May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day, is an appropriate time to remember Marian Barry who played an important role in the development and growth of the trade union movement in Britain and Ireland, but is today largely unknown
Why Anew McMaster has a place in Skibbereen folk memory
I recently read Anne Enright’s stunningly beautiful book, Actress, which was published in 2020. It is essentially the story of Irish theatre legend Katherine O’Dell, as written by her daughter Norah. If you have not already read it, get a
Remembering Dr David Hadden, Skibbereen
This year is an important one in the Decade of Centenaries in Ireland. The period 1921–1923 was a particularly complex one in our history and it is important that it would be remembered appropriately, proportionately, respectfully and with sensitivity. The
‘A Different World: An English Vicar in West Cork’, by Hilary Wakeman
I was lucky enough to get some very nice books in my Christmas stocking in 2021. One was a beautiful memoir by Hilary Wakeman of part of her time as Rector of the Kilmoe Union in the Mizen peninsula. Kilmoe
Memories of pantomime in Skibbereen
For many Skibbereen people, at home or living abroad, thoughts at this time of year will, at some stage, invariably turn to the days of the great pantomimes in the Town Hall. The annual pantomime was such an integral part