
by Michael O’Loughlin
Bridge by Michael Bid a suit to a O’Loughlin suit
Dealer: South
Dealer: South
Calling all Novices Intermediates! When partner opens the–bidding in a suit, you as responder Bridge by Michael O’Loughlin should, if at all possible, bid a suit to a suit – at the lowest level. Bid a suit to a suit Avoid bidding notrumps unless your hand lacks sufficient Calling all Novices –bidding Intermediates! When partner opensin the a suit, you as responder should, strength to respond a new suitinat the two-level, in which caseif at all
♥ KJ4
Wheninpartner themay bidding suit, you1NT as responder if at all level, which opens case you haveintoarespond (known asshould, the dustbin 1NT
suit bid to aNever –respond at the lowest Avoidmust bidding –possible, a suit-to-a-suit bid of bid lastaresort). 2NT or 3NT. Your issuit 100% forcing, solevel. partner bidnotrumps unless your hand lacks sufficient strength to respond in a new suit at the twoagain. will be able to100% makeforcing, her planned rebid and will YourShe suit-to-a-suit bid is so partner must bidyou again. She will be level, in which case you may have to respond 1NT (known as the dustbin 1NT therefore not miss a fit. rebid and you will therefore not miss a fit. able to make her planned – a bid of last resort). Never respond 2NT or 3NT. opener: Consider thesehands hands toto partner’s 1♠1must ♠ opener: Consider these in response partner’s Your suit-to-a-suit bidin is response 100% forcing, so partner bid again. She will be
♦ AQ62 ♣ K72 ♠ K95
N
♥ 76
♦ KJ874 ♣ QJ5
Consider ♠ J 8 2 these hands in response ♠ 8 6 3to partner’s 1♠♠opener: 63
♥(3) AKJ73
♥A Q K9 72 3 ♣
♥ 10 A K87 3 ♣
♥ KA JK8J 7 3 ♣
♠ KJ 8102 3 ♦
♠ K8 J6635 ♦
W
E S
♠Q8
♥ 10 8 5 2 ♦ 10 5
♣ A 10 9 6 3
♠ AJ743
able (1)to make her planned rebid (2) and you will therefore (3) not miss a fit. ♥(2) AK73
None Vul
♠ 10 6 2
possible, bid ato a suit1NT – at the lowestaslevel. Avoid bidding you may respond (known the dustbin 1NT notrumps –a Bid a have suit tosuit a tosuit your hand lacks sufficient strength to 3NT. respond in a new suit at the twobidunless of last resort). Never respond 2NT or
♥ (1) Q92
None Vul
♥ AQ93 ♦ 93
♠ K6 63 5 ♦
♣ 84
South
West
North
East
♦ K 10(1) ♦ Krebid 3 you respond Kand J await 6 5await 6which 5 which Holding (1) partner’s rebid will tell you much1♠ Holding respond2♣ 2♦ ♣and partner’s Pass 2♦ (1) Pass will tell you much more. Opener’s rebid is often the most more. Opener’s rebid is often the most revealing bid in the auction. If partner ♣AK73 ♣ 10 8 ♣KJ8 Pass 4♠ (3) End revealing bid2in the will auction. partner rebids, 2u willand at least2♥ (2) ♦ you know If she is 5-4 (at least 5say, cards in you Spades rebids, say, ♣ and await partner’s rebid which will tell you much Holding (1) you respond 2 know she is 5-4 (at least 5 cards in Spades and at least 4 cards in (1) Respond a suit to a suit – not the yucky 3NT (which would end the auction 4 cards in Diamonds) and you can now go on to bid 4♠. (1) and Respond a suit to a suit – not the yucky 3NT (which would more. Opener’s rebidcan is often Diamonds) and you now the go most on torevealing bid 4♣. bid in the auction. If partner not make). Holding (2) you respond 2♦, the ofleast fours5–cards in any 2♥ and would showthe auction and not make). will know shecheaper is 5-4 (at incase Spades atend least rebids, say, 2♦ you ♠ and and four (2) Showingher herfive five ♠ (2) Showing four♥♥shape. shape. a4 5-card heart suit. Holding (2) you respond 2 u , the cheaper of fours – in any case cards in Diamonds) and you can now go on to bid 4♠. (3) Now knowing of the eight-card (and having the values Now knowing of the eight-card fitfit (and having the values for game which would show a 5-card 2heart suit. 2♥Holding ♥ (3) note that it of would to 3for game which she knew about all along). ♦,-the ♥ would Holding (3) (2) you you respond respond 2♥ cheaper foursbe– ainmistake any caseto2jump show she knew about all along). even though you have a good hand; try to find a fit first before leaping to a 5-card(3) heart Holding yousuit. respond 2♥ - note that it would be a mistake to show strength. ♠ Contract: Opening Lead: ♣Lead: Q Opening ♣Q 4♠4 jump to 3 ♥ even though2you havethat a good hand; to findtoajump fit to Contract: ♥ - note it would be try a mistake 3♥ Holding (3) you respond The only time responder hasstrength. to bid notrumps in response to a suit is when she ♣ ♠ ♣ ♣A. East returns the Q v 4 , dummy’s K losing to West leads the first before leaping to show even though you have a good hand; try to find a fit first before leaping toWest leads the ♣Q v 4♠, dummy’s ♣K losing East’s to East’s ♣toA.dummy’s East ♥J in is weak and has no suit she can bid at the one-level. ♣ 10 and a third club which declarer ruffs. Declarer crosses show strength. returns the ♣ 10 and a third club which declarer ruffs. Declarer The only order to lead the ♠2 (not the ♠10) to the ♠8, ♠J and ♠K. West now plays the (4) time responder has (5)to bid notrumps in (6)response to a crosses time has to response she to dummy’s ♥J in order to lead the ♠2 (not the ♠10) suitThe is only when sheresponder is weak and hasbidnonotrumps suit sheincan bid at to thea suit one-is when ♥7 which declarer wins in dummy with the ♥K in order to lead the ♠6 (not the to the ♠8, ♠J and ♠K. West now plays the ♥7 which declarer is weak and has no suit she can bid at the one-level. level. ♠10) ♠9 with her to the ♠Qwith and ♠the A. Declarer now draws West’s remaining wins in dummy ♥K in order to lead the ♠ 6 (not the (4) (5) (6) ♠ ♥ ♥ 10. Then back to her winning A and Q. Finally, declarer valuable ♠10) to the ♠Q and ♠A. Declarer now draws West’s remaining leads a which The ♦A is ♥ trick number 10. low diamond and finesses the ♦Qback ♠9 with her valuable ♠10. Then towins. her winning A and ♠J862 ♠Q63 ♠2 made. ♥Q.Game Finally, declarer leads a low diamond and finesses the uQ ♥Q92 ♥J753 ♥ Qhttps://www.andrewrobson.co.uk/andrew/tips_for_intermediates 984 which wins. The uA is trick number 10. Game made.
♦K43
♦75
♣873
♣KJ98
/
♦J97542 ♣K8
Partner (4)you yourespond respond – not Partneropens opens11u♦,, holding holding (4) 1♠1–♠not 1NT1NT which denies a which denies a higher-ranking 4-card suit. higher-ranking 4-card suit. Partner opens 1u, holding (5) you respond 1♥ – not 1NT which denies a higher-ranking 4-card suit. respond 1♥ – not 1NT which denies a Partner opens 1♦, holding (5) you
More tips forcan Intermediate More tips for Intermediate players be found at: players can be
found at: https://www.andrewrobson.co.uk/ https://www.andrewrobson.co.uk/andrew/tips_for_intermediates andrew/tips_for_intermediates/
Also: Mastering Bridge with Andrew Robson Free bridge emails
higher-ranking 4-card suit. If you wish receive three times per week free Whether you’re a beginner or an to experienced club player, join the BridgeCast Partner opens 1♠, holding (5) you respond 1NT – finally we bridge emails and which include lessons, videosplayer & and (5)bid younotrumps respond 1NT – finally have Partner opens the expertise insight of a world-renowned have a hand that1♠is, holding forced to (1NT) to awesuit as a hand that community and access quizzes, please email me: is forced to bid notrumps (1NT) to a suit as you lack the strength to respond teacher to improve your bridge game. you lack the strength to respond 2u. michaelolough@yahoo.com 2♦. 30 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Dealer: South
None Vul
Introduction to Mini-Bridge
Getting started: for Absolute Beginners
Minibridge is a trick-taking game for 4 players in a fixed partnership where you try win the number of tricks you have "contracted" to win or attempt to prevent your opponents from making their contract. It is a simplified version of Bridge where there is no auction for the contract. No Bidding: Players deal the cards and count their high-card points (HCP) instead of taking part in a traditional auction.
partner, puts all their 13 cards face up on the table for all to see. It is Declarer, East, who decides which card to play from the West hand. Because, from this point on, West does not take any part in the proceedings, West is known as the Dummy. For the duration of this hand, East, Declarer makes all the decisions as to what cards to play from Dummy as well as what cards to play from their own hand.
Bridge
Players There are four players in two fixed partnerships - North/South and East/West. Partners sit facing each other. Cards A standard 52 card pack is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Object of the Game Points are scored by making at least as many tricks as you contracted to win. Deal There are four suits: Spades (♠), Hearts (♥), Diamonds (u) and Clubs (♣). Each player takes one complete suit. For example, North might take all the Spades, East all the Hearts, South all the Diamonds and West all the Clubs. Each player shuffles their suit and deals it out, one card at a time starting with the player on their left. This ensures that each player ends up with four cards in one suit and three cards in each of the other three suits. At this stage, I don’t want any player getting a lot of cards in a particular suit. I want each player to have – as much as possible – the same number of cards in each of the four suits. In bridge, this is called having a Balanced Hand.
Play Suppose in the above example, South leads a Diamond. Play proceeds in a clockwise direction. Next Declarer, East, plays a Diamond from the West hand (Dummy); North plays a Diamond and finally East plays a Diamond. Players must follow suit by playing a card of the same suit as the card led if they can; a player with no card of the suit led may play any card. In this example, everybody looks at the four cards that have been played. The trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, in this case, Diamonds. The winner of a trick leads to the next trick and can lead any card of any suit they choose. Scoring Whatever the contract, the first six tricks won do not count towards the score. The seventh trick is the first scoring trick, and for each scoring trick points are won depending on the contract chosen, as follows: 40 for the first scoring trick and 30 for each subsequent trick.
If you fail to make your contract, you score zero points and your opponents score 50 points for each trick you are short of the target. The player with the higher number of points in the declaring
‘declarer’, and theirgame. partner becomes they both Bridge is a trick-taking This means you ‘dummy’. are trying toIfwin of points, theAplayer their asnumber many tricks as possible. trick is who madeannounced up of four cards, onepoints fir card from each the four round Dummy thenoflays theirplayers, hand played down clockwise face up on thethe table to fa table. Determining who is the Declarer and what is the Contract suits arranged columns. reiterate: The playerinwith the higher number of points in Once all cards have been dealt, each player counts their points. Tothe the declaring side becomes These points are called High Card Points or HCPs because points ‘declarer’, and their partner are awarded for each high card a player possesses. The Ace being becomes tes ‘dummy’. If they rmedia or_inte /tips_f andrew the highest card is awarded 4 High Card Points; the King, next .co.uk/ robson https://www.andrew both have the same number highest, is awarded 3 HCPs, the Queen is awarded 2 HCPs and / of points, the player who finally the Jack is awarded 1 HCP. The partnership with the most announced their points first points becomes the declaring side who decide the contract, i.e. is declarer. After the first card the number of tricks to be won. The other pair are the defending has been led, Dummy then side, who try to prevent the contract being made by making tricks lays their hand down face up themselves. If the point distribution between the partnerships on the table to face declarer, turns out to be equal, i.e. 20:20, the cards are redealt. with the suits arranged in columns. TO BE CONTINUED. To give an example: North has 7 HCPs; East has 13 HCPs; South has 9 HCPs; West 6 - Deciding the contract has 11 HCPs. Therefore, East/West have more HCPs than North/ If declarer has 8 or more cards in a particular suit – between South: 24 compared to 16. The partnership with more points and dummy Bridge – she nominates that suit as the Trump Suit. If d become the Declaring Side. Therefore East/West become the Mastering Declaring Side. From within the Declaring Side the particular have or more Robson cards in a particular suit – between her own with 8Andrew player with more HCPs becomes the actual Declarer. Therefore, Whether you’re a beginner – she chooses to playorinanNo Trumps. in this example East becomes the Declarer. If East and West had to receive bridge community and access experienced player, join the BridgeCast free per week times threeclub If you wish bridge the same number of HCPs, then theFree player whoemails: announced their the&expertise and insight of what ame: world-renowned player and to many t Next declarer states her trick target is,teacher i.e. how email please quizzes, videos lessons, include whichThe player on the emails number of HCPs first would become Declarer. improve your bridge game. olough@yahoo.com in order to adds her points to th BridgeCast is a make monthlyher videocontract. subscriptionDeclarer service offering left of Declarer, in this case South michael make the Opening Lead, i.e. Andrew's new(dummy’s) Bridge videos either or three times week.number of poin partner’s handdaily to arrive at a atotal plays the first card. Then the second player, West, Declarer’s What is RealBridge?
Suppose, for example that that total number is: 22. Declarer
• Seenumber and speak partner andfractions opponentsin- just liketo facebyto3,your ignores any order arrive at her t to-face bridge. example the answer is 7. Therefore, declarer has to win 7 tri • Connect with everyone at the table. Bid and play and go over the hands to learn from the post mortem. succeed in afterwards making her contract. If declarer is playing in a Sui If you wish to try RealBridge for free, just email me: adds 1 to this target because playing in a Suit Contract is an michaelolough@yahoo.com
What is RealBridge?
usually generates 1 extra trick. Therefore, with 22 points in t face-to- just like oppone and trick target isnts 7 when playing inface No Trumps and 8 when playi speak to your partner See and 32 Senior Times | September - October• 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie bridge. Contract with either Spades, Hearts, Diamonds or Clubs as th table. Bid and play and go over the •
Connect with everyone at the
Bridge
The Very Remarkable Boris Schapiro Boris Schapiro Boris Schapiro (22 August 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a international bridge player. He was a Grandmaster of the World Bridge Federation, and the only player to have won both the Bermuda Bowl (the world championship for national teams) and the World Senior Pairs championship. Life Schapiro was born in Riga, Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire) into a prosperous family of Jewish traders. They emigrated at the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917, when he was eight years old, and soon settled in England. He studied at various universities, including the Sorbonne in Paris. He was fluent in English, Russian, German and French, and used those linguistic skills in the Army Intelligence Corps during World War II.
for Schapiro to be rehabilitated in world bridge, although he was always held in high esteem in Europe. He did eventually return to international bridge competition, unlike Reese, and did so with considerable success. Anecdotes Schapiro's conversation at the bridge table was either a delight or a nuisance, depending on taste and point of view. His standard risqué greeting to female players of his acquaintance -and their mothers too, on occasion - was: "What about a spot of adultery?" (or "Fancy a spot of adultery?"). When his team played an exhibition match at Leicester, the wife of the Chief Constable organised a cocktail party for them to meet the locals.
The traveling players were invited to sign and comment in the Distinguished Visitors’ book, and Schapiro wrote his catchphrase after his signature. Dimmie Fleming – Bridge career another international player and the only Schapiro's entry into serious competitive woman to play on the British open team bridge in Britain was delayed until the end – defused the situation by signing next, of the war. His partnership with TerenceBoris "certain irregularities", the British team 2002) drawing an aupwards arrow and writing, "But Schapiro (22 August 1909 – 1 December was Reese, which started in about 1944, was the was forfeiting the matches they had already will he ever be an adult?" Heand was a Grandmaster of the World basis of his most outstanding period as ainternational won againstbridge Northplayer. America Argentina, Bridge andSchapiro the onlywould playernot to be haveAnother won both player. andFederation, that Reese and story has his partner Terence Reese in the remaining matches. picking up ateams) collection the playing Bermuda Bowl (the world championship for national andof silver cup trophies The characters of Reese and Schapiro were The British Bridge League (BBL) from Schapiro's flat in Eaton Place (the World Seniorconvened Pairs championship. very different. At the bridge table Reesethe subsequently their own enquiry. Upstairs, Downstairs setting) and carrying was the cold, calculating machine, driven Their report concluded that there was them in a pillow-case. Stopped in the street by logic, but witty and good-natured away inconclusive evidence that the players had by a policeman and asked to explain his from it, though with an acerbic phraseLifebenefitted from the signals in their bidding unusual sack of possessions, Reese led the when needed. Schapiro was the player of or play. officer back to the flat so that Schapiro could flair; excitable, always on the move, irascible validate his explanation. When Schapiro at the table and often grumpy away from In 1967, the BBL asked the WBF to reverse answered the door, he sized up the situation, it. He did not mellow with old age. At the their guilty finding; the WBF responded and when asked "Can you identify this 1999 European Senior Teams, opponents by unanimously reaffirming their guilty man?", said "Never seen him before in my who called the referee in a vain attempt to verdict. life. protect Schapiro's partner from verbal abuse were told “there are special dispensations in In May 2005, the English journalist David Bibliography: The Bridge Immortals by standards of behaviour for any competitor Rex-Taylor, a bridge player and publisher, Victor Mollo over the age of 90”. claimed that Reese had made a confession to him forty years earlier, one that was not Major tournament successes to be revealed until 2005 and after he and Schapiro were dead. Britain won the world championship for teams in 1955 with Reese and Schapiro, The purported confession claimed that Konstam and Dodds, Meredith and Reese and Schapiro were indeed signalling, Pavlides, beating the US in the final. It is the but only to show that such signalling only Bermuda Bowl win by a British team. was possible (and so were not actually In his 90th year in 1998, he won the World paying attention to each other's signals), Senior Pairs partnered by Irving Gordon. purportedly as part of a book on cheating Schapiro is the oldest person ever to win a that Reese was planning to publish. This world championship in any sport. explanation could conceivably reconcile the use of finger signals with the absence of Buenos Aires affair evidence from the subsequent bidding or play. In the 1965 Buenos Aires Bermuda Bowl, B. Jay Becker noticed Schapiro and his After 1965 partner, Terence Reese, holding their cards in unusual ways during bidding, the number Schapiro was bridge correspondent of The of fingers positioned behind their cards Sunday Times from 1968 until his death in showing the number of cards held in the 2002. Heart suit. The World Bridge Federation (WBF) judged Reese and Schapiro guilty of The Buenos Aires affair removed at a stroke cheating, and announced that due to the central activity of his life. It took years 34 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
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Environment
A window on our world Zoe Devlin marvells at the intriguing wonder of our bogs and fens Bogland might seem, to some, to be a most uninteresting habitat and in the past, it was regarded as useless ground, not worth a second glance, only a place for burying things. However it is now valued as one of the irreplaceable features of our natural environment, providing a mysterious and beautiful landscape but also giving us a window into our past. Bogs are ecosystems or networks that have been formed, gradually, following the retreat of the ice sheets about 10,000 years ago. At places where the glacial meltwater was unable to escape, small lakes occurred. Then, as the ground was waterlogged by over thousands of centuries of rain, when vegetation around the lakes died, their remains fell onto the bed of these lakes and they partially decomposed, gradually causing a thick layer of peat to be formed. Some of this evolving habitat remained as fen but other parts went on to become raised bogs as some of the accumulated matter and the water changed from alkaline to acidic. Raised bogs are acidic, their only source of nutrients being rainfall.
Pollardstown Fen The best example of a fen is Pollardstown Fen in Co Kildare. It is the largest remaining extant spring-fed fen in Ireland being provided with its nutrients from calcium rich spring water from the Curragh aquifer. It contains many typical fenland wildflower species such as the
Teal beautiful Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid and intriguing Fly Orchid. This latter species is extremely interesting. It holds its small flowers in a spike, each flower thought to resemble an insect. When a fly tries to mate with the flower, it causes pollen to adhere to the insect and that pollen is then transferred to the next spike of flowers it visits, again with amorous intentions, and all it succeeds in doing is pollinating the second plant. Poor little insects get duped regularly! The special habitat of Pollardstown Fen is of global importance, being not only rare in Ireland but throughout Western Europe. For those whose interest lies in seeing our native birds, one such creature that makes its home in Pollardstown Fen is the very attractive Teal. For bird lovers, there is also a bird hide in the southern section of this reserve where those who visit it can see what species the fen sustains. To protect this precious habitat, there is a boardwalk. Pollardstown Fen is just 3km west of Newbridge in Co Kildare.
36 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Fly Orchid
Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid
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Environment
Abbeyleix Bog
Cross-leaved Heath
Bog-rosemary
Raised Bogs Raised bogs are exclusively fed by rainfall. These bogs are called ‘raised’ because over time, they rise slowly as the peat forms, gradually making them into large spongy domes. They typically contain mosses – such as sphagnum – sedges and heathers like Cross-leaved Heath, along with another beautiful species called Bog Asphodel, a pretty wildflower that has spikes of starry golden flowers. As the soil on a raised bog is poor in nutrients, butterworts and sundews, also to be found there, have evolved a method of coping with the extreme conditions there. Their leaves have modified over millennia by becoming fatal traps for insects. These leaves are covered with tiny sticky hairs and when insects land on them, they become stuck fast. Then enzymes are produced by the plant which draw in vital nutrients from the insect and when that has been done, all that is left of the poor little insect is a dry husk which blows away on the wind. Raised bogs are a distinctive feature of the landscape of the midlands. In the course of their evolution they have received pollen, dust and other remains, so they give us a veritable window into our past, in terms of climate, social history and land use. Just two examples of this state of preservation are the well-preserved
Bog Asphodel
Iron Age bodies discovered in 2003 at Oldcroghan, Co. Offaly and Clonycavan, Co. Meath and now in the National Museum. Unfortunately much of these bogs no longer exist due principally to the extraction of peat. Clara Bog Nature Reserve in Co Offaly is the largest remaining example of a raised bog in Ireland at over one-thousand acres. Home to many protected species it has a visitor centre, a boardwalk and there are interpretive panels to help identify what is to be seen. Another interesting raised bog is at Abbeyleix in Co Laois where the community-led Abbeyleix Bog Project volunteers are bringing back 500 acres of bog that had previously been several metres deep but with turf extraction throughout the last century, it was left in a poor condition. Now an elevated boardwalk and bog bridge, built on the site’s former railway line – PortlaoiseKilkenny-Waterford – allows visitors to experience its restoration and the beauty of this place. I was lucky enough to be there a couple of years ago and also enjoyed the scrub, bog woodland and some conifer woodland there. One of the prettiest of the bogland plants that I found that day was Bog-rosemary, a tiny pink flower with narrow dark-green leaves.
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Common Butterwort In order to bring this bog back to its former glory, work began in 2009 and it included blocking drains and removing the type of vegetation that was not suitable for the habitat and in its place introducing more typical vegetation such as heathers. This facility is open all year round. For those interested in the natural world, these two bogs have a lot to tell them.
Blanket Bogs On our beautiful island, there are two types of bogland – raised bogs such as those described above, and blanket bogs. Blanket bogs also began to be formed as far back as 10,000 years ago, after the last Ice Age, and are categorised as either Atlantic Blanket Bog or Mountain Blanket Bog. Atlantic blanket bog occurs on flat or sloping ground and covers a large part of the landscape of the west coast of Ireland, all the way from sea level to an altitude of 200m. It is a habitat that provides for the needs of many wetland birds, unusual and rare plants such as the carnivorous Bladderwort and Common Butterwort and also for the many invertebrate species. In Ireland, we are fortunate enough to have 89 per cent of the world’s blanket bog, the largest amount of this kind of terrain in western Europe.
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Environment
Slieve Bloom Mountains Good examples of Atlantic blanket bog are in the Owenduff area of Co. Mayo and in Connemara National Park in Co Galway; in both of these places, the rainfall is significant. To experience the tranquil feeling of a world that existed long before man, just stand at the edge of bogland and sense the peace and quiet that is only broken by the sound of a curlew or perhaps a lapwing; sadly the number of native birds of either of those species is now very low so hearing either of them is a treat to be savoured and enjoyed. The visual impact is also immense, the rippling expanse of peatland stretching into the distance, a wonderful mix of colours – gold, green and brown – sprinkled, here and there, with the silvery-white tufts of bog cotton.
Mountain Blanket Bogs Mountain blanket bog is found above 200m, and where rainfall is high, causing mosses and other plants to decay, building up slowly, accruing on slopes and in pools and, over a long period of time, becoming peat. Not only is this habitat a perfect home for wetland birds but it also acts as a source of information for the past, giving hints of earlier periods of climate change with an occasional object from prehistory turning up. For those interested in our heritage, the Céide Fields in north Mayo is worth a visit as it is here that one can view an area that was uncovered in the 1930’s and which contains Neolithic (Stone Age) tombs, dwellings and fields. It also plays a major part in combatting the threat from climate change by collecting and storing carbon. Core samples taken from blanket bogs can also give us a record of some of the changes that have occurred in the past such as vegetation modifications, air pollution and climate change. Mountain Blanket Bog is mainly found in the Co Tipperary region with the best example in the Slieve Bloom Mountains Nature Reserve, our largest state-owned
Bog Orchid nature reserve, and there is also plenty to be seen in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Both of these facilities provide trails in order to preserve the precious and sensitive features of this habitat. Wildflower species that are typical of this type of terrain are the rare and minute Bog Orchid – usually found in the dampest reaches of the bog – Bilberry or Frochan which provides small, sweet berries in August and Sheep’s-bit, an attractive blue-flowered species.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service, the agency that manages the state's nature conservation, has a remit to protect our fauna and flora and oversee Ireland's National Parks and Nature Reserves. It is obliged to complete a report every seven years on the state of designated habitats under the EU Habitats Directive. Part of EU biodiversity policy, its aim is to give a strong legislative framework for all EU countries to protect the most valuable and threatened biodiversity. Europe has an amazing variety of wild animals, plants and habitats, many of which are not found anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, much of Europe’s natural heritage has been lost over the years and this has led to many precious and vital habitats vanishing along with the species that called those habitats their home. Today, over a quarter of Europe’s animal species are at risk of extinction. We now know that biodiversity is an extremely important factor in our lives, affecting both our health and the country’s economy. The most recent statistics are very depressing with peatlands getting a designation of either ‘bad’ or ‘inadequate’. Blanket bogs got a ‘bad’ mark with the main reasons for this score being over-grazing, peat extraction, agricultural activities and, unfortunately, also wind farm construction, a form of renewable energy that must play part in changing Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels.
40 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Bilberry I would recommend a visit to your nearest piece of fen or bogland as a way to connect with something more epic than everyday. Take time to breathe in the scents and listen to the sounds, to view the landscape as something whose creation has taken millennia and now must be not only preserved but cherished. You will come away refreshed in spirit. But take care. Not only can the precious habitat be damaged by a clumsy foot but you may also find yourself sinking at times, so a pair of trek poles or stout sticks can be great companions on your visit.
Sheep’s-bit
Further information is available at: https://www.npws.ie/nature-reserves/kildare/ pollardstown-fen-nature-reserve https://www.npws.ie/peatlands-and-turfcutting https://www.museum.ie/en-ie/museums/ archaeology/exhibitions/kingship-andsacrifice https://www.npws.ie/nature-reserves/offaly/ clara-bog-nature-reserve https://www.abbeyleixbog.ie/ https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/ sac/000534 https://ceidefields.com/ https://www.npws.ie/nature-reserves/slievebloom-mountains https://www.nationalparks.ie/wicklow/ https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/ nature-and-biodiversity/habitats-directive_en https://www.ipcc.ie
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Above: At Hôpital Immaculée Conception in Les Cayes, MSF staff provide physiotherapy for patients injured in the earthquake, helping people regain strength and mobility. Photograph MSF
Health
Feeling Fine After 50?
Your Prostate Is Still Worth Checking Feeling well after the age of 50 can give you the confidence that everything is fine, especially if you are active, travelling, working, playing tennis and enjoying life perhaps more than ever Yet not every change in the body comes with a warning sign. That is why prostate health deserves attention before there is any reason to suspect a problem. Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men in Ireland, with around 4,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Despite how common it is, the disease can be surprisingly difficult to notice in its early stages, developing quietly without pain or anything that would suggest something is wrong. Age matters Age is one of the key factors in the development of prostate cancer. The risk does not suddenly change on a man’s 50th birthday. Instead, it increases gradually as men get older. Over the years, prostate cells can accumulate changes, while slowgrowing cancers may remain unnoticed for a long time. This is why prostate cancer is uncommon in younger men but becomes more common after 50. In Ireland, the average age at diagnosis is 67, with nearly two-thirds of cases being diagnosed in men over the age of 65. For this reason, 50 is a sensible age to speak
with your GP about the risk and whether a PSA test is appropriate for you. Age is not the only significant factor. Family history can also play an important part: if your father or brother has had prostate cancer, your risk of getting it increases about 2 - 2.5 times. Inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can also raise your chances. Symptoms to look out for Prostate cancer is tricky because, in the early stages, you feel absolutely fine. However, there are certain changes to look out for. Perhaps you’ve found yourself getting up more often at night to go to the bathroom, your urine stream isn’t as strong as it used to be, it takes you a bit longer to start urinating, or you might notice that your bladder never feels completely empty. While none of these signs on their own means cancer, they are worth paying attention to and discussing with your GP. What happens next? A prostate assessment usually includes a PSA blood test and a digital rectal examination (DRE), during which the
42 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
doctor checks the prostate through the rectum. The examination can feel uncomfortable, but it is usually over quite quickly. It is important to remember that a raised PSA does not mean cancer. Levels can rise for other reasons, and some men with prostate cancer still have a normal result. PSA is a useful first check, not a diagnosis. If the results give cause for concern, the doctor will refer you to a urologist. The next step is usually an MRI scan, followed by a biopsy if necessary. CT or PET/CT scans are usually only used when doctors need to check whether the cancer has spread. From diagnosis to the right treatment There is no single treatment that is right for everyone. After looking at your test results, how advanced the cancer is, whether it has spread and your overall health, your doctor will discuss the options that are most suitable for you. Early and localised prostate cancer Stage I means the cancer is still only in the prostate and has not spread to nearby
Health
tissues or other parts of the body. At this point, the tumour is usually small and considered low-risk. Stage II is still localised to the prostate, but the tumour has grown further and the cancer cells can look more abnormal. If the cancer is growing slowly and is considered low-risk, doctors often choose to keep a close eye on it rather than start treatment straight away. This usually means regular PSA tests, with MRI scans or another biopsy if needed to check for any changes. For cancers that need treatment, surgery and radiotherapy are the two main options. Surgery removes the prostate and usually involves several weeks of recovery, while radiotherapy destroys cancer cells without removing the prostate. Treatment at this stage can affect urinary, bowel and sexual function, depending on the approach chosen. After surgery, bladder control and erectile function are among the main concerns, whilst radiotherapy may cause tiredness, urinary irritation or changes in bowel function. External radiation therapy involves exposing the prostate from the outside to radiation. Radiation therapy is an alternative method to surgery, with which to treat prostate cancer radically. This
method is recommended for older patients or patients who do not want to undergo surgical treatment.
about one week, with each session lasting around 45–60 minutes. No surgery or hospital stay is needed.
Sometimes, radiation therapy is chosen as the first treatment method for low degree prostate cancer, which has not spread outside the prostate or only affects adjoining tissue. Occasionally, it is used is not all cancer tissue is removed during an operation or if the cancer is recurrent in nature after operation therapy. If the cancer is already at an advanced stage, radiation therapy can help to reduce the size of the tumour and pain.
Robotic Radiosurgery With A Cyberknife or hypo fractionated radiation therapy is a type of external radiation therapy that is now recognised as the most effective and safest method for treating low or moderate risk primary prostate cancer, which has the least effect on the patient’s quality of life.
Radiation therapy also entail complications, which, thanks to the improvement of equipment, have been reduced to a minimum. An infection of the bladder is possible, which manifests itself as frequent and painful urination. If the colon is affected, then painful diarrhoea is possible, sometimes even including a mixture of blood. However, this discomfort is fleeting and does not affect all patients. For some men with localised low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer, CyberKnife at Radiosurgery Centre Sigulda in Latvia offers a highly precise form of radiotherapy. Treatment is usually completed in five outpatient sessions over
It is used for treating tumours during stages I and II. Treatment on its own is fast and painless. Each radiation session lasts for 45−60 minutes. Usually, the patient undergoes five treatment sessions over the course of one week spent as an outpatient. This method is recommended for patients for whom surgical treatment is unsuitable and in cases when the side effects of surgical treatment could significantly affect the quality of a man’s life. The results of 10 years of studies into this method indicate equal effectiveness in ensuring the control of the reoccurrence of a tumour, compared with surgical treatment and more effectiveness than external radiation treatment. Each radiation session lasts for a few minutes. Ordinarily, a patient will undergo
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 43
Health
five sessions a week as an outpatient, which are subsequently repeated for a total of seven to nine weeks. Treatment itself is fast and painless. The latest technology allows a doctor to be more successful in treating the prostate gland, without subjecting surrounding healthy tissue to the impact of radiation. These methods are intended to increase effectiveness and reduce side effects. Robotic radiosurgery with CyberKnife can also be used on tumours during Stages III and IV. If prostate cancer is discovered at a time, when it has already spread outside the prostate capsule, it is possible to combine robotic radiosurgery with classical treatment methods including surgical treatment as well as external radiation therapy. In the case prostate cancer that has been previously treated, it is found to have become recurrent or individual metastases are found in the bones, soft tissue or elsewhere, robotic radiosurgery provides high local control of reoccurrence and makes it possible to delay the commencement of hormone substitution therapy. Internal prostate radiation or brachytherapy, when radioactive seedlings (metallic radioactive seeds), which have
long-term effects are entered into the prostate and around it. This method has less marked side effects that external radiation therapy, because adjoining organs are less affected. This method is more recent and is effective for treating tumours during stages I and II. Anaesthesia is necessary to use this method. In Latvia, consultations, diagnostics and treatment planning are available at Medical Centre ARS, Capital Clinic Riga and Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, also available at SRC Sigulda. At these clinics, the process can begin with a urologist consultation and prostate assessment, followed by the scans, biopsy or treatment planning needed for the individual case. How genetic testing can help? Genetic testing is especially useful when prostate cancer runs in the family, appears at a younger age, or when doctors need a closer look at the tumour itself. At GenEra Laboratory, oncogenetic panels can identify inherited DNA changes linked to a higher risk of cancer. The test starts with a DNA sample, followed by laboratory analysis and interpretation of the results, which usually takes several weeks.
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At the iVF Riga Genetics Centre, testing for hereditary cancer is available to people with a significant family history of the disease, those diagnosed with cancer at a young age, or those with other signs suggesting a possible hereditary mutation. We also offer preventive genetic screening for early risk detection. Our medical geneticists are available for consultations in English, including convenient online sessions The Pallas Clinic carries out an even more detailed analysis by examining the tumour itself. A sample obtained during a biopsy is analysed using DNA sequencing or molecular profiling to identify genetic changes that may be responsible for the development of cancer. If such alterations are detected, doctors can consider prescribing a targeted drug for the specific patient. Prostate cancer care in Latvia For some patients, Latvia’s appeal lies in how quickly the different parts of care can come together. Specialist consultations, diagnostics, genetic testing and advanced treatment can be accessed with fewer delays and often at more manageable privatecare costs. That means less time between specialists and a more straightforward path from diagnosis to treatment.
Health On Two Wheels
Latvian Health Tourism Cluster can help coordinate the medical side of the process, from specialist consultations and diagnostics to treatment. Not sure where to start? Phone us on "Whatsapp”: +37129214868 or email us at info@healthtravellatvia.lv and we'll guide you through the next steps.
Some travel and treatment costs:
Consultation with a radiologist (follow-up) (30 minutes)
€ 45 € 90
Direct flight Dublin – Riga – Dublin around 4 star hotel per night around
€250 € 90
Consultation with a medical oncologist(1 hour)
Genetic consultation in-person / online consultation
€150
Metastasis of the bones or spine
€8,600 – €9,125
Positron emission tomography (PET) scan of the body using PSMA (Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen) –€ 2735 Consultation with a urologist (30 minutes) € 30 Consultation with a radiologist-therapist (1 hour) €90 Consultation with a radiologist-therapist (follow-up) (30 minutes) €45 Positron emission tomography (PET) scan of the body using PSMA (Prostate-Specific Membrane Consultation with an oncologist-chemotherapist (1 hour) €90 Antigen) –€ 2735 Benign or malignant tumours of thewith head €8,600 €9,125 Consultation a urologist (30–minutes) € 30 Consultation with a radiologist-therapist (1 hour) €90 Tumours of the bones or spine €8,600 – €9,125 Consultation with a radiologist-therapist (follow-up) (30 minutes) €45 Treatment of primary prostate cancer the cost of marker implantation) €10,487.50 Consultation with(including an oncologist-chemotherapist (1 hour) €90 Benign or malignant tumours the headtumours) €8,600 – €9,125 Extracranial tumours (liver, kidneys, lungs, softoftissue from €10,550
Exome – Most common hereditary cancer gene panel (33 genes) €680
Treatment of primary prostate cancer (including the cost of marker implantation) €10,487
Exome - Expanded hereditary cancer panel (111 Genes) €1310
Extracranial metastasis (liver, kidneys, lungs, soft tissue) from €10,550
Tumours of the bones or spine €8,600 – €9,125 Treatment of primary prostate cancer (including the cost of marker implantation) €10,487.50 Extracranial tumours (liver, kidneys, lungs, soft tissue tumours) from €10,550
Online Pre consultation with Oncologist Positron emission tomography (PET) scan of the body using PSMA (Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen) € 2735 Consultation with a urologist (30 minutes)
€ 30
Consultation with a radiologist
€ 90
(1 hour)
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 45
Dublin Dossier Pat Keenan reports on happenings in and around the capital
Impressive Dublin City Fleadh comes of age There was only one All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Dublin. Due to be held in 1971, it was posponed and held the following year, 1972. This year it was Belfast's turn. Not to be totally outdone, Dublin City Council's Fleadh came to Smithfield Square on August 23, building on their successful 2025 fleadh gathering,
It all took place in five city hubs on a Saturday and Sunday in August, a completely free and unticketeda celebration of traditional Irish music in a Dublin City centre. The city streets echoed with traditional songs and energetic Céilís, art workshops, and spontaneous pop-up street sessions filled Smithfield
Square, Meeting House Square, Wolfe Tone Square, Parliament Street and Capel Street. This year’s roster presented main stage performances at Smithfield Square by the Sharon Shannon Big Band, Altan and Dervish, The Scratch, Madra Salach and Kíla. At Meeting House Square audiences enjoyed traditional music with Andy Irvine, Quilty and the Máirtín O’Connor Trio. Wolfe Tone Square had recitals and Céilís including Na Píobairí Uilleann Piping with Wynton Moore, Aoife Fadian and Síofra Ní Mhóráin, a Harp Ireland Recital
46 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
featuring the Martin Family Harp Trio, plus dynamic sets from An Chéad Ghlúin Eile, Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, and Seán McKeon. Down in Capel Street they enjoyed some acoustic sessions featuring sets from trad musicians and in Parliament Street they enjoyed Faró and the Fingal Mummers.
Your service provider’s Customer Charter: What is it? Your rights explained Phone and broadband providers must publish a Customer Charter. This is a “one-stop shop” of information about the levels of customer service you can expect from your provider. Your provider must publish its Charter on their website. If you cannot access your provider’s Charter online, you can request a copy from them. The Charter should be available in an accessible format upon request.
Levels of customer service A Charter should include commitments that your provider offers around the time it takes to: •
Respond to you when you contact your provider’s customer service channels, including by phone, chat, email, webform and post
•
Acknowledge your request to connect a new service and to activate a new service
•
Issue a refund
•
Notify you about planned network outages and update you on unplanned outages
The Charter helps you to stay informed A provider’s Charter helps provide clarity on service expectations with phone and broadband providers, and can also help you compare providers if you are thinking about switching. Providers can update their Charters, and they must also report their performance to ComReg against any commitments they offer.
Who is ComReg? ComReg is Ireland’s communications regulator, with responsibilities that include the phone, mobile, broadband and postal sectors.
Contact Consumer Care
Details of compensation
Monday to Friday: 8am to 8pm, Saturday: 9am to 1pm
Your provider’s Charter should also include details regarding:
Phone: 01 8049668
•
Email: consumerline@comreg.ie
Mandatory compensation schemes for delays and issues with switching and porting and associated missed appointments
•
Any compensation for unmet commitments offered
•
General compensation offered
Other customer service information Further information on the following is also included in your provider’s Charter:
Text: COMREG or ASKCOMREG to 51500 to receive a call or text back (standard SMS rates apply) Post: Consumer Care team, ComReg, One Dockland Central, Guild Street, D01 E4XO Webchat and online form: comreg.ie Irish Sign Language: Facility available on request
•
Contact channels and details and hours of operation
•
Refund policy
Text Relay: Contact us through the Irish Text Relay Service. See more at ITRS.ie
•
Accessibility statement and accessibility information
Access Officer: access@comreg.ie
•
Code of practice for complaints handling
Dublin Dossier
€5,000 cheque presented to CHI Temple Street
International show jumper Rachel Proudley and Gallagher Dublin Horse Show Director Fiona Sheridan, presented a cheque for €5,000 to CHI Temple Street. At last year's Show, Rachel made history by clearing the 2.15m wall at just 20 years of age, becoming the first woman in 60 years to win the prestigious Defender Puissance title. Rachel, who rides for HK Horses, one of the UK's leading international show jumping yards, and is trained and managed by Richard Howley, generously donated €2,500 from her prize fund to CHI Temple Street. The RDS matched her contribution, bringing the total donation to €5,000 For more details on the show and to save 10% on tickets visit www.dublinhorseshow.com. Kids under 4 go free.
International show jumper Richard Howley, Gallagher Dublin Horse Show director Fiona Sheridan and international show jumper Rachel Proudley with River Radley from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford presenting a cheque for €5,000 at CHI Temple Street).
Little Museum and Military Archives combine for notable exhibition
Rarely seen revolutionary artefacts are now on display at The Little Museum a remarkable collection of rarely seen, historically significant artefacts will be on public view for the next five years.
Most of the objects are drawn from the Brother Allen Collection, which was donated to the Edmund Rice Trust and presented to the Military Archives in 2016 to commemorate the centenary of the Easter Rising. Now a decade later, these deeply personal and nationally important items will be displayed in the heart of Dublin from today, Thursday the 26th March, offering visitors to the museum a timely, rare and intimate insight into the lives of those who shaped Ireland’s revolutionary period. Highlights include: the brown leather holster allegedly worn by Michael Collins when he was killed at Béal na Bláth, part of the military equipment belonging to the Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. A handwritten letter from Patrick Pearse to Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh (later president of Ireland) on Easter Weekend (dated 22-4-1916), enquiring whether he could put him and his brother, Willie Pearse,
up the Saturday night before the Easter rebellion. There is a delicate sketch of Kilmainham Prison Chapel by Grace Gifford, the chapel where she married Joseph Mary Plunkett before his execution. This was later immortalised in the song 'Grace'. A handwritten dispatch from Seán MacDiarmada, sent from the General Post Office (GPO) on the first day of the Easter Rising, 1916, carried by Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh. A Macramé bag made by Peadar Kearney, author of 'A Soldier's Song’ ('Amhrán na bhFiann'), while serving a sentence of internment in Ballykinlar camp. A silk thread scapular worn by Countess Markievicz while in prison. A Bamba cigarette found in the pocket of William J. Pearse after his execution on May 4th, 1916, in Kilmainham Gaol. Pink felt infant shoes made by Kathleen Clarke, widow of proclamation signatory Tom Clarke, while she was imprisoned in Holloway Prison, 1918. A letter by Dr Kathleen Lynn which she wrote from Mountjoy Prison to the deputy adjutant general, Parkgate, dated 26th June 1916, requesting return of her belongings including medical equipment and a fur coat. A 'Bloody Sunday' ticket, for the challenge match of Dublin Vs. Tipperary at Croke Park, Sunday 21st November 1920.
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Speaking on the partnership, Commandant Daniel Ayiotis, Director of the Military Archives, said today “As both the director of the Military Archives and a born and bred Dubliner, I’m excited and proud that we have partnered with the Little Museum of Dublin. While our most prominent role as an institution is providing access to documentary material, this collaboration gives us the opportunity to share with the public some of our significant collection of historical artefacts in a museum that embodies the unique character of Dublin and tells the stories of the city in a way that educates, advocates, informs, enlightens and entertains.” For more information and tickets, please visit www.littlemuseum.ie.
Mobility
Straight Stairlifts
Curved Stairlifts
UpWA RDs Lifts Rich Ward of UpWARDs Lifts is the only time served qualified stairlift engineer trained within a UK regulated industry in Ireland and offers a 3 year warranty with annual servicing included. Part of the reason he’s been in business so long is that he offers a genuine 24/7 call out. So if it fails at any time and he cannot fix it over the phone then he will call out, weekends & bank holidays included, (no extra charges / clauses) UpWARDS Lifts are the leading installer of curved and straight stairlifts in Munster, so all makes and models can be installed so you get the right stairlift for your needs, including new and reconditioned stairlifts to suit any budget. Richard takes a very straightforward and easy approach to stairlift installation: • Contact us and we will visit your property to carry out a free no obligation survey • We will assess your staircase and advise you of your options • After you have chosen the stairlift you need, we will arrange a date for installation • Your stairlift will be installed on the day agreed*. All packaging will be taken away and we hoover up!
Straight Stairlifts Straight stairlifts will run on a straight flight of stairs (as the name suggests). This type of lift is generally cheaper to purchase as they are less complicated to install, giving you the freedom of your house again. If you need help, we can recommend an appropriate lift for your property, whether you are looking for reconditioned stairlifts, or a brand new model. The versatile nature of straight stairlifts allows users to easily move their lifts to another location should the need arise.
Installing, servicing and repairing stairlifts for 30 years
upWARDs Lifts is delighted to associate with, and partner with, Platinum Stairlifts, providing premium quality straight stairlifts in Cork and Munster. All Platinum Stairlifts are hand built and tested in Yorkshire, UK, ready to ship directly to you. One of the main benefits of a Platinum Straight Stairlift is that the rail runs off the stair noses. This gives a clean look and gives you the ability to access your stairs easily when vacuuming.
Curved Stairlifts You may think that a stairlift will not fit your stairs. However, a curved stairlift can be fitted on a variety of staircase types, ranging from fan, stairs with a landing in between, and those with a turn. Each of our curved stairlifts in Cork and Munster are custom made to fit your staircase. We design every lift to match the requirements of your property and also offer a comprehensive repair and maintenance service. Our curved stairlifts only vary in price due to the number of bends that are required and the length of your stairs. We will instantly tell you the cost, there is no hidden formula or wide ranging prices. We also work closely with our chosen partner, Platinum Stairlifts, to bring you a premium stairlift at a competitive price So contact Rich Ward at upWARDs Lifts today for your FREE, no-obligation survey and expert consultation on curved stairlift services. upWA RDs Lifts - Specialist in Stairlifts t: 083 4753 253 021 453 3610 Address; upWA RDs Lifts, Cork, T45 RT29, Ireland www.upwardslifts.ie www.stairliftcork.ie
Dublin Dossier
Remembering two Dublin Oscar winners
Brenda Fricker the first Irish woman to win an Oscar
Glen Hansard from Ballymun to Hollywood..
A sad few weeks too, two notable Dubs departed. Brenda Fricker, the first Irish woman to win an Oscar, died aged 81, after a brief illness at Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross. Brenda Fricker lived alone alone with her dog 'Juno' in Ardee Street in Dublin 8, a quiet terrace of small, single-storey cottages in the Liberties, one of the oldest and most tightly knit communities in the city, the very same neighbourhood where she was born and raised. Her Academy Award for 'My Left Foot' opened the door to fame, Hollywood and beyond.
(1979) died in 1991. Her dog 'Juno' died a month or so before her.
She preferred to live among the people she knew. She would often treat herself to a cod and chips at Fusco’s Cafe, on Meath Street - a treat she often enjoyed, with Champagne, as you would, among her friends and neighbours. Her husband, the British television director Barry Davies, a prolific director and writer best known for acclaimed dramas like Oppenheimer (1980) and Telford's Change 50 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Glen Hansard died in a 4.30am. motorcycle crash on the R109, a west Dublin road, between Tinkers Hill and Rugged Lane. It runs along the edge of the Phoenix Park toward Lucan. Glen was married to the Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa and split their time living between Ireland and Finland. Mostly remembered for his role in 'The Commitments', and with Marketa Irglova, co-wrote the Oscar-winning song 'Falling Slowly'for the Irish musical film 'Once', winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008. They launched the musical duo The Swell Season in 2006, named after Josef Škvorecký's novel.
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Midlands magic
On Two Wheels John Feehan visits an oasis for motorcycle people during the 'off' season...
From Dublin to Birmingham: A Motorcycle Enthusiast’s Visit to the National Motorcycle Museum For anyone in Ireland with petrol running through their veins and a soft spot for British motorcycles, a trip to the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham is well worth putting on the calendar. It is not simply a museum filled with old motorcycles.
history, with the old manufacturing centres of Birmingham, Coventry and Meriden all within reach. Whichever way you travel, the museum's location makes it an easy destination for a weekend away.
For enthusiasts, it is a journey through the history of an industry that once made Britain one of the most important motorcycle-producing nations in the world. And for an Irish visitor, getting there is surprisingly straightforward. The National Motorcycle Museum is located at Bickenhill, Solihull, directly beside Junction 6 of the M42 and opposite the NEC. Birmingham International Airport and railway station are only a few minutes away by taxi, making the museum particularly accessible from Dublin. Getting there from Dublin For an Irish-based enthusiast, flying to Birmingham is probably the easiest option. Birmingham Airport is exceptionally close to the museum, with the museum itself stating that the airport is less than five minutes away by taxi. Birmingham International railway station is similarly convenient. There is also something appealing about making the journey by road and ferry, particularly if you are travelling with fellow enthusiasts or planning to combine the museum with a longer motorcycle trip around the Midlands. The area is steeped in British motorcycle
Ever heard of a 'Royal Ruby'?
A history lesson for motorcycle people The five display halls are arranged to make sense of the development of the British motorcycle industry. Hall 1 covers what the museum describes as the "60 Glorious Years", taking visitors from 1898 through to 1960. The machines are arranged chronologically, allowing you to see how motorcycles evolved from relatively primitive pioneer machines into sophisticated post-war motorcycles. The hall also has significant Vincent and Sunbeam collections.
Prepare to be overwhelmed The first thing that strikes you when you enter is the sheer scale of the collection. The museum has more than 1,000 British motorcycles in its collection, with around 850 on display at any one time. The machines represent more than 160 manufacturers and span from the earliest pioneering motorcycles through to much more modern British superbikes. For an enthusiast, this is where the visit becomes something special. Rather than seeing a handful of famous motorcycles surrounded by large amounts of empty space, you are surrounded by machines. BSA, Triumph, Norton, Ariel, Vincent, Royal Enfield, Matchless, Brough Superior and dozens of less familiar names are represented. And that is one of the pleasures of the museum. You may arrive intending to find a particular Triumph or Norton, only to discover a machine from a manufacturer you have never heard of.
52 Senior Times |September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Hall after hall of machines...and memories
The other halls are arranged largely by manufacturer, giving enthusiasts the opportunity to follow individual marques through their different periods. There are dedicated displays covering BSA, Matchless, Norton, Triumph and Royal Enfield, alongside a particularly impressive collection of Brough Superior motorcycles. There are also military
AI Literacy
o the document
Generative AI: What You Need to Know In the last issue of SeniorTimes, the Age-Friendly AI project introduced Artificial Intelligence (AI) in everyday life, and explored some examples of AI that work away in the background like the AI that predicts the weather forecast or the AI that recommends what you should watch next on Netflix or YouTube. This month, Dr Emma Clarke from DCU takes a look at Generative AI, a different kind of AI that you interact with directly rather than one that works in the background. The New Kid on the Block: Generative AI Generative AI (sometimes shortened to ‘GenAI’) gets this name because it can generate new content, such as text, realistic images, or music, based on what you ask it to do. You may have already tried Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. You interact with Generative AI by giving it a request, which is called a "prompt". Whether you type or speak the prompt into your device, the AI responds by analysing patterns from vast amounts of information to generate a brand-new response word by word. It can draft a letter, suggest a recipe or explain something in plain English. How it works Generative AI tools are trained on enormous amounts of text, images and other information gathered from books, websites and other often publicly-available sources. From all of this, the tool learns patterns, like which words tend to follow others, or what a typical answer to a
question looks like. When you ask it something, it isn't searching for the "correct" answer; it's predicting, word by word, the most likely-sounding response based on those patterns. That means it can sound, or look, completely confident while being completely incorrect. That same ability to generate convincing text, images, audio and video is what makes something called a "deepfake" possible. A deepfake is a realistic-looking or -sounding fake image, video or audio clip, made to look or sound like someone said or did something they never did. They can be used to fake celebrity endorsements of scams, produce convincing fake audio or video of election candidates making damaging statements, or to create fraudulent phone calls that trick people into sending money. What to watch out for Through the Age-Friendly AI Opinions campaign, we've heard that people have concerns about deepfakes and false information online. Sharing false information: ‘Be Media Smart’, which was developed by Media Literacy Ireland, advises us to STOP, THINK and CHECK that the information we're seeing online is accurate and reliable. It's worth making this a habit before you share information online. Look out for potential scams: If a "family member" calls asking for money urgently, hang up and ring them back on a number you already have to verify the situation. The more you understand about how Generative AI works, the
better placed you are to protect yourself against scams and deepfakes designed to catch people off guard. Building this awareness is what the Age-Friendly AI Initiative has been working towards since launching in 2025. Share Your Opinions We want to hear from you about Artificial Intelligence. Whether you are excited about what AI can do, worried about where it's headed, or simply curious, we'd love for you to get involved. Share your thoughts at: agefriendlyai.ie/share-your-thoughts
Did You Know? · Generative AI can turn spoken words into text and text into speech in real time, which can be useful for people with hearing loss, low vision or conditions that make reading or writing difficult. · Running Generative AI tools uses electricity and water to power and cool the data centres behind them, and demand is growing as more people use AI every day. · Artists and writers have raised concerns that their work has been used to create Generative AI tools without their knowledge. Some worry it's also affecting their livelihoods, as AI-generated content becomes a cheap, fast substitute for hiring a human illustrator, writer or photographer. Check out upcoming Age Friendly AI workshops at: https://agefriendlyai.ie/events/
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 53
On Two Wheels the museum is that it tells the story of an industry rather than simply celebrating individual motorcycles. You can see the engineering progress, the changing designs and the enormous variety of manufacturers that once operated in Britain. Some became household names; others disappeared almost without trace.
machines, prototypes and working motorcycles, including police and ambulance machines. For anyone who has ever spent a wet Sunday afternoon in an Irish shed trying to identify an old British motorcycle, there is plenty here to keep the mind occupied.
Racing Nortons from every era are here...
The competition machines Hall 5 may be the one that really grabs the attention of serious enthusiasts. It is dedicated to competition motorcycles, covering road racing, off-road, sprint and drag racing. The collection also includes world-record machines and the famous works Norton rotary racers. Among them is the Norton ridden by Steve Hislop to victory in the 1992 Senior TT. Seeing these machines up close in the flesh is one thing, but knowing what they represent is another. These are not simply ‘old’ motorcycles. They are the physical remains of an era when British manufacturers, engineers and riders competed at the highest level of motorcycle sport. For Irish enthusiasts, with the Isle of Man TT being such a familiar part of motorcycle culture, this section should be particularly appealing. More than just polished chrome Perhaps the most interesting aspect of
The museum itself began in 1984 with 350 motorcycles collected by founder W.R. "Roy" Richards. His ambition was to preserve Britain's motorcycle manufacturing heritage, and that original collection has grown into today's enormous archive. For enthusiasts, that gives the visit some real significance. Many of the names on the tanks and badges represent companies that once employed thousands of people and helped shape communities across the Midlands. In 2003 however a fire ripped through the building, gutting most of it and destroying hundreds of bikes. Many of the museum's rarest and irreplaceable exhibits were destroyed, with the loss of 380 motorcycles. The cost of the fire was estimated at over £14 million. After fifteen months and a £20 million rebuild which included installation of a £1.2 million sprinkler system, the museum was reopened on 1 December 2004. 150 of the motorcycles that had been destroyed in the fire were fully restored for the re-opening.
Much better use for a baking tray...
Allow yourself plenty of time This is not a place to rush around in an hour. If you are genuinely interested in motorcycles, allow most of a day. There is simply too much detail to absorb quickly,
54 Senior Times |September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
and the temptation will be to stop every few metres when another familiar tank, engine or frame catches your eye. The museum is currently open seven days a week from 8.30am to 5.30pm, with last admission at 4.30pm. Adult admission is currently £17, and the museum operates a cashless payment system. Find out more at www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk There is also a café and shop, so you can take a break, have a coffee and inevitably leave with something motorcycle-related that you hadn't planned on buying.
Go one better like I did recently and try and attend on a Friday morning when you can take part in a guided tour of interesting machines and stories by one of the volunteer staff, who allows you a bit more leeway, is very informative and you even get to sit on the odd bike too! Worth the trip from Ireland? Absolutely. For an Irish motorcycle enthusiast, the National Motorcycle Museum is one of those places that justifies the journey. It connects the bikes we grew up with, the motorcycles we admired in magazines and the machines our parents or grandparents may have ridden with the much bigger story of British engineering. Whether your allegiance is to Triumph, Norton, BSA, Vincent, Royal Enfield or something much more obscure, there is almost certain to be something there that makes you stop and stare. And perhaps that is the best reason to go. You don't visit the National Motorcycle Museum simply to look at old motorcycles. You go to remember why motorcycles matter in the first place — the engineering, the sound, the history, the competition and, above all, the freedom they represent. From Dublin, Birmingham is only a short trip away. For anyone who considers themselves a proper motorcycle enthusiast, it is a trip worth making.
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Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone Festive Afternoons of Entertainment! From 12.30pm to 6pm, enjoy: Tea, Coffee and Mulled Wine Reception Easy listening live Showcase music during a festive 4 course lunch Cabaret with Showband Legends, the very talented, Keith, Lorraine and Frankie McDonald Our special guest, the iconic Red Hurley, will entertain with classics like ‘Love Is All’, ‘Isadora’ and many more. Take to the floor from 4pm to 6pm as legendary Brendan Shine and his Super Band bring you an afternoon of dancing, memories & festive favourites!
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Generations at Work: Building a Fairer Future for Every Age
Dr. Christine O’Kelly
What would a fairer future look like if people of every age had the opportunity to keep learning, earn a living, remain healthy and contribute to their communities? This question lies at the heart of Generations at Work: A Fairer Future for Learning, Earning and Longevity, an international conference taking place at Dublin City University on 22–23 October 2026. Organised by DCU’s Age-Friendly University Unit and the Age-Friendly University Global Network (Europe), the event will bring policymakers, researchers, employers and community organisations into direct conversation with older and younger people. That mix of voices matters. Decisions about longer working lives, retirement, education, healthcare and the distribution of public resources should not be made without the people most affected by them. The conference is therefore designed not simply as a place to hear presentations, but as a catalyst for honest dialogue and practical action. Its five themes address questions that touch all our lives. Under Learning for Life, Professor Marvin Formosa of the University of Malta will explore why education should not stop at a particular age. A leading authority on older adult learning and active ageing, he will challenge universities and governments to open more pathways for people who want to learn, retrain or pursue new interests later in life. Work for All Ages will examine how workplaces can retain experience while creating opportunities for younger workers. Mario Nava, Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission, brings an important European perspective on employment, skills and social inclusion. His contribution will help move the discussion beyond simply working longer towards making longer working lives fair, flexible and worthwhile. Former European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit and Eurofound expert Franz Ferdinand Eiffe will contribute to Healthy Work Futures. Their combined policy and research experience will focus attention on workplace health, caring responsibilities, changing careers and the conditions people need to remain well throughout working life. For Community Innovation, Evdokimos Konstantinidis, Vice-Chair of the European Network of Living Labs, will show how communities can test new ideas with citizens rather than designing services for them from a distance. His work 56 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
demonstrates the value of bringing residents, researchers, businesses and public bodies together to solve local problems. Intergenerational Fairness will be led by voices representing both ends of the life course. Patrick Penninckx, Secretary General of the European Seniors’ Union, will bring extensive experience in human rights, democracy and the participation of older people. Representatives from AGE Platform Europe and the National Youth Council will ensure that older and younger citizens are part of the same conversation about opportunity, responsibility and the future they share. These issues are too important to leave solely to specialists. Longer lives are changing families, workplaces and communities, and everyone has experience worth bringing to the discussion. Members of the public are warmly encouraged to attend, question assumptions and help shape the conference’s recommendations. A preferential rate is available for older people, students and EFOS/U3A members: €50 for one day or €100 for both days. The wider programme includes keynote addresses, panel discussions, workshops and opportunities for genuine exchange. The future is not something one generation should design for another. It is something we must create together. Registration and further details are available at generationsat.work.
Visit the Spain stand at the 50 Plus Show Cork September 8th & 9th
Health
Poor vision may be a warning sign for your overall health A new study has shown that your eyes may be telling a much bigger story about your overall health. The study, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, followed nearly 12,000 US adults aged 40 and older for an average of thirteen years. Adults with visual impairment had a 36% higher risk of death from any cause compared to those without, even after controlling for other known health factors. The study concluded that vision loss appears to a signal that something deeper may be going on with a person's overall health and ability to manage daily life.
Fortunately, two of the most common causes of vision loss in adults over forty are also among the most treatable conditions in modern medicine:
prescription, cataract treatment, LASIK or ICL, are more accessible and effective than most people realise.
Poor vision contributes to:
1. Uncorrected refractive error (shortsightedness, long-sightedness, astigmatism) correctable with glasses, contact lenses, laser vision correction such as LASIK, or implantable lens procedures such as ICL (Implantable Collamer Lens)
“Restoring good vision is not just about seeing clearly again. It is about staying steady on your feet, staying connected to the people around you, driving confidently, recognising faces across a room, and staying engaged with life rather than retreating from it. When vision is treated as central to overall health rather than a minor inconvenience, what we are really protecting is independence, confidence and quality of life.
• Falls and physical injury, where reduced depth perception significantly increases accident risk • Social withdrawal, when difficulty recognising faces or driving leads people to disengage • Medication errors from not being able to read labels or instructions clearly • Reduced physical activity, as people move through an unclear world less confidently • Missed or delayed healthcare, including unread health information and avoided appointments
2. Cataracts, where a straightforward surgical procedure restores clarity in the vast majority of cases Speaking about this Mr Arthur Cummings, at the Wellington Eye Clinic, said “The encouraging message from this research is that vision is one of the few systemic warning signs you can act on. An eye exam is a straightforward starting point. From there, the options, whether an updated
58 Senior Times |September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
“Eye health is not a standalone issue. It is deeply connected to how well we function, how independently we live and how long we thrive.”
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History
James O’Mara (1873-1948), pictured with his wife Agnes, was a member of the first Dáil.
How Millionaire helped finance the War of Independence James O’Mara played a vital role in Ireland’s fight for independence by organising a bond drive in the United States that raised $5.1m for the first Dáil. Joe Humphreys reports James O’Mara organised the Irish government’s first bond-certificate drive in the US from 1919 to 1921. Over $5.1 million was raised in the campaign. James O’Mara did not fit the standard profile of republican activist. He was a successful businessman and millionaire whose summer holiday home was Cashel House in Connemara, now a hotel of the same name. Yet O’Mara, my great-grandfather, played an important role in helping the fledgling State on to its feet by organising the government’s first bond-certificate drive in the United States from 1919 to 1921. Over $5.1 million (at least $68 million in today’s money) was raised in the campaign, and while political fundraising might have a grubby reputation these days it was essential then to keep a financially vulnerable administration together. As historian Francis Carroll put it: “This was the money that financed the War [of Independence], indeed, made the war possible. Not only did these funds support the army, but just as important, they enabled the Dáil government to operate the offices of a working government.”
As an episode in the State’s founding history, however, it also has its murky side. Power struggles intruded on the high ideals behind the plan – O’Mara resigned his post over concerns about Eamon de Valera’s financial management –and today questions are still being asked as to whether all the money went where it should have gone. James O’Mara was born in 1873 in Limerick where his grandfather had set up a bacon company. He succeeded his Parnellite father as MP for Kilkenny South, and helped put a Bill through the House of Commons in 1903 that made St
60 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Patrick’s Day an official bank holiday in Ireland. As progress on Home Rule stalled, however, O’Mara resigned his Westminster seat and in 1907 joined Arthur Griffith’s newly formed Sinn Féin. He became the party’s financial director and an election organiser and was himself returned in the 1918 elections to take a seat in the first Dáil. Funding was one of the priorities of the revolutionary parliament, which first met in the Mansion House on the very day the War of Independence began. As Carroll wrote in his history of the loan
History
James O’Mara with the other members of the first Dáil. He is standing to the back directly under the railings (with moustache). drive , Money for Ireland , "no money, no government functions; no government functions, no credibility; no credibility and the whole struggle to obtain independence was in danger of collapse." Sinn Féin looked for help to America, and the many Irish nationalists living there. O’Mara was named as one of three trustees of the new Dáil, and charged – along with de Valera – with setting up the bond certificate drive. They agreed that each subscriber would receive a certificate of indebtedness of the Irish Republic, which was non-interest bearing. The bonds would be sold on the back of de Valera’s tour of America. There followed a gruelling coast to coast tour, for which O’Mara and de Valera had to dodge British intelligence and sidestep US law. De Valera used his diplomatic skills to circumvent the fact that the Irish government was not officially recognised by the US congress, while O’Mara came up with elaborate schemes to launder the money. An early dispatch of $200,000 was sent through three different bank accounts, to remove all trace of its origins, and eventually drawn down by a New York priest who gave it to the Bishop of Killaloe, Michael Fogarty, then also a Dáil trustee. Some 303,578 people bought certificates, the largest proportion buying amounts of $25 or less. In New York alone, about 100,000 people purchased about $1 million worth. Back home it was hailed as a stunning success but there were tensions behind the scenes. O’Mara, who paid his own personal expenses in America, shelling out £10,000 in all, was critical of the running costs incurred by others. He also clashed with de Valera on policy. Disagreements over the establishing of a new Irish-American political lobby and the manner in which
to run a planned second bond drive eventually led to O’Mara’s resignation. It was a bitter divorce – it would be nearly 20 years before they'd speak to one another again – and the reasons behind it are still contentious. Some commentators believe de Valera wanted rid of O'Mara so he'd have full control over the finances in America. But, as Stephen Kelly points out in The Sinn Fein Millionaire: James O'Mara and the First American BondCertificate Drive, there were personality issues too.
Valera came to power in 1932 he pushed legislation through the Dáil saying bondholders would receive, not just the 58c, but an additional 67c from the Exchequer making it $1.25 in all. De Valera used the cash windfall to buy shares, along with his son Vivion, in The Irish Press . "While the exact number of bonds converted has never been made public, the money de Valera received from the transfer was crucial as startup capital," notes Mark O'Brien in his history of that newspaper , De Valera, Fianna Fáil and the Irish Press .
“He was nine years older than de Valera and as a successful businessman, used to making his own decisions, O’Mara had come to view his younger colleague with more than a hint of disdain.”
Adding intrigue to the affair was the fact de Valera kept his huge family shareholding in the Press secret until Noel Browne exposed it in the Dáil in the late 1950s.
O’Mara became further disillusioned with politics when the Civil War broke out. He acted as the State’s first ambassador to the US in 1922 and two years later won a Dáil seat as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate. But in 1927 he left politics for good.
In somewhat Machiavellian fashion, de Valera had appointed O'Mara's younger brother Stephen as a trustee of the US bond monies immediately after O'Mara's resignation, and the same sibling was later made a director of the Press . Perhaps to avoid family disharmony, James O'Mara kept his counsel in later years about de Valera's use – some would say misuse – of the loan funds.
The story of the bonds didn’t end there, however. About $2.5 million of the deposits were sent to the Irish government in 1922 but de Valera held on to the remainder in the US, along with $600,000 which had been raised in the second bond drive without O’Mara. The Free State government took legal action, and in 1927 a New York court ruled that the bondholders should be repaid, at a rate of 58c for each $1. What happened next was probably one of the greatest strokes in Irish politics. De Valera contacted the bondholders directly asking them to sign over the bonds to him so he could set up the Irish Press . Many did, or had forms signed on their behalf by next of kin. When de
62 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
O’Mara died in 1948, and his funeral drew little public attention. As his daughter Patricia Lavelle recalled in her biography of the Sinn Féiner: “There was no tricolour over his coffin, no bugles sounded over his grave. No guns were fired in salute but we paid silent tribute to him for all he had done and suffered that Ireland might be free.” Joe Humphreys is Deputy News Editor at The Irish Times and writer of the Unthinkable philosophy column. Senior Times is grateful to the Irish Times for permission to reproduce this article
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A Unique Goodbye
A Farewell as Unique as the Life It Celebrates Saying goodbye is deeply personal. For many families, a meaningful farewell begins with choosing a place that holds special significance, somewhere connected to happy memories, family life or a loved one’s final wishes. Drone as a Service Ireland provides a personalised aerial ashes release service across Ireland, offering families a peaceful and dignified way to honour a loved one at a place that meant something to them. The service is designed to be personal to each family. There is no set ceremony or prescribed way to mark the occasion. Families can choose to gather with family and friends, share memories, say a few words, play music, or simply spend a quiet moment together. The way the farewell is marked is entirely their choice. The role of Drone as a Service Ireland is to carefully manage the aerial release itself. Its experienced drone team takes care of the practical details behind the scenes, including location assessments, permissions, airspace checks, flight planning and weather monitoring. Each release is planned and conducted professionally, discreetly and with care.
Families can choose a meaningful coastal, countryside or other suitable location, subject to the necessary checks and permissions. Where the location safely allows, family and friends may also be present for the release, allowing them to mark the moment in their own way while the drone team manages the aerial element.
With the service available across Ireland, Drone as a Service Ireland aims to make an important part of the farewell process as straightforward as possible. Families choose the place, the preferred date and whether they wish to be present. The experienced drone team manages the aerial release and the flight considerations involved.
For families who would prefer not to attend, Drone as a Service Ireland can also conduct a private release on their behalf. This provides another option for those who wish to honour a loved one’s wishes without needing to be present at the release itself.
Every life is unique, and every farewell can be too. For families looking for a peaceful and personal way to honour a loved one’s final wishes, an aerial ashes release can offer a meaningful opportunity to say goodbye in a place that will always be remembered.
Optional aerial photography and video are also available. These can provide a lasting visual record of the tribute and allow family members who could not attend to share in the moment afterwards.
Get in Touch
Weather conditions are carefully monitored before every flight. Should conditions be unsuitable, the team works with the family to arrange another appropriate time, ensuring that the aerial release can be carried out safely and with the same care and attention.
64 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
To discuss an aerial ashes release and find out more about the service, contact the Drone as a Service Ireland team. 1800 832 081 sales@droneasaservice.com www.droneasaservice.com/ireland/
A personalised aerial ashes release service across Ireland.
Creative Writing The Grand Canal runs through Dolphin’s Barn
Bringing history to life Our libraries are treasure troves, it’s a plain and simple fact. There’s always some event to engage, spark interest, ignite passion. I could go on. Suffice to say that I have nothing but praise for what libraries do. Especially Tallaght Library, South Dublin. Never a dull moment there. The summer of ’26 proved particularly memorable. Mainly because I enrolled in a local history summer school facilitated by the Historian Cathy Scuffil. Without exaggeration, she is simply phenomenal in terms of her ability to make local history absolutely fascinating. In her hands, narratives come alive, throbbing with life and meaning. Images from the past are transported into present time and place. I’ve always been intrigued by history, especially the storytelling aspect (not so much dates). I even hold a B.A.(Hon.) in History from Dublin City University. Also, over the years, I’ve attended many talks, presentations etc. concerning our relationship with history but honestly, none to date have been as vibrant as Cathy Scuffil’s Summer School.
Eileen Casey meets Cathy Scuffil, award winning historian and all-round unique individual and Dolphin’s Barn native Cathy’s credentials are sterling. Reared in Dolphin’s Barn, she is the current Historian in Residence for Dublin City Council South Central. Her aim, in her own words is to ‘explore and share with the communities and neighbourhoods both our history and our heritage, and I try to do it in a meaningful and practical way.’ I can certainly attest to this remit. Cathy’s knowledge of place names is astonishing. She cites Marrowbone Lane, Cromwell’s Quarters, The Tenters, Dolphin’s Barn…’every single one of them holds a completely different story about different people.’ For example, The Tenters in Dublin 8 borders The Liberties, Blackpitts, Donore Avenue and Newmarket Square. This area is so named due to the historical practice of weavers stretching their cloths on wooden frames called tenters. The phrase ‘on tenterhooks’ originates from this place name. Cathy also has a silver medal from The Old Dublin Society for her research
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and she’s the recipient of an Unsung Hero Advocate Award from Dublin City in 2006. More recently she was one of nine citizens honoured by Dublin’s Lord Mayor on his award list for 2006. Her own personal success extends to groups she’s worked with to include four Pride of Place Awards and in the case of The Liberties Weavers, other awards such as Aontas Star, Community Archives and Heritage among others. Having spent four glorious sessions learning how to be a detective, to uncover and source, to research and apply; I feel confident that I could undertake (albeit in a small way) a project concerning my locale and produce something of interest to others. I first enquired about her unusual surname, having not heard of it before. ‘It has its origins in Normandy,’ she says, the name appearing in Dublin records from the early 1800s onwards. Her family have been in The Liberties for six
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Creative Writing
Cathy’s credentials are sterling. Reared in Dolphin’s Barn, she is the current Historian in Residence for Dublin City Council South Central. Her aim, in her own words is to ‘explore and share with the communities and neighborhoods’ both our history and our heritage, and I try to do it in a meaningful and practical way.’
generations, ‘all tradesmen (painters, grainers, decorators, sign writers etc.).’ Cathy also tells me, her eyes sparkling with mischief, that ‘the family is also known as a family of redheads.’ So, that’s one way of identifying the Scuffil bloodline! Seriously, not only is Cathy a mine of historical gems, she’s also got a great personality and warm manner. I got the feeling that I could ask the most inane question and she’d grant it respect. What really surprised me however, was the fact that although I bore two children in St James Hospital and despite the fact that I recently attended there for a mammogram, I never once noticed the shell emblazoned on signposts (one large one at the entrance). The St James’ shell is a scallop shell and the classic symbol of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage to the shrine of the Apostle St James in Galicia, Spain. The lines on the shell, meeting at a single point, represent the many different paths travelers take from all over the world to arrive at one common destination. Pilgrims used the shell for both food and drinking vessel and carried or wore the shell as a sign of their journey. Legend tells that after St James was martyred, a ship miraculously carried his body back to Spain covered in scallop shells. To my shame, I think I’d have continued through my life without knowing this information. I’ve definitely woken up to a whole range of possibilities. Where to begin? That perennial question we all face when undertaking a task, whatever it may be. Cathy Scuffil begins her projects with five simple words; ‘ Who/What/When/Where/Why.’ Sometimes she adds ‘How.’
It’s her way of taking the reins, being able to see what a project is about, whether it’s a person, place or thing. Once that’s established, ‘it takes off from there.’ She also knows how to find the resources she needs to give a project the Period photograph showing St Johns Church much as it is today undercarriage it needs, the scaffolding as it were which among them is William Spence, the makes all the pertinent points stand on ironworker who built the little trains for their merits. She’s mostly interested in Guinness. Dublin and Irish history and loves using websites such as The National Archives of She’s also got a great sense of Ireland and Military History. Towlands. humour, an attribute that bodes well for ie is another favoured site and Loganim. participants on her courses. Levity is ‘And maps, maps, anything to do with very much part of human nature and a maps.’ These can be accessed on sites such good laugh puts people at ease. Indeed, as Tailte Eireann. Going through the I wondered if she was ever less than archives (and there so many more than confident. ‘I was very shy when younger,’ mentioned here), I wondered if she’s ever she says, ‘then Loreto (Crumlin) pushed found something she hadn’t expected or me into their debating teams and the which gave her goose bumps. ‘Finding shyness left as the confidence grew. It’s mention of family members in archives, hard to imagine that she would ever whether it be a mention or a photograph. be phased by anything or anyone and I found my late mam in a photograph yes, she readily agrees that she doesn’t in Dublin City Library and Archive, she get irritated easily. ‘I have a lot of was just walking down the street.’ I can patience. The worst thing is students not certainly empathise with a moment like communicating back, not turning up or this, having found a sepia photograph disappearing altogether. I much prefer of my father walking across the main a message or an email so at least I know street in Birr where I grew up. As well what’s happening.’ Courtesy protocol to as finding people from the past, it’s also note, definitely. hugely important to give voice to people who have perhaps, through the passage Cathy herself is a great champion of time, been overlooked or forgotten. of the library system. Especially in the Cathy has many instances in this regard, realms of local history. Throughout
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Creative Writing As it is in ‘Dubliners’, his wonderful short story collection. Cathy Scuffil is no stranger to publishing herself. She’s a prolific writer. Among her works are ‘By the Sign of the Dolphin, the story of Dolphin’s Barn’, ‘The South Circular Road on the Eve of WW1,’ and ‘The South Dublin Union Easter 1916.’ She also has a whole range of podcasts. Googling her name will lead to them popping up (YouTube mainly).
Dolphin’s Barn landmark: a row of attractive mock Tudor houses at the end of the South Circular Road the summer school she mentioned the advantages of being able to access local history archives, free and with help from the library’s local history curator. Newspapers can be accessed also and they are hugely beneficial in giving the atmosphere of a particular time. One of the wonderful techniques Cathy showed us during our time together, was how to ‘layer’ a story. Finding an old photograph in a newspaper and following it through tributaries found in advertisements, sidebars, events of the time. In this instance, she showed us a photograph of Padraig Pearse at an outdoor gathering, asking us to study the photograph intensely. It’s surprising what the eye can mistake or overlook. Through her forensic method of discovery, we learnt the history behind the photograph and in so doing, how to research properly. After all, history is all about facts but behind the facts can be found really sparkling narratives and when that ‘Ah Ha’ moment is found, the pay off. It so happens, and no surprise, that Cathy’s dream day is ‘being left uninterrupted in an archive – or a day at a shoreline, watching the waves.’ Discovering facts is one thing, reflecting on them is whole other part of the process. Putting everything together, finding the angle. I personally enjoy the advertisements in old newspapers. The fashions of the times, the outlets for social gatherings, the political maelstroms of the day. Court cases are especially vivid. It’s well known that James Joyce was an avid reader of court cases. I suppose reading Ulysses could be compared with a lesson in local history. Joyce knew every bar and bone of the city and it’s all laid bare in his masterpiece.
To paraphrase Graham Greene; he once said that there’s a moment in everyone’s life when a door opens and the future is glimpsed. Has there been such a moment for Cathy? She agrees that when younger she was very ‘hesitant to make decisions. Security (financial and career) was probably more important than ambition.’ Thankfully, she has been steered in the direction of being exactly where she’s meant to be via her dear mother, her husband John, a librarian and a Professor. The late Professor Ray Gillespie (RIP) proved to be a tremendous mentor. He was her supervisor in Maynooth University. Cathy’s father, in particular, was great for sharing local stories so the seeds were being planted from that quarter also. Later, she went to college part-time and qualified with an MA in Local History so ‘what was a hobby became a career.’ Most people only dream about something like this happening. If you are doing what you love, then it’s not work. Because she’s no stranger to writing and publishing, it’s inevitable that the topic of historical fiction should arise. Georgette Heyer and Hilary Mantel come to mind. But there is a difference when fact is being fictionalized. Cathy thinks ‘fiction is useful if it opens up people to history. The problem arises when they consider fiction as fact!’ For example she mentions a recent Guinness story on a streamer earlier this year. ‘Full of historical errors.’ And of course, this extends to the world of film. Having recently been to the cinema for Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Oddssey,’ I can see how fact and fiction can sometimes eclipse each other. Both Cathy’s parents were bikers and motorbikes feature in her life today also. Her husband John is a committed biker and also a great help to Cathy. He’s been known to zoom off on the motorbike to take a photograph or track down a trail Cathy wants to explore. They are very suited, sharing the same
interests. Day trips, spins, hikes or walks are undertaken to support whatever is being researched at any given time. And of course, like all professionals, there’s also times when things go awry. Computer crashing for one thing…but in Cathy’s case, she had ‘external storage.’ It comes as no surprise that Cathy is also interested in folk and fairy tales and songs of course, such as Jim McCann’s version of ‘Grace,’ The Wolfe Tones ‘A Nation Once Again,’ and any version of ‘Dublin in the Rare Ould Times.’ ‘The Waxies’ Dargle’ is another traditional Irish folk song, and is a working class Dublin term. A ‘Waxie’ was a nickname for a Dublin shoemaker or cobbler (who used wax to coat their thread) and a ‘Dargle’ was slang for a festive holiday excursion or day trip. So going to The Waxie’s Dargle meant a day of riotous fun. At that time (19th century Dublin), genteel folk would go to Bray for picnics whereas the Waxies created their own local version. The origin of songs and local lore demonstrated another area where historical nuggets could be mined. Cathy is available for talks/ presentations/residencies. She comes with a gold star recommendation from anyone who’s ever had the good fortune to come under her tutelage. She has opened my eyes in ways I hadn’t even imagined. On a final note, what’s her recipe for a healthy life? ‘Curiosity, being surrounded by good friends (I’m an only child) and having a rock to lean on when needed in her husband and best friend John.’ Long may Cathy Scuffil continue to nurture her passion and to ignite it in others.
Cathy Scuffil’s book By The Sign of the Dolphin is available from Amazon.com
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 69
Western Ways George Keegan on happenings in and around the Western Seaboard
Artist Rita Oates combines image, line and story
I recently paid a visit to the studio of American born artist Rita Oates, at her home near Roscommon town. Her work she pointed out combines a mix of image, line and story. Through the images her ambition is to inspire connection, reflection and most importantly create a sense of hope. Rita formed her own successful brand of Irish designer scarves, framed prints and greeting cards, all created from her own original artwork. The framed prints each with a particular theme, contain carefully chosen words on the front and back which she believes offer comfort, encouragement and connection in everyday life. “It’s a way of giving people a way of transmitting words through pictures”, she told me. She has received communications from several recipients over the years stating that when they received one of her images it helped change their day.
Rita’s mother originally came from Clare and emigrated to the United States, so her early years were spent in the busy metropolis of Kansas City. When the family returned to Ireland in the late 1960’s Rita settled into a rural lifestyle firstly in Clare and then finally in Leitrim. For many years she has been a busy mum with several children to look after, but has always managed to fit in her passion
Heritage locations around the country. These include Strokestown House, Kylemore Abbey, Glenstall Abbey, Ireland West Knock Airport, Ashford Castle, the Shannon Airport Duty Free shop and Nook & Cranny in Portlaoise.
Artist Rita Oates for art. The range of greeting cards she produces have been very successful. Each of these cards are printed on premium uncoated paper certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) which is sourced from responsibly managed forests and each card has a kraft envelope with eco-friendly properties. Rita says sustainability is not an add- on to her work, but is part of how each item is produced.
After settling into her Roscommon home, she became involved in many local community enterprises such as the founder of the Anam Gallery in 2023. The long term aim of the gallery was that it became a new home for creative talent in Ireland and a space for young artists. Rita also joined as a member of the Roscommon Town Team, a voluntary led organisation. She was treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce for five years.
Her beautiful work is available to purchase at many well-known retail and
I asked her finally what advice she would pass on to artists setting out on their career. “Always use a variety of techniques, experiment as much as possible, avoid getting into popular and trendy art and just paint what you enjoy most”.
introduction of a new Multi- Language experience in which they can now scan QR codes placed around the village. This allows them to use up to ten different languages as they discover
the stories and history of the village. The new digital interpretation system has also been designed to assist people with impairments to experience independently.
Sobering ‘attraction’of the Doagh Famine Village The Doagh Famine Village at Ballyliffin, Inishowen is one of the most popular visitor attractions in County Donegal. Now international tourists will enjoy their visit even more with the recent
70 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
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A happy childhood… pass it on. It all starts with a gift to Barnardos in your Will.
T: 01 453 0355 Barnardos.ie/PassItOn
The Iveragh Peninsula in Kerry has been named as a top five stargazing destination thanks to both its clear skies and Dark Sky reserve. The world leading hospitality group Accor has created a Dark Sky Index which highlights the best spots in Europe for stargazing and will be of great assistance to anyone interested in astronomy and those who just enjoy looking at a clear sky with no light pollution. Kerry was selected in fourth position in the index. According to Accor more than 80% of the world now lives under polluted skies and as cities grow even brighter, the true luxury of travel lies in finding a natural night sky. Named the Atlantic Silence, the Iveragh
Kerry’s dark skies shine bright for stargazers..
New Sligo bus service launched for visitors Sligo Tours are now offering a variety of new bus trips catering for different interests and sizes of groups. Visitors can now choose between full day tours which depart from the Quay Street bus park at 9.30am or if preferred take what is called an ‘intimate tour’ specially tailored to suit group sizes, interests and budgets.
Peninsula Dark Sky Reserve on the edge of Europe, points into the North Atlantic. With no cities between this coast and the USA, Accor points out that the air is naturally filtered by thousands of miles of ocean, which creates a transparency of sky rare in Europe. The atmosphere is so clean that the stars
appear larger and more numerous. In the findings Accor also point out that coastal spots like Kerry prove you don’t need high altitude for clarity because maritime air provides a ‘mountain top’ view at sea level. The clean Atlantic air is naturally low in the particles that usually blur the sky.
These particular tours offer a more personal experience and will suit those interested in exploring the natural beauty plus historical sites of the county. https://sligotours.ie
Croagh Patrick re-opens
Pilgrims visiting Croagh Patrick mountain in Murrisk, County Mayo who may have some disability, or are perhaps like myself afraid of heights, now have a brand new option to immerse themselves in the spiritual sense of the Holy Mountain. A Council owned derelict building situated at the foot of the mountain has been transformed into a new Visitor Centre which includes a room containing the stateof-the-art Croagh Patrick Immersive Experience. The team responsible for the development have pointed out that the idea behind the project is to compliment not replace, physically climbing to the top in the traditional way. The Virtual Reality technology by experts Sunovatech creates a digital twin of the mountain and visitors can select from one of two programmes bringing them to the top. A total of six people can take part at any one time. Chairs are placed back to back in the centre of the room and staff are on duty to help with the equipment and answer queries. This new technology avoids using handsets or game controllers making it much easier for senior visitors, perhaps not familiar with those controls, to experience the climb using body movements (hands & arms) instead. I chose the ‘St. Patrick Experience’, considered the more spiritual of the programmes. In it the life size digitally created figure of St. Patrick greets you
The new visitor centre on Croagh Patrick at the outset and then guides you slowly upwards to the summit telling the Christian story along the way. During the fifteen minute experience, which is quite spectacular, you climb the mountain and are transported back to the period when St. Patrick is believed to have climbed the mountain for the first time. Speaking to Senior Times, Fr. John Kenny Administrator of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Westport says the new Centre is a very worthwhile welcoming place to visit as it offers a very engaging virtual reality experience and also gives visitors a great guide to the heritage, history and spiritual significance of Ireland’s Holy Mountain. “If you are planning to visit Croagh Patrick, I can wholeheartedly recommend this Visitor Centre. It’s an uplifting introduction to the sacred undertaking of pilgrimage, one that can linger long after you return.
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It will leave you with peace, gratitude and a renewed sense of your spiritual life”. The new Centre was officially opened at the beginning of July by Dara Calleary TD, Minister for Rural & Community Development & The Gaeltacht. The project was developed by Mayo North East Leader Partnership and immersive technical experts Sunovatech.The building also contains a shop selling local crafts and a small self-service café for teas and coffees. Plans are currently in progress to extend the food on offer to include lunches and light snacks. The Centre is open daily from 10am-5.30pm. Useful websites ritaoatesartist.ie discoverkerry.com-kerry-internationaldak-sky-reserve facebook.com-visitcroaghpatrick govisitdonegal.com discoverireland.ie
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Health
“Reclaim Your Stride” Campaign Urges Early Action on Joint Pain and Mobility
Research from Blackrock Health reveals up to 60% of people living with chronic joint pain put off seeking help for up to three years, despite modern surgical advancements ensuring rapid recovery and restored quality of life
Blackrock Health has a launched a new campaign, “Reclaim Your Stride – The First Step” aimed at educating the public on joint health and empowering individuals living with persistent hip and knee pain to take early action. Q&A with Mr. Niall McGoldrick, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Blackrock Health Hermitage Clinic Q: Why do so many people live with chronic joint pain for years before seeking help? Mr. Niall McGoldrick: “One of the main reasons is worry and uncertainty about the future. Patients often normalise their pain as an inevitable part of getting older, telling themselves it is normal, but this should not be the case. There can often be fear of what treatment might entail, and specifically the idea of undergoing surgery. That apprehension is a completely normal response. However, what often happens is a process of gradual adaptation, people slowly give up activities they love, like walking, running, going to the gym, gardening, or playing with grandchildren. They wait until they experience a severe loss of function or miss out on major life moments before taking action. But putting off a simple GP consultation only prolongs unnecessary suffering.” Q: Is it true that joint replacement surgery is only for older age groups? Mr. Niall McGoldrick: “That is a common myth. We are seeing a clear global trend where the number of joint replacements in younger, active age groups, such as people in their 40s and 50s, is increasing.
In years gone by, the conversation around joint replacement was driven purely by end-stage pain relief. Today, it is equally functional restoration. Modern hip and knee implants are exceptionally durable, with more than 90% lasting 20 years . Younger patients often have fantastic rehabilitation potential, and undergoing treatment earlier allows them to return to high levels of physical activity rather than living through their active years in pain.” Q: Taking that first step to visit a GP can feel daunting. What should patients focus on during their appointment? Mr. Niall McGoldrick: “The key is to be open, honest, and to focus on function, not just pain. Your GP likely knows you very well, making them the ideal partner to start this discussion. When you sit down for your appointment, detail how the joint issues impact your day-to-day life: Impact on routine: Does the pain wake you from sleep? Does it prevent you from climbing stairs, driving, or putting on your shoes and socks comfortably? Specific limitations: How far can you walk before needing to stop? What hobbies or physical activities have you had to give up? Current management: What pain relief have you tried, and is it no longer working? When basic functional tasks become a struggle, it is a sign that you may need to look beyond temporary pain relief or physiotherapy toward an assessment with a specialist.”
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Q: Many patients fear a long, grueling recovery process. What does modern recovery actually look like? Mr. Niall McGoldrick: “Post-operative care has made massive leaps forward compared to 20 or 25 years ago, when patients routinely spent a week or more in hospital. Today, thanks to enhanced recovery protocols, modern technology, and early physiotherapy intervention, recovery is swift and predictable. Q: What role does the patient play in ensuring a successful outcome? Mr. Niall McGoldrick: “Recovery is a collaborative partnership. While the surgical team takes care of the technical procedure, the long-term success relies heavily on the rehabilitation journey between the patient and their physiotherapist. What you put into your recovery directly dictates what you get out of it. Patients who engage actively with their focused physiotherapy, follow guidance, and commit to daily mobilisation routinely recover very quickly and achieve outstanding long-term mobility.” Q: What is your key advice for anyone putting off seeking help for joint pain? Mr. Niall McGoldrick: “Don’t leave it until you are so debilitated that your quality of life has shrunk and rehabilitation becomes harder. The sooner you seek help, the faster and smoother your recovery journey will be. Reclaiming your mobility starts with a single step: book an appointment with your GP, be transparent about how your joint pain is affecting your daily life and discuss a referral for an orthopaedic evaluation. Reclaiming your stride changes everything.” For more information about orthopaedic care and joint replacement at Blackrock Health Visit: www.blackrockhealth.com
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Donegal Airport offers an inclusive FlyBreak to Donegal, giving you the perfect opportunity to discover the county’s rugged coastline, charming villages, rich culture, and warm hospitality. With return flights, two nights B&B, and car hire all bundled together, it’s the easiest way to experience the very best of Donegal at your own pace.
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76 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
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Travel
48 Hours in Donegal... If you haven't heard, Donegal Airport has one of the most scenic airport approaches in the world. As the aircraft makes its approach to Donegal Airport, the Atlantic stretches out beneath you, with Carrickfinn Beach and the rugged coastline coming into view. Flying from Dublin, you can be in Donegal in less than an hour. A FlyBreak makes an ideal way to experience it. With return flights from Dublin, car hire and two nights' bed and breakfast arranged, you can settle into your chosen hotel and spend 48 hours exploring at your own pace.
Day One: The Rosses and the Donegal Gaeltacht
Collect your hire car at the airport and head towards Carrickfinn Beach, one of Donegal's finest stretches of golden sand. From here, follow the coast towards Bunbeg and Gaoth Dobhair, where Irish remains a living language and traditional music is woven into everyday life. Make a stop at Bád Eddie at Machaire Chlochair, the famous fishing boat which has rested on the beach for more than 40 years. Nearby, Crolly Distillery, housed in the former Crolly Doll Factory, offers an insight into the area's history as well as the craft of whiskey-making in the Donegal Gaeltacht. For lunch, stop for coffee and something homemade at Solas na Mara in Annagry, or settle down for lunch at Fara Ógs at An Chúirt Hotel. Golfers should make time for Cruit Island Golf Club, a scenic nine-hole links course where the Atlantic, surrounding islands and Donegal mountains provide a spectacular backdrop. For those who would rather admire the scenery than play a round, Cruit Island is well worth exploring by car. Come evening, west Donegal's food scene provides plenty of choice. Danny Minnie's in Annagry is a long-established, award-winning restaurant specialising in high-quality local seafood and meats, while The Viking House in Kincasslagh takes pride in working with local artisan producers and putting fresh Donegal ingredients centre stage. After dinner, make your way to Leo's Tavern in Crolly. Famous for traditional music and its connections with Clannad, Moya Brennan and Enya, it is a fitting place to experience the musical heritage of the Gaeltacht.
Day Two: Donegal Town to the Wild Atlantic
After breakfast, take the scenic drive south towards Donegal Town. Start with a coffee at McBrew on The Diamond, then 78 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
visit Donegal Castle, the historic stronghold of the O'Donnell chieftains. Continue towards Killybegs, Ireland's largest fishing port. For lunch, the Killybegs Seafood Shack is hard to beat, with fresh seafood and chowder offering a genuine taste of the town's maritime heritage. From Killybegs, continue towards Slieve League, where some of Europe's highest sea cliffs rise dramatically from the Atlantic. There is no need to tackle the more strenuous walks; the viewing points provide extraordinary views across Donegal Bay and the surrounding coastline. The road then takes you towards Assaranca Waterfall, where the water cascades down the hillside shortly before reaching Ardara. Take time to explore this characterful heritage town and visit Triona Design, where the story of Donegal Tweed and the county's weaving tradition comes to life. Continue towards Narin Portnoo Beach, another beautiful stretch of Atlantic coastline. If golf is your passion, Narin & Portnoo Links offers another opportunity to play with the ocean as your backdrop. As evening approaches, make your way back towards your chosen hotel. For dinner, McCafferty's Bar in Leitir offers good food and a welcoming local atmosphere, before finishing the evening at The Bridge Inn in Dungloe for a drink, traditional music and some local craic.
Make it a FlyBreak
The beauty of a Donegal break is that you can experience an extraordinary amount without feeling that you have to rush. Fly from Dublin, collect your car, unpack once and spend two days following the coast, discovering local food, enjoying a round of golf, exploring Donegal's heritage and simply stopping whenever the scenery demands it. FlyBreak packages start from €250 per person, including return flights from Dublin, two nights' bed and breakfast and car hire. To see the available hotel options and plan your own 48-hour Donegal escape, visit donegalairport.ie.
Art
Degas: dancers in dressing room
Matisse: dancer and reflection
Rembrandt to Matisse a celebration of European works on paper at The National Gallery
New free exhibition explores the wealth of European artists in the Gallery’s collection. Funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Recently opened atthe National Gallery of Ireland new exhibition, Rembrandt to Matisse – A Celebration of European Works on Paper from the Gallery’s permanent collection. In celebration of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this special exhibition is a showcase over fifty of the Gallery’s finest works on paper, by a host of European artists. Drawings, prints, watercolours, photographs, and miniatures by Italian, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Belgian, Finnish, Polish, Czech, British, and Irish artists from the fifteenth century to the present day will be shown. The exhibition is curated by Niamh MacNally, Curator of the Prints & Drawings Study Room. The exhibition is funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026. From Italian drawings by Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506) and Ludovico Carracci (1555-1619) to modern prints by Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) and Max Beckmann (1884-1950), this exhibition explores the diverse subjects and styles that have shaped European art through the centuries. Well-known
highlights of the collection by Edgar Degas (1834–1917), Henri Matisse (1869–1954) and Pablo Picasso (1881– 1973) will be exhibited alongside more recent acquisitions by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), Armand Séguin (1869–1903) and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976). A small selection of rarely seen miniatures from the Sir Alfred Chester Beatty Gift of 1951 will also be displayed. Irish artists, who were drawn to mainland Europe for inspiration, will be represented, with works by Nathaniel Hone the Younger (1831–1917), Mary Swanzy (1882–1978), Roderic O’Conor (1860–1940) and William Leech (1881– 1968). In turn, European artists, from the Czech photographer Markéta Luskačová (b.1944) to the German printmaker Elke Thönnes (b.1960), who have been inspired by the Irish landscape, will also feature. Reflecting shifts in taste and technique over the centuries, the exhibition showcases the strength of the collection across the various schools. From Italian
Renaissance and French Rococo drawings to German Expressionist prints, this exhibition promises to have something for everyone. Niamh MacNally, Curator of the Prints & Drawings Study Room, commented: “In celebration of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this special exhibition includes 57 drawings, prints, photographs and miniatures from the National Gallery of Ireland’s Prints and Drawings collection, which comprises over 15,000 works of art. The diverse array of approaches, styles and subjects on display, by European artists from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century, highlights the breadth and richness of these holdings. Silverpoint, chalk, ink and graphite drawings feature alongside colourful watercolours and pastels. Visitors can engage with Old Master drawings, modern and contemporary prints and a selection of compelling photographs. Rembrandt to Matisse – A Celebration of European Works on Paper will be on view in the Print Gallery until 6 December. Admission is free. Rembrandt: cabin in the landscape
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 79
Wine World
Going soft on reds Mairead Robinson suggests trying some soft red wines as the Autumn season approaches We have certainly enjoyed some wonderful summer weather this year and this has led to much outdoor dining. Generally we have opted for lighter food, lots of salads and light dishes, and these have worked well with Rose Wine, summer’s favourite tipple. In fact, Rose seems to have been particularly popular this year, as sales appear to have been almost flying out the door like never before! I have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of Rose being enjoyed by so many people during the hot weather – and this includes men as well as women! Time was when Rose was just thought of as “a girls drink!” Interestingly enough, along with lots of good Rose wines being enjoyed this past summer, there are also an amount of sparkling rose wines, which really added the bubbles to our summer wine enjoyment. However, while we here in Ireland have mostly enjoyed the exceptionally warm summer months, it has not been a positive time for our friends in Spain and France particularly, and we can only imagine how the heat, let alone the fires have impacted the wine industry. Bordeaux is an area that is known worldwide for its great wines, and it is also an area 80 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
that has suffered very badly from the heat and fires where people have had to vacate their homes. The wildfires burning outside Bordeaux are underscoring the climate challenges facing France’s largest wine region, where producers are grappling with severe drought, rising temperatures and falling wine consumption. It is a fact that France’s scorching summer has worsened drought conditions, strained water supplies and left vegetation tinderdry, fuelling wildfires and threatening crops across the country. Time will tell what the long term effects will be on France’s wine industry. The concern for most wine producers in France is not only the excessive heat, but also the lack of rain. Growers are saying that the hot conditions don’t badly affect the taste of the wine, but without the rain the grapes are fewer and smaller – this is the main concern of many growers particularly in the greater Bordeaux area. Regarding the issue of ‘smoke taint’ affecting the flavours of the wine, in recent years this has resulted in wineries coming up with special processing and filtration practice that have helped. And so wine producers must be ever vigilant and climate change is a real and series concern for wine producers all over the world.
Now my love of dogs will
live forever
“What I love about dogs is that their love is unconditional. So I want my love to live forever, with a gift in my Will.
When we were making our Wills, it was an easy decision to leave a gift to Dogs Trust. Now it feels really good, to know that when I’m gone I can still help dogs.” Ruth, Dogs Trust Ireland Supporter
Gifts in Wills help Dogs Trust be there for abandoned and surrendered dogs, through this dog crisis, and long into the future.
Will you leave a gift in your Will today?
To find out more or to have a conversation about leaving a gift in your Will, call Katie on 01 879 1845 or visit DogsTrust.ie/Legacy
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Wine World
And so for this feature we are looking at light red wines particularly for those weeks from summer to autumn, I have turned my attention principally to France. Beaujolais-Villages is a wine loved by many who enjoy a red, yet want it light, perhaps to accompany some lighter food, and indeed it is a great choice. Red Beaujolais wines are generally made from the Gamay grape which feature thin skins and low tannins. Beaujolais-Villages is a lively food-friendly wine which is a stepup from basic Beaujolais, and for red wine lovers, it is a perfect choice for flavourful autumn dishes. And for the month of September Beaujolais-Villages Perle de Granit 2025 is on special at O’Briens shops and is reduced from €19.99 to €17.99 Tasting notes describe this wine as juicy and exuberant with vibrant strawberry and black cherry fruit, beautifully balanced and wrapped in silky-sooth mouth feel. And now to a smooth supple red wine that is very food friendly and has been on O’Briens Wine’s special offer list this autumn is Chateau de Girard from the Languedoc which is a steel reduced from €19.99 to just €12.99 The Girard family produce some great wines that are both full-bodied and lush with silky tannins and are easy drinking wine that pairs well with roasted meats and pasta so are perfect for autumn dishes. And so to my favourite light red wine for food pairing, Pinot Noir. Again at O’Briens they have a beautiful Wildflower Pinot Noir from Romania and it is on special offer for the month of September, reduced from €14.99 to just €9.99 he tasting note for this gorgeous wine is “Wildflower is a forthrightly modern, fruit driven Pinot Noir with raspberry and strawberry notes, silky smooth with soft tannin and a refreshing finish.”
And so at this time of year it is always interesting to take a fresh look at your local off-licence and perhaps reach for something different. Discovering new and different wines to accompany your meals is certainly one of life’s pleasures! Cheers!
Senior Times Family History SEPT 2026 .qxp_Layout 1 24/08/2026 17:19 Page 1
FAMILY HISTORY RESOURCES
P
rimary sources are indispensable for the family history researcher. IMC publications include extensive indexes of family and place names as well as calendars of documents in private archives. Out-of-print publications are available as PDFs via the Digital Resources on our website.
The Irish religious censuses of the 1760s Catholics and Protestants in eighteenth-century Ireland edited by Brian Gurrin, Kerby A. Miller and Liam Kennedy A4 format with colour maps 978-1-906865-29-0 | €80 | 2022
A census of Ireland circa 1659 with essential materials from the Poll Money Ordinances, 1660–1661 edited by Seamus Pender with a new introduction by William J. Smyth 978-1-874280-15-6 | €75 | 1939 & 2002
The Civil Survey 1654–1656
The Census of Elphin 1749
edited by Robert C. Simington 10 volumes by county Buy in-print volumes online | €35 Out-of-print volumes are available as PDFs via the Digital Resources on our website.
edited by Marie-Louise Legg 978-1-874280-73-6 | €75 | 2004
www.irishmanuscripts.ie
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Golf
Dermot Gilleece on how two golfers challenged health issues
Beating the ultimate handicap Blaine, Minnesota.
Contrasting health issues in professional tournament golf gained a fascinating dimension during the relatively recent 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota. They concerned Irish challenger, Seamus Power, who was battling to improve his FedEx Cup standings, and Sky’s on-course commentator, John E Morgan. Power performed impressively for a top-10 finish, especially in view of lower backmuscle injuries which originally caused him to stand down from the Irish Open in 2023. The problem recurred in early July of this year when he was forced to withdraw after the opening round of the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour. The Waterford player’s frustration was rendered all the more acute when MRIs and other scans revealed no structural damage. Yet, on occasions, back stiffness has hindered his ability to accelerate successfully from the top of his backswing, so inhibiting longer shots. As it happens his short game is not affected. At 39, Power should be at the peak of his game, especially with two PGA Tour wins behind him. Yet he has still managed to amass more than $16 million in prize money in the US. Which is considerably more than Morgan earned, even though he was good enough to finish tied for the Deere Classic in 2004, when he went on to lose the play-off. He, too, had health issues, but of a far more serious nature than those affecting Power. In the case of the Bristol-born player, they became apparent in truly dramatic circumstances.
Seamus Power
On the tarmac at General Mitchell Airport, Milwaukee, the familiar whine of jet engines rose in pitch as the flight for Reno prepared for take-off. Among the passengers, Morgan teased the caddie in the seat in front of him, while contemplating another instalment in a thrilling adventure. Next thing he knew he was in a hospital bed, mystified by the pain shooting through his upper body. No, the plane didn't crash. But Morgan's golfing world was about to disintegrate, because of the sudden return of a cruel illness he believed was consigned to the past. He was only 26. A month earlier, in July 2004, he had the world at his feet. From a position of five strokes off the lead with only nine holes to play, he had reeled off birdies in a closing 65 to earn a play-off at Deere Run. And though beaten by Australian Mark Hensby on the second hole of sudden death, a runner-up cheque for $410,400 was very handsome compensation. The following March, 18-year-old Seamus Power was on a Golfing Union of Ireland training trip to La Cala on Spain’s Costa del Sol. His ambition was to follow Padraig Harrington’s lead by heading to UCC that autumn to study accountancy. But fate had a different plan. Meanwhile, the memory of 2004 brought a catch to Morgan’s voice and mist to his eyes. We had met in Portugal where, earlier in the day, Morgan had played as a guest in the John Aldridge Golf Classic. This was social golf, a far cry from the fiercely competitive tempo of the PGA Tour,
84 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
but well honed skills were still very much in evidence in a remarkably comfortable 67. Like the breathtaking shoulder speed which despatched the ball formidable distances. And the efficiency with which he wielded the belly putter, recommended to him by Vijay Singh in New Orleans in 2004. Recalling Milwaukee, he said: "I can remember being strapped into my seat and the plane leaving the gate. Then blank, until I woke up in hospital with tubes hanging out of me. I discovered later that the caddie in front of me thought I was hitting him. And he said 'C'mon; that's enough', not knowing I was having a seizure. Then somebody told the pilot and the plane turned back to the gate." He went on: "The safety belt was keeping me rigid while my body wanted to move. Then, apparently, I broke the strap and finished up in the splits position on the floor between the rows of seats, hitting myself backwards and forwards and injuring my ribs, sternum and back. After staying overnight in hospital I flew to Reno the following day and met my Mum and Dad. I was an emotional wreck. They tried to be very strong for me but my Mum broke down." My immediate impression of Morgan was of a big man _ 6ft 2ins and 14st 7lbs. Born in Bristol, the son of a docker, on December 19, 1977, he had a promising amateur career in which wild behaviour often deprived him of representative honours. Indeed it was the disappointment of yet another rejection by selectors which prompted him to turn professional, in April 2002.
Golf
John E Morgan discovered he had a gift for broadcasting as a member of Sky’s golf team
After only three months in paid ranks, he had his first win. This was in the Challenge Tour Championship at the Bowood GC, close to his West of England home, where he beat the German-based Englishman, David Geall, on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off. "When I got the last invitation spot on the Wednesday, I jumped up and down for joy," he said. "And when I holed a 40-footer on the last to get into a play-off in front of my home crowd, I jumped even higher. They took a picture of me and I couldn't believe how far I was off the ground. The winning cheque was £26,804 _ and that was another story." He explained: "A couple of weeks passed and though the Tour kept insisting they had sent out the cheque, I hadn't received it. Then I get this phone call and the voice says 'This is John Morgan'. And I say 'But this is John Morgan'. And we laugh. Turns out it's the John Morgan who played on the Seniors Tour and who, sadly, went from us last June (when he died of a brain tumour). He says 'I seem to be about £26,000 better off '. And I say 'I seem to be missing £26,000'. And he tells me he'll send it on, which he does. My middle name is Edward and from that point onwards, I've called myself John E Morgan to avoid another mix-up." So, a great adventure had begun. By finishing eighth (Ireland’s Peter Lawrie was fourth) in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit in 2002, he earned a European Tour card for 2003. But he also came through all three stages of the US Qualifying School to become only the second player to earn cards on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year, emulating the achievement of Ireland's Richie Coughlan in 1998.
"Next thing I know, Nike come along with a deal and I'm thinking 'Wow! Hello Tiger!'," he said. "Which reminds me, I've got one of Tiger's drivers, though I can't hit it." In a soft, West of England burr, he eases into another story. "I was drawn with Davis Love and Zach Johnson in the Deutsche Bank Tournament in Boston and I needed a driver," he said. "It was a windy day and the one I was using was hitting the ball straight up in the air. When I went to the Nike caravan, they said that the only one they had was Tiger's back-up. Naturally I was intrigued to hit it. "It was seven degrees and the shaft was like an iron rod and just as heavy. Crikey. I nearly broke my back trying to hit it and the ball just went along the ground. With great effort, I could get it airborne, but nothing like the way Tiger Woods could." He paused and smiled. "I still have it. I had to nick it. When Nike asked me what I thought of it, I said it was a great driver. Suited me perfectly. I've just bought a nice little house in a fishing village called Porter's Head on the outskirts of Bristol, looking out over the channel towards Wales. And it's there. A proud possession." Morgan wasn't long on Tour when he gained a reputation for being a bit of a character. For instance, he dyed his hair blue after losing a bet to the founder of MTV in Miami. Even Woods was intrigued. Which would explain his reaction when seeing Morgan alongside him at traffic-lights on the way to the 2003 Buick Classic. "We're both in courtesy cars but I reckon Tiger's is hotter than mine," he said. "My Mum and Dad have come to see me and they're in the car. We're at the lights on a sort of dual-carriageway set-up. With Steve
Williams (caddie) beside him, Tiger looks at me with Schumacher eyes, like 'I'm having you.' And I'm thinking, OK let's go for it. And when the lights go green, the two of us take off. And my Mum and Dad are having heart-attacks. So I hit the brakes and let him win. "When we pull into the car-park at the course, Tiger is laughing and saying 'I'm one up. I'm one up.' Later, I got a putting lesson off him on the putting green. That was good, very good.” By the end of 2004, Morgan has earned $909,949 on the US Tour, but his career is in ruins. "After Mikwaukee, I did the stupidest thing imaginable," he said. "My play had been fantastic up to that point and I was getting stronger and stronger mentally. Confidence was so high. But from being able to do anything with a golf ball, it now seemed I would be able to do nothing with a golf ball. It was very hard to take. “It was the first seizure I'd had since I was 20. Like me, I suppose my parents believed it would never recur. But it was back with a vengeance. And I prevailed upon the physios at the golf course to give me the strongest painkillers they had. And I played. How stupid can you get? Shoot 76 and withdraw. Next week I play only a few holes and withdraw. A week later I shoot 77 and withdraw. I could only half swing but I kept playing because I felt I needed another $20,000 to keep my card. Whereas I could have taken the rest of the year off and got a medical exemption from the Tour.” There wouldn’t be a next time. Instead, he discovered he had a gift for broadcasting as a member of Sky’s golf team. Watching Power in Minnesota. By way of proving that golf has a way of accommodating its talented devotees, especially through injury and illness.
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 85
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Glass Act
‘Backs’ and beyond Save our waterways! Savvy solutions
Harry Clarke’s magical creations
Cambridge’s marvellous attraction
A plea for future generations
Top tips for car buyers
PLUS: News, Bridge, History, Competitions, Wine, Beauty, Health, Travel, Meeting Place And Much More..
Send your entry to Senior Times Crossword Competition, Senior Times, PO Box 13215, Rathmines, Dublin 6. The first four entries drawn are the winners. Deadline for receipt of entries is 20th October 2026
Crossword Crossword Number 143
ACROSS 1 There’s an English one in Cork (6) 5 Alloy of copper and zinc (5) 8 System for organising units of time (8) 12 Animals are in the ___ in the Phoenix Park (3) 17 The laciest, stretchiest band of rubber (7) 18 In the 1 Across, it follows August (9) 19 Quack who uses tricks & jokes to attract (9) 20 Adieu - Slán - Goodbye (8) 21 Overtly (6) 22 Hard-shelled seed such as hazel (3) 23 Kilkenny is known as ‘The ___ City’ (6) 26 Entrance to St Stephen’s Green, the ‘Fusilier’s ___‘ (4) 27 Is this disturbance a setup? (5) 29 Keep from happening or forestall (7) 30 Underground tunnel used by rabbits (6) 35 Trees that don’t shed leaves in winter (9) 36 Burn caused by hot steam (5) 38 Synthetic fibre (5) 39 Place for burial of a corpse (4) 42 Senior commander in Easter Rising, Thomas ___ (4) 44 Spring that discharges hot water & steam (6) 45 Female stripey big cat (7) 47 Magenta-flowered shrub of western hedgerows (7) 50 Assisting or a portion of food (7) 51 Tall tower as in Dublin’s O’Connell St (5) 52 Wealthy business man who’s not coy! (6) 54 Wheedle, coax or urge by gently flattering (6) 56 Turned to ice (6) 57 Affectionate stroke (6) 59 Series of vertebrae (5) 60 J.R.R. ___, author of ‘The Hobbit’ (7) 63 Could Lee draw the side away from the wind (7) 64 Is this male ruler of an empire a mere pro? (7) 66 Irrational, cockeyed, ridiculous (6) 68 Capital of Ukraine (4) 70 Fastening formed by tying cord or twine (4) 72 Separate or aside (5) 74 Group of lions (5) 75 One thousandth of a gram (9) 77 Season when leaves fall from trees (6) 79 Everlasting (7) 81 Late BBC broadcaster, Sir Terry ___ (5) 83 Skin disease you’d take a cane to! (4) 87 Sister river to Nore & Suir (6) 88 Word for tiny in Scotland (3) 89 Life-threatening, grievous, stark (6) 90 Jewellery worn around the wrist (8) 94 Repeat or state again (9) 95 Large, white or cream breed of cattle (9) 96 Everyman in Cork or Abbey in Dublin (7) 97 A short doctor who treats animals (3) 98 Clergy’s gown such as alb or surplice (8) 99 Acute mental or physical pain (5) 100 Go back to a place or condition (6)
DOWN 2 Overwhelming slide of snow (9) 3 Young cat (6) 4 Informal word for heart (6) 5 Sybil’s husband in ‘Fawlty Towers’ (5) 6 Judge to be right, sanction (7) 7 Sound coming from two speakers (6) 8 Person who repairs shoes (7) 9 Lie in wait, skulk (4) 10 Active during the night (9) 11 Not quite closed (4) 13 Half a year away from April (7) 14 Stitch with needle and thread (3) 15 Affording pleasure, rather nice (8) 16 Can a nun see the unobserved? (6) 24 Residential suburb within Dublin 6 (8) 25 Street such as Manhattan’s ‘Fifth ___‘ (6) 28 Bloomers, knickers or drawers (5) 31 Inflated feeling of self-importance (3) 32 Retaliation, reprisal (7) 33 Major government complex in Dublin’s Dame St. (6) 34 Bring together or unite (5) 36 Small fish, normally canned (7) 37 Finger, toe or figure (5) 40 Nicknamed ‘Il Duce’, Benito ___ (9) 41 Cole Porter’s ‘Kiss Me, ___‘ (4) 43 Annual holiday on 31st of 13 Down (9) 46 There’s no ___ without fire (5) 48 Baby bed (6) 49 Movies are screened here (6) 51 Mark with a post or stout stick (5) 53 Average weather (7) 55 Severely (7) 56 77 Across in the USA (4) 58 Sticky liquid such as maple or golden (5) 59 Much in the news, the ___ of Hormuz (6) 61 It begins with All Saints Day (8) 62 ___ Allan Poe or ___ Degas? (5) 65 Illegal high-proof distilled spirit (6) 67 Ballroom dance from Brazil (5) 69 Vigour or fastening for clothes (3) 71 Welsh singer of ‘Delilah’ fame (3,5) 73 Expiation or book by Ian McEwan (9) 76 UK town or character in ‘Jane Eyre’ (9) 77 Reddish-brown hair colour (6) 78 Engine that causes a bladed rotor to rotate (7) 80 Polished, sophisticated, graceful (7) 82 Aromatic herb, AKA Marjoram (7) 84 Hat such as Homburg or Stetson (6) 85 Legging that covers instep & ankles (6) 86 Choose or pick out (6) 90 Autocratic - dominating (5) 91 Stick that a person leans on (4) 92 Area measuring 4,840 sq. yards (4) 93 Nettle or rile (3)
Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 87
Cosmetics and Beauty
Changing skincare to changing seasons
Mairead Robinson recommends vigilant attention to skin care as autumn approaches There is no doubt that we have had an exceptionally hot summer this year, and even with using plenty of SPF cream, many people have found that their skin is showing the signs of skin exposure. With the heat and dry atmosphere, our skin has had a lot of put up with this year. Swimming is wonderful, but even the salt water at the beach is drying our skin. Moisturizing has never been more important, and if you do nothing else this month, it is a good idea to double up on your day time and night time moisturiser. Many of us have used plenty of a broadspectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 – but in reality it should be higher for our Irish skin. I would always recommend an SPF of 50. We should also be wearing protective clothing and a wide-brimmed hat and most importantly we should seek shade during peak UV hours between 11 AM and 3 PM. And most importantly we should avoid artificial sunbeds entirely. If you have been doing this throughout the summer, you should continue in September and certainly if
you are heading off for a sun holiday this autumn. So whatever skin care you have been using this summer, it is vital that you continue to give your skin full attention this autumn. Indeed it is quite possible that your skin is more dry and parched than ever after those weeks of high temperatures arid air. So this is the time to repair the skin barrier throughout the coming months. Sun exposure SPF build-up, sweat, chlorine and increased oil production can all take their toll, leaving skin dehydrated, sensitised and more reactive than usual. So you need to focus on repairing your skin barrier in the last of the summer sunshine. As the last of the summer sunshine gives way to cooler evenings skin is left carrying the cumulative effects of the season. However two simple habits make the biggest difference at this time of year. Firstly wearing SPF daily, without exception, and properly cleansing
88 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
the skin each evening to remove the day’s buildup before it has a chance to compromise the barrier further. Skipping the evening cleanse doesn’t just mean leftover makeup – it means sunscreen, pollution and excess oil are left on the skin overnight, disrupting the natural repair process. Now when it comes to hydrating you skin, I am a great fan of THE ORDINARY range of serums which you can purchase from Boots and are exceptionally well priced considering their quality. Starting with The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid this is a hydrating serum designed to attract moisture to the skin. It is vital to thoroughly cleanse the skin first using a gentle cream cleanser on dry skin. Choose a cleanser that will engly remove all impurities from the skin, like Toleraine from LA ROCHE-POSAY. This is followed by a spray of then gently use a dampened pad to remove the residue. Even if you have worn no make up all day, you will be surprised at what is removed from
Cosmetics and Beauty
the cleansing. Following cleansing, use a light spray of thermal spring water, especially important if you have sensitive skin. Next rub some hyaluronic acid between your fingers and apply to your face. Hyaluronic acid attracts ad retails water to your skin. Follow this with vitamin C – this is anti-aging and improves skin tone, reducing redness, and finally apply your night time moisturiser. Again you can find excellent vitamin C and moisturisers in THE ORDINARY range. Certainly of all the products that you choose for your skin care, Hyaluronic Acid would be the key to getting moisturiser into your skin. But it is vital to apply correctly. IMAGE Skincare is highlighting two doctor-developed products designed to cleanse, repair and reinforce the skin barrier and to undo the damage of a summer spent in SPF, sea salt and sun. The first product is a Gentle Cleansing balm designed to effortlessly melt away makeup, sunscreen, excess oil and daily impurities. On contact with water the balm transforms into a silky lightweight milk that rinses away without leaving
residue but rather leaving the skin feeling soft clean and most importantly, hydrated.
and in and out of chlorinated water. It is also ideal for those experiencing rosacea, eczema or extreme dryness.
Their second new product is a Barrier Repair Recovery Balm which is created for compromised, stressed and postprocedure skin. It is key for skin that has spent the summer under sun exposure
And so the best way to compliment your summer tan at this time of year, is to have a radiant healthy glowing smile. So investing in the right products that restore your glow is the key to success!
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Email your Answer to brian@slp.ie (putting Procydin in the subject bar) Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie 89
Meeting Place QUESTION AND QUERIES If you have a question or a query regarding Meeting Place, e.g. how to post and reply to an advertisement, email your query to john@slp.ie or telephone 087 2312640 DUBLIN CITY SINGLE FEMALE WLTM nice gent for friendship aged 50-60. My interests include Russian language, horses, reading, piano accordion and family life. Good sense of humour essential! REPLY TO BOX NUMBER T1 NORTH DUBLIN MALE 64, fit and emotionally available, tall, very positive. WLTM a feminine lady with a sense of humour and zest for life. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER T2 NAVAN WIDOW 71 enjoys walking, golf and bridge. I live close to my son and grandchildren who I adore spoiling. My other interests include cinema, theatre, eating out, travel at home and abroad. I am looking to meet a partner (in crime!) with similar interests. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER T3 NORTH CORK MALE. BI-SEXUAL, 68, single. Honest, sincere, varied interests. NS SD. WLTM local like, minded kind and considerate person, male or female, for friendship and discreet relationship. Age unimportant. I would like to hear from you, Mallow and surrounding area only. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER T4 NORTHSIDE DUBLIN MAN 74 WLTM free thinking souls, females or males for coffee, chats trips etc. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER T5 EAST MUNSTER GENT mid 70s widower retired NS occasional SD WLTM nice lady of similar age for friendship Enjoy travel and exploring new places, country music, walking, concerts, eating out, weekends away. I enjoy a good conversation and I am a very good listener. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER. B1 LIMERICK-BASED RETIRED WIDOW WLTM a caring, interesting, gent mid 70's +, who has a GSOH and enjoys some similar interests ; travel, good conversation, socialising, reading, theatre, gardening and new adventures. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B2 DUBLIN MAN MID-60s very young at heart WLTM a cheerful lady for socialising, breaks and good times. ‘Life is sweeter when shared with summer friends.’. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B3
NB: When replying to advertisements give only your phone number and/or your email address. Do not give your postal address!
GREAT EXPECTATIONS. North Co Dublin widow 70s NS, SD. Outgoing personality. WLTM kind, considerate gent with old school values for friendship and companionship. Interests include afternoon drives, visiting places of interest , theatre, listening to music . concerts, etc. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B4 SOUTH DUBLIN RETIRED PROFESSSIONAL WIDOWER. Mid 70s, GSOH, enjoy the good things in life like dancing, music, theatre, most sports, good conversation, long walks, meeting friends, travelling abroad. WLTM lady with similar interests to share and enjoy life together. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B5 CARLOW-KILDARE BORDER BASED LADY mid-60s. NS, SD, GSOH enjoys life, travel, theatre, cinema. Considered attractive and sincere. Love socialising, walking, music. Currently studying Spanish. WLTM gent mid 60s to mid 70s from anywhere in the country REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B6 NORTH CO DUBLIN LADY 70s slim, medium height WLTM gent 70s. Interests include travel, theatre, art, walking, dancing , classical music REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B7 RETIRED WATERFORD MAN 70s seeks mature male (60-80) for friendship, ideally Waterford-area based..Interests include walking, gardening, , current affairs etc. I am a non-smoker and a social drinker. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER B8 NORTH MIDLANDS GENT, 70, NS, SD. Very active, living alone with no ties. I enjoy the finer things in life such as good conversation and fine food. Like to travel in Ireland and abroad. Like gardening and most types of music and sport . WLTM a kind and caring lady for companionship and perhaps relationship. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER O1. CORK LADY EARLY 60s, divorced WLTM nice gent of similar age. Enoy travel and exploring new places. I enjoy lively conversation, all types of music, cinema, meeting for coffee or a social drink. I am upbeat, artistic, and looking for a new connection. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER O2 NORTHEAST LADY DIVORCEE 65 in good health and with a zest for life. WLTM a gent who has a GSOH. I enjoy golf, walking, theatre, films, and a good book. I also enjoy eating out and nice red wines. I enjoy travel but single supplement is a pain!. So if you are the one to lift that burden, get in touch! It might be one of the perks of getting to know me, ha, ha! REPLY TO BOX NUMBER 03
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SOUTH DUBLIN PROFESSIONAL GENT 73. Divorced, own home, car, part of a music groups. I sing and play banjo.. Interests Include earing out, theatre, cinema, bridge, reading, social dancing, travel at home and abroad, gardening. GSOH. WLTM outgoing kind lady with whom I could share some of my interests which may lead to a long-term relationship REPLY TO BOX NUMBER O4 VIVACIOUS SOUTH DUBLIN LADY (country background).60, Kind, caring GSOH. NS, SD, practising Catholic. I like all types of music from Leonard Cohen to Pavarotti, singing, trad sessions, live theatre and musicals and travel. WLTM a kind, gentle, well-behaved gentleman with a glass half full outlook, aged 50-70 with a view to a long-term relationship. Open to any geographical location. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER O5 SINGLE DUBLIN GENT MID 60s fit and healthy, GSOH. WLTM a lady like me who believes that laughter is the best medicine. Have a well-developed funny bone, cheerful with a positive attitude. I love sun holidays, 70s music and live concerts. If you’re that lady that love spontaneity and cherishes new experiences I would love to hear from you for a chat. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V1 THE WEDNESDAY CLUB is a social club based in Stillorgan, Co Dublin for widows/widowers, single people age 55 and over. Activities include dining out, theatre, cinemas, golf, snooker, bridge, poker and occasional trips away. We are currently open for applications from those who would be active contributors to the club. For more information email wednesdayclub01@gmail.com or reply to: REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V2 SOUTH EASTERN LADY, single, no ties, no family. Retired professional, considered attractive. Have varied interests including music, golf, writing, theatre, concerts, dining out and theatre. WLTM a nice genuine gent mid-60S REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V3
REMEMBER YOUR CONTACT DETAILS! When sending in a reply to an advertisement ensure that you include your phone number or email address. But do not give your postal address
MID 70s DUBLIN GENT, NS, SD WLTM single lady for companionship that brings joy, comfort and connection to share coffee, chats, walks, nature, theatre and concert’s. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V4 SOUTH DUBLIN WIDOWER, 70s WLTM a nice lady for friendship and for sharing good times together. Interested in all types music, eating out, walks in the country Looking for friendship and maybe more. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V5 CORK GENT LATE 60s looking to meet lady with similar interests which include all type of music, cooking, eating out, trips away. I live alone since my divorce some years and miss the company of a nice woman REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V6 CORK CITY LADY from a rural background, outgoing, sociable. Enjoy all types of music, theatre, nature, and walking, etc. Interested in meeting a gent to share good times. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V7 DUBLIN GENT 70s retired professional, NS, SD GSOH, height 180cm, medium build. I play music and sing. Many other interests include walking , social dancing, travel home and abroad, eating out, current affairs, bridge, reading, gardening, . WLTM kind, educated, lady with some of these interests. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V8 SOUTH DUBLIN LADY early 60s, NS, occasional SD, wide range of interests WLTM a good , kind- hearted and good natured gentleman of similar age with whom to share good conversation, pleasant company and quality time together. I’m seeking friendship, companionship, and possible long term relationship. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V9 I AM A SINGLE NORTH WEST WOMAN looking for a gentleman for companionship around the west of Ireland. Friendship to begin with and see where it goes. I would like to meet someone who is interested in similar hobbies as myself, walking, nights out, all kinds of music, cinema, weekends away, cooking and eating out. I am a quiet woman who is retired and wants someone to share life with. If interested, please get in touch. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V10 CONNAUGHT-BASED FORMER SALES REP looking to make contact with former sales reps in the Connaught Region who called to Agribusiness or Hardware Customers. Life on the road was all about deadlines and targets and there was never enough time. But now life is a little less hectic, so if you fancy meeting for a coffee and a chat get in touch. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V11
NORTHSIDE DUBLIN WOMAN, LATE SIXTIES, tall by Irish standards WLTM gent of similar age. Now I am in the process of organising our 1st ever school reunion. As Victor Meldrew would say " I Don't Believe it". 50 years left school. Retired early to look after our mother, worked in a family business for 28 years. When my Mam passed, I joined MovieExtras.ie, I wanted to do something totally different. Still doing the films and the odd TV add. I joined a book club, which thankfully has introduced me to books I might never have read. All my life I have been involved in sport, playing coaching etc I play golf now. Major rugby fan, love to dance when the knees allow, not a big drinker, but like a G&T. The ball is in your court now, cheers. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER V12. RETIRED TIPPERARY PROFESSIONAL LADY This was the heading of an advertisement | placed over a year ago. I had a nice reply from a gentleman in North County Dublin. Unfortunately I lost his details. If he sees this and is still interested perhaps, he could reply to the box number below. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER GI DUBLIN GENT MID 70s fit and healthy, average height and build. Interests include reading, walking, travel in Ireland and abroad, dining out, theatre, films. WLTM lady of similar age and with similar interest’s. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER G2 SINGLE PROFESSIONAL LADY MID60s, RC, WLTM a tall single gent 5ft 116ft, 66-76in. Interests include social outing and dancing and concerts, theatre, world travel, cinema, GAA and all sports. Other interests include charity work, swimming, cooking, baking, current affairs, animals, reading, ballroom dancing. A big plus if you can dance. Must be of a generous nature. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER C1 CONNAUGHT-BASED RETIRED PROFESSIONAL LADY 70 active, healthy, widowed, with a very positive attitude to life and enjoys good company. Interests include, golf, bridge, dancing, reading, current affairs and travel. Home and abroad. WLTM a like-minded gentleman of similar age for friendship, companionship and come shared interests. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER D1 SOUTH DUBLIN WIDOWER 70 WLTM a nice lady to spend good times together. I’ve had a good life with a lot of travelling. Italy has been my go-to destination over the years. I like all sports and enjoy the outdoors with walks etc. I play music as my main hobby. Get in touch if you feel I can enrich your life. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER D2
GENT WICKLOW AREA, 60S GSOH, average height, and friendly. Interests include music, theatre, outdoor pursuits such as walking. Easy going, good perople person. WLTM A LADY OF SIMILAR AGE AND INTERESTS, Prepared to travel to meet. REPLY TO BOX NUMBER D3
TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT If you are interested in meeting someone of the opposite or same sex, send your advertisement, with four stamps (which is the average reply rate) enclosed in the envelope, to: Meeting Place, Senior Times, PO Box 13215, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Or email: john@slp.ie NOTE: When submitting advertisements ensure you include your surname as well as your christian name. IMPORTANT Ensure you give your approximate age and the area you live, noting your interests. The advertisement should not be more than 60 words. If you are replying to the advertisement via Senior Time’s email, ensure you include your postal address for those not on the Net. (Only Senior Times will have these details). Deadline for receipt of advertisements for the next issue is 20th Septembert 2026. TO REPLY TO AN ADVERTISEMENT Each reply to an advertisement should be enclosed in a plain, stamped envelope, with the box number marked in pencil so that it can be erased before being forwarded to the advertiser. Send these envelopes in a covering envelope to the address , above, so that we can forward them to the advertiser. There is no limit to the amount of advertisements to which you can reply, provided each one is contained in a plain, stamped envelope. Ensure you give your approximate age and the area you live. For those submitting their advertisements by email ensure that you also supply Senior Times with your postal address so that we can post replies from those who have replied by post. (Only Senior Times will have your postal address).
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Winter Sun & Christmas Cheer on the Costa del Sol Festive escapes at Sunset Beach Club, Benalmádena inter on the Costa del Sol means blue skies, fresh sea air and the chance to unwind, explore, shop and enjoy the best of Spain without the crowds. Discover local markets and shops, visit the fascinating city of Málaga, or simply stroll along the seafront to Benalmadena Marina. Early evening head back to the hotel’s Panorama Bar to take in the spectacular views at Happy Hour.
Keep Active & Make New Friends … Ease into the day with gentle yoga or stretching by the sea, part of our winter activities programme designed especially for seniors. Try petanca, darts or even a fun cookery session, which all provide the perfect opportunity to meet fellow guests.
Flexible Food & Drink Options At Sunset Beach Club, we combine the convenience of self catering accommodation with hotel services. All rooms have a fully equipped kitchenette, and there is a large supermarket & bakery on-site, which is well-stocked with international products for when you prefer to eat in.
94 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
Our Buffet Breakfast and Dinner can be booked along with your accommodation at a special rate (make sure to book Bed & Breakfast or Half Board rate), or you can simply pay on the door each time you wish to join these meals. A la carte meals are also available, either in a section of the Oasis Restaurant or in the outdoor La Terraza restaurant (lunch). There are also plenty of cafés and beach restaurants just a short stroll away.
Something for Everyone Whether you want to relax by the pool with a good book or join in organised activities, there’s something for everyone. You can sip a drink at Happy Hour, enjoy the sunrise with breakfast on your terrace, or watch your favourite sports at the Panorama Bar. Our flexible facilities make us the perfect choice for your Winter Break.
See you soon!
Why Choose Sunset Beach Club? • Beachfront location with stunning views and
direct access to the promenade • Apartment-style accommodation with kitchenettes and private terraces • Flexible dining options, including buffet, à la carte, and self-catering • Winter activities programme and live entertainment • On-site supermarket and bakery • Great value long-stay offers (21+ nights) • Only 20 minutes from Málaga Airport • Warm Irish hospitality from FBD Hotels & Resorts
Festive Highlights Traditional Christmas Lunch Celebrate Christmas Day in style with our muchloved traditional Gala Christmas Lunch. Expect festive decorations and a feast featuring classic favourites, seasonal treats and all the trimmings. New Year’s Eve Celebrations Ring in the New Year with a memorable evening of fine dining, live entertainment and a party atmosphere. Enjoy a special gala dinner, music, dancing and a sparkling countdown to midnight. This is the perfect way to welcome the year ahead on the Costa del Sol.
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18 Dec 2026 - 1 Jan 2027
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BOOK DIRECT for · Best Rate Guarantee · Priority Room Assignment · Free Wi-fi Premium · Late Checkout*
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Early December Shopping Breaks Take advantage of great-value early December rates, ideal for a winter sunshine escape combined with Christmas shopping. Explore Málaga’s boutiques, local markets and festive lights, all without the crowds, and return to the comfort of Sunset Beach Club each evening. See sunsetbeachclub.com for further details and menus.
on February 26 2026 + working instructions.
Crafts Connie Mc Evoy.
Connie McEvoy shows you how to make a knitted star beret
Star turn Expertise: intermediate Requirements- Robin Super Chunky yarn -colour 1305 X 2 100g balls, 1 set of 5 stocking needles-20cm (3,0) Prym, I also used a circular knitter same gauge when it became difficult to manage the increasing number of stitches (long double pointed needles could be used if available at this stage) but the short variety would be essential to begin with. A row marker would be useful, a large bodkin for tidying up +ribbon or yarn for a bow or tassel if desired. Abbreviations: M, make; K, knit; Tog, together; Rep, repeat, P, Purl. Make 1 by bringing the yarn forward as if to purl before knitting the next stitch. Begin by casting on 8 stitches; 3 on the 1st needle, 3 on the 2nd needle and 2 on the 3rd needle. All even numbered rounds are plain knit.
numbered round until: 17th round- M 1, K 9 rep. all round. Now start working the star to points as follows: 19th round- *, M 1, K 1, M1, K 2 tog; K 7, rep, from* all round. (The circular needle was introduced at this stage) 21st round-*, M 1, K 3, M 1, K 2 tog; K 6, rep from * all round. 23rd round- *, M 1, K 5, M 1, K 2 tog; K 5, rep. from *, all round. 25th round- *, M 1, K 7, M 1, K 2 tog; K 4, rep. from * all round. 27th round- *, M 1, K 9, M 1, K 2 tog; K 3, rep. from * all round. 29th round- *, M 1, K 11, M1, K 2 tog; K 2, rep. from * all round. 31st round- *, M 1, K 13, M 1, K 2 tog; K 1, rep. from * all round. 33rd round- *, K 15, K 2 tog; rep. from * all round. 35th round- *, K 14, K 2 tog; rep from * all round. 37th round- *, K 13, K 2 tog; rep. from * all round. 39th round- *, K 12, K 2 tog; rep. from * all round. 41st round- *, K 11, K 2 tog; rep. from * all round. 43rd round- *, K 10, K 2 tog; rep. from * all round.
1st round-M 1, K1 rep. all round. 3rd round-M 1, K 2, rep. all round. 5th round- M 1, K3, rep. all round. 7th round- M1, K 4, rep. all round.
45th round- K 1, P 1, all round to last 2 stitches K 2 tog;. Knit 5 or 6 more rounds in K 1, P 1, then cast off loosely and cut yarn allowing about 3 inches for finishing off.
Continue in this way, increasing by 1 the number of K stitches in each odd-
Use the bodkin to work the end piece of yarn neatly into the back of 3 or 4
96 Senior Times | September - October 2026 | www.seniortimes.ie
stitches, use the bodkin to work the loose end of the casting on yarn when tidying up at centre of the beret also, again finishing off in the back of a few stitches in order to secure neatly. The Swiss darning method was employed while tidying the centre of this project resulting in a neat finish so the addition of a bow/tassel is optional. During the Summer months of 2008 I received a request from the Editor of the craft magazine Let’s Knit to submit a sample of my work/designs for consideration re inclusion in a future issue of the magazine, so I put my thinking cap on and remembered a beautiful white beret with a pink silk tassel that my Aunt Peg Kavanagh/ Carroll had knitted for me when I was 12 years old. I loved it but it was passed down to my sisters afterwards until it was well and truly worn out. However I was able to knit one from memory using a much stronger yarn which made it sit better than a floppy yarn. Having posted my new Beret to the Editor I was pleased to be informed that it would be published in the November 2008 issue . I enclose a photo that was taken by Ronan Hand on February 26th 2026.
FREE TRAVEL SCHEME IMPORTANT CUSTOMER NOTICE From the 1st March 2026 any expired Free Travel Public Service Cards or Paper Passes will no longer be valid for travel.
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