The third season of ‘Derry Girls’ has plenty of laughs to offer and goes deeper with all its main characters.
Ireland
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Catholics now outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland. Is Irish unification on the horizon?
Just below those top-line figures on religious affiliation, significant changes in national identity also become clear—29 percent of the Northern Irish population now see themselves exclusively as Irish. This is just three points behind the 32 percent who consider themselves British.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Northern Ireland census shows more Catholics than Protestants for the first time ever
For the first time ever, more people in Northern Ireland identify as Catholic than Protestant, 101 years after the jurisdiction was founded with a Protestant majority in mind.
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics & Society
Irish Republicans praising the queen was once unthinkable. Elizabeth II changed that.
The tributes and gestures from the leaders of Irish political parties long established in the European mainstream came as no surprise. What came as something of a shock—especially to some of their supporters—were statements issued by the leaders of Sinn Féin, the party most associated with the Irish Republican Army.
Posted inFaith, News Analysis
Ireland’s synod report reveals a country that is largely ‘suspicious’ and ‘intolerant’ of its Catholic inheritance
For all the buzz surrounding its publication, the Irish synod synthesis is both sober and humble in tone and yet inspiring and hopeful.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Ten tales of Dubliners
In his new 10-story collection, Roddy Doyle tells stories of catastrophes—unemployment, a deadly storm and Covid-19—and their socioeconomic and psychological fallout on Irish families.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: Fintan O’Toole’s personal history of Ireland traces the fall of Catholicism and rise of capitalism on the Emerald Isle
Fintan O’Toole reflects on the last 64 years in Ireland—a time when Irish life was almost completely transformed.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
My name has been in my family for seven generations. Here’s what I hope it means for the next one.
Our shared name is a constant reminder that the work I do today is not on behalf of some shapeless ideal of a better world, but for the world that my children will grow up in.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Turf is one of the worst polluting fossil fuels. The Irish turf-burning industry could learn something from Pope Francis
Destroying bogland is the Irish equivalent of burning the Amazon.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
The crazy stories about St. Patrick that are actually true
As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, it is good to look back on some of the saint’s legendary accomplishments—some more legendary than others.