Plugged out and plugging back in
The eight-year-old child put her hand up. Teacher asked what her question was. “Are you the new church guy?” she blurted out. Out of the lips of babes …! But she’s correct. I am in a whole new place since […]
Recalling my diabetes diagnosis almost 40 years ago
I’ve spent the last few hours shredding and sorting! It’s become necessary as I prepare to move house, ministry and life to a new parish. I’m a hoarder so I’ve all kinds of things in the house! Much of of […]
West Cork hosts first synodal conversation
The first diocesan gathering with parishioners from a selection of parishes in West Cork to discuss questions posed by Pope Francis was held in Rosscarbery on Sunday afternoon. Pope Francis has issued an invitation to participate in creating a synodal […]
For Mothers Day
My mother Lena Hayes died in May 2002. As for so many others, this Mothering Sunday is a poignant one, especially as we have a lot of time on our own today. So I’m sharing this in the hope that […]
Charming Gougane Barra of St. Finbarr
There are few places in Ireland as enchanting as Gougane Barra – the out-of-the-way but picturesque spot which is associated with Cork’s patron saint, Finbarr. It was once a secluded place of monastic prayer. Later it became a place of […]
Denis Lehane RIP – a natural kind of West Cork man
From my earliest years at home in Drimoleague my brothers and I slept under a ceiling of gloss-painted ceiling boards. That part of the house was added on in the 1950s when my father Sean was planning on getting married. […]
Religious haven’t gone away!
People who devoted their lives wholly to service of God and the church have taken something of a hammering in Irish society in recent decades. This in of the reasons they have almost become invisible. So we may think they […]
In the shadow of sculptor John Hogan
I had an opportunity a few days ago to visit Dublin with a couple of friends. Part of the treat was to follow the trail of a nineteenth century sculptor who was born in Waterford but grew up in Cork […]