Today's News Irish culture and Irish customs

Past Two Weeks
September 1
Bouquets and bows for Mick, RIP
Tributes have flooded in for veteran actor and Irish icon Mick Lally who died suddenly yesterday. The Co Mayo native became a household name thanks to his role as the gormless but loveable character Miley in the long-running RTE soap opera 'Glenroe'. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

How a French cook's famine recipe faltered
Alexis Soyer, culinary darling of London, came to Dublin in April 1847 with a scheme to help feed the starving population. He set up a huge soup kitchen, but his vats of soup did not go down well. For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Deatils: BBC/Soup kitchen vat

The end of an era as menswear shop closes after 121 years
Declan Murphy who took over Murphy & Son Menswear in the west Limerick town of Newcastle West two years ago, said it was with "a heavy heart" that he has decided to close the business. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Press 22

Top secret GAA plan to create replicas of Sam and Liam
THE GAA is undertaking a secret project to create exact replicas of the iconic All-Ireland hurling and football trophies to satisfy unprecedented demand for “appearances”at social, sporting and marketing events. For more details, please click Irish Times.

Storm in a tassie: the playwright, the poet and the Abbey Theatre
Sara Keating examines the Abbey Theatre’s rejection of Seán O’Casey’s The Silver Tassiein 1928 – a move that led to a bitter public row between O’Casey and WB Yeats. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Joe O'Shaughnessy

Wexford man wins Young Farmer of the Year award
Paul Kehoe scooped the title of FBD Young Farmer of the Year at a ceremony in Waterford. This is the 12th year of the prestigious two-day event, which saw 21 finalists cut to six. For more details, please click Irish Examiner.
Photo Credit & Related Details: Munster Express/2009 winner

Iconic bus route set to be changed
The plan to alter the route taken by the 46A, which was immortalised in the song Summer In Dublin, is being opposed by hundreds of residents in the Dun Laoghaire area. For more details, please click Irish Herald.

August 31
Actor Mick Lally, RIP
One of Ireland's best known actors, Mr. Lally had recently been admitted to hospital where he died this morning. Famous for his role as Miley Byrne in the TV series Glenroe , he recently voiced a character in the Oscar-winning animation The Secret of Kells. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Story: RTE

Primary schools prepare to open for new term
Some 352,800 post-primary pupils are enrolled for this year and they began their return last week. By tomorrow, the State’s 4,025 primary, post-primary and special needs schools will be open for business. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Cyril Byrne

New images of Titanic released
For almost a century Titanic has been hidden more than two miles beneath the sea but now the latest technology has been used to bring its wreckage to life in stunning detail. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.

Explosion in number of foxes in Dublin city centre
Plentiful food supplies have led to an increase in recent years, and foxes are now a common sight across the city, with some even spotted lurking around the grounds of Dublin Castle. For more details, please click Irish Herald.

Tasty €10 pint and stew deal
Publican Gerard Callanan of the The Glen Tavern in Limerick said "We were very surprised at how well it has gone and I would say we will be holding on to the offer for a long time to come." For more details, please click Irish Examiner.
Photo Credit: Matzo & Rice - for illustration purposes only, but a good read and worth a visit.

Mussel farming to resume in Dingle Bay
The dredging for and collection of wild mussel seed resumed yesterday after a two-year gap at Castlemaine harbour in Dingle Bay, one of the biggest natural mussel beds in the country. For more details. please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Coast Guard Station

Ryanair pulls out of Belfast
Ryanair is to pull out of Belfast City Airport from the end of October.
Five routes to London Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands, Bristol and Glasgow Prestwick will be withdrawn. For more details, please click RTE.

August 30
Regional round-up from Antrim to Wicklow
All the news that probably won't make the national headlines: St Louis nuns leave Middleton, Armagh; cafe celebrates centenary in Down; and Mohill to host Culchie Festival in Leitrim. To read these news items and many others, please click Irish Emigrant.
Photo Credit: Kingarrow's Photo Stream

Pill made in Wicklow cuts risk of heart failure
Research suggests that Ivabradine, which slows down the heart rate, has the potential to save the lives of thousands of heart failure patients. Six Irish centres were involved in the research project. For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Details, please click RTE.

Bonnet ceremony remembers women sent to Australia
Yesterday in Cobh, Co Cork, Colin Gray, the great-grandchild of convict Mary Connor, was among those who participated in a quayside ceremony where close to 200 bonnets bearing names of Irish women transported overseas were blessed by a local priest. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Clare Keogh/Provision

Game and country fair attracts 30,000
An estimated 30,000 people attended the fourth annual Irish Game and Country Fair at Birr Castle where experts in shooting, fishing, equine and canine sports and falconry gathered to socialise and showcase their wares. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: The Great Game Fairs of Ireland

A last burst of summer at Lammas Fair
Thousands of people are expected to head to the Auld Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, Co Antrim. The annual two-day market fair has taken place on the last Monday and Tuesday in August since the 17th century. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Lammas Fair
ED. Note: See our article Lammas Fair

GAA: Down are through to the Finals
Down hung on in a thrilling finish to beat Kildare 1-16 to 1-14 in a dramatic All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park and progressed to the decider against Cork on 19 September. For complete details, please click BBC.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Belfast Telegraph

Three Irish aces in European Ryder Cup line-up
European captain Colin Montgomerie has confirmed Padraig Harrington as one of his wildcard entries. He will join Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy who automatically qualified following great seasons. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Phoo Credit & Related Details: RTE

August 29
A little piece of Ireland in Venice
The oratory of San Gallo, which commemorates the early medieval Irish saint St Gall, is on a small campo near the Piazza San Marco. The building is now filled with stacks of paper illustrating the work of multiple-award-winning architects de Blacam and Meagher. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Carolina Victory

New bishop to be ordained for Killaloe
Hundreds are expected to fill the cathedral of St Peter and Paul in Ennis to watch the ordination ceremony of their new bishop, Fr Kieran O'Reilly who until recently was based in Rome as world superior general of the Society of African Missions. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit & Link to live broadcast: St. Senan's Parish

Just 16 to start training for the priesthood
The number of ordinations on Ireland has dipped below those in England and Wales for the first time in living memory, new figures show today. The vocations crisis is a clear indication of how low the Church has sunk. For more details, please click Irish Herald.
Photo Credit: St. Catherine College/Ordination pf priest in Co. Armagh

NI marches pass off peacefully
A loyal order parade past the flashpoint Ardoyne shops in north Belfast, the scene of four days of violence over the Twelfth of July period, passed off peacefully yesterday. For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Details: BBC

GAA: Today's matches on RTE
Down and Kildare meet in Croke Park at 3.30pm to decide who takes on Cork in the All-Ireland SFC final. That match is preceded by the minor semi-final between Kerry and Galway. For more details, please click RTE.

Aer Arann thrown a lifeline
AerArann would have gone to the wall last week with the almost immediate loss of over 300 jobs had it not been thrown a €1m lifeline by its biggest creditor Allied Irish Banks. For more details. please click Irish Independent.

Summer of celebrity continues at Adare Manor
Last month it was Tiger Woods, Michael Douglas, Westlife, Hugh Grant and Catherine Zeta Jones at the JP McManus Pro-Am Golf Classic. Now it's the X-Factor. For more details, please click Irish Examiner.
Photo Credit: Look Around Ireland

August 28
Harrington in contention at The Barclays
Padraig Harrington continued to press his claim for a Ryder Cup wild-card after climbing the leaderboard on the second day of the Barclays in New Jersey. For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Sporty Desktops

Celebrating 140 years of publication
As the Belfast Telegraph celebrates 140 years of publication, Emily Moulton reveals 40 fascinating facts about the newspaper that has been at the very heart of life in Ulster for generations. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Belfast History

Bumblebees get rare buzz in the Burren
The Burren in Co Clare has been identified as the most important habitat in Britain and Ireland for the Great Yellow Bumblebee - a very rare species which had been threatened with extinction. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Bumblebee Conservation

'Bouncy dolmen' goes on show
One of Ireland's most iconic megalithic monuments has inspired US artist Jim Ricks to create a “bouncy castle” version which will go on exhibition in in Kylebrack woods, southeast of Loughrea, Co Galway. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Jim Ricks

Cork port open to public as part of city's Heritage Day
The Port of Cork will open its doors to the public today as part of Cork Heritage Day. The rooms of the Custom House will be open to the public from 11am to 4pm. For more details, please click Irish Times.

Fleadh-tastic
Three campsites, nine days of events, hundreds of impromptu sessions, 10,000 competitors and anything up to 250,000 people attending - sure what else would it be only the Fleadh Cheoil! For more details, please click RTE.

RTÉ Orchestra to play Electric Picnic
For the first time, the orchestra will be presenting a special Electric Proms in the lush surrounds of the Body and Soul area from 1pm to 2.30pm on Sunday, September 5. For more on this news item, please click RTE.

August 27
Irishman honoured in Gadansk
For three years to 1937, Seán Lester watched the rise of the Nazis in the city and warned of the looming disaster for Europe - the second World War.
After 73years, the name Seán Lester echoed once more yesterday around his former home in Gdansk. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Bartomiej Borowczak

The Burren voted favourite heritage site
In a study commissioned to mark National Heritage Week, the Burren in Co Clare has been voted the nation's favourite heritage site. A new survey also highlights the popularity of Newgrange in Co Meath and Dublin's GPO. For more details, please click Irish Examiner.
Photo Credit & Related Details: Breaking News

Medieval Missives: The time is nigh: I'm out of here
Rosita Boland says goodbye to Carlingford, her new family and her medieval life. In this final report, she thanks her companions, including Alex Chavanne-Wallace who saved her from the rabbits. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Alan Betson

Would you take directions from this man?
From today on, fans of Hugo Duncan can download his unique voice onto Tom Tom or Garmin SatNav devices and can then look forward being called eejits when they take a wrong turn - among other things. For more details, please click BBC.

Bulgarian wins Bushmills challenge
Ivan Ivanov was the winner of a contest to help create a new blend of whiskey. He was among finalists from nine countries who took part in tests from drinks mixing and tasting to rock climbing. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.

Making the leap from hurling's heartland into ballet's big-time
He's heard all the 'Billy Elliot' jokes before, so save yourself the effort because Christopher Furlong from Co Offaly still wants to be a ballet dancer. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Survey highlights Ulster/Scots
One in five people in NI see themselves as Ulster/Scots with Pensioners and Protestants more likely to adopt the traditional identity and Co Antrim boasting the most enthusiasts. For more details, please click Belfast telegraph.

August 26
'Mum, don't make a show of him'
Today is the first day of the new school year for thousands of Irish students throughout the country. To read how one mother is coping with sending off her youngest, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit(s)Aidan Crawley & Dara Mac Dónaill
For more about Irish Education , please click School Days Ireland

How the other half lived in Ireland's Big Houses
A new photographic exhibition on life in Ireland's 'Big Houses' during the mid-1800s and early 1900s will be officially opened today - and not surprisingly, it reveals an idyllic country life. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Rose of Tralee 2010's most-watched show
An average 916,300 viewers watched the final show after RTÉ's Nine O'Clock News on Tuesday night, the highest number in over a decade, and 172,300 viewers more than 2009's final show. For more details, please click RTE.

Dublin streets full of stone with tales to tell
There's no need to visit a museum if you want to see fossils from the dinosaur days. A new walking tour reveals them embedded in the stones of Dublin city’s streetscape. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Ingenious Ireland/D.J. McEnroe

Causeway image to star on UK passport
An impression of the world heritage site will appear in the new 10-year passport to be issued from October. The passport will also feature other scenic sites including the White Cliffs of Dover. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Word of The Day

More shoppers buying Irish goods
That's according to a poll by the retail publication 'Checkout' which shows goods like Tayto, and Brennan's bread all making an upward movement in the top ten. For more on this news item, please click Breaking News Ireland.

Williams says it's 'magical' with Take That
The pop singer says that he is "chuffed" to be working with the Take That lads again, describing their time together as "magical". "I'm really happy. I've been so excited for ages." For more details, please click RTE.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Irish Herald

August 25
London calling for second time at Rose of Tralee
Last night, London's Rose Clare Kambamettu was crowned the 52nd Rose of Tralee. She was handed the crown by last year’s winner Charmaine Kenny, who was also last year’s London Rose and in even more of an eerie coincidence, both are from Athy, Co Kildare. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Details: Breaking News Ireland

Korean war veterans decorated
Sean Taheny yesterday finally received his War Service Medal for valour during the Korean War. The 79-year-old farmer from Gurteen, Co Sligo, was among 11 Irish veterans who served under the US flag, and were awarded the medal at a special ceremony at the American Embassy in Dublin. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Irish Times/Cyril Byrne

Cork graduate student shortlisted for prestigious award
James D'Arcy had many reasons to celebrate yesterday. Minutes before he received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Limerick, the 23-year-old product-design student found out he made the international shortlist for the prestigious James Dyson Design Award. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Burnett wins gold at the Youth Olympics
Ireland's Ryan Burnett won a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Wednesday after winning the 48kg boxing final against Azerbaijan's Salman Alizida. For more details, please click RTE.
Photo credit: Photograph: Xinhua

Portrush girl makes message in a bottle friend
Sophie Scott was with her father Michael on Portrush beach looking for debris to throw for their dog to catch when she found a bottle which seemed to have something interesting inside. For more details, please click BBC.
Photo Credit: Nigel Hicks - For illustration purposes only

Diners do the cooking at Rustic Stone restaurant
Michelin chef Dylan McGrathhas opened a restaurant on Dublin’s South Great Georges Street where customers can cook their own food on specially made stones heated to 300 degrees. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Matt Kavanagh

Two rabbits down - next, the pigs and non-laying geese
Missives from Medieval Ireland: We have been making readjustments to our medieval quarters, as we test out what we have been provided with. Many things have not worked out well. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Brenda Fitzsimons

August 24
Historic cottages 'gifted' to village
To boost tourism in Slane village, Lord Henry Mountcharles has donated four 18th-Century single-storey stone artisan cottages that formerly housed workers of the Slane Castle estate. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credi & related Details: Buildings of Ireland

Landmark day for Micheal Muircheartaigh
It was a momentous day for one of the country's most familiar voices, as RTE veteran Micheal O Muircheartaigh commentated on his first All-Ireland GAA match as an octogenarian. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: RTE

Love life 'rosy' as romance blooms for Daithi
NewRose of Tralee host Daithi O Se has found love -- with a former contestant of the pageant. Daithi confirmed the "special person" in his life is none other than 2008 New Jersey Rose Rita Talty. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Redheads flock to flaming tresses convention
Organizers of Ireland's first Red Head Convention have promised that people who are nuts about their flaming tresses will have their own festival every year from now on after the success of the inaugural event at the weekend. For more details, please click Irish World.

Public invited to sample lighthouse living
The Landmark Trust is to open its properties to the public on Sunday when visitors will be able to see what it is like to stay inside buildings that are too “quirky” to be habitable on a permanent basis. For more details, please click Irish Times.

Honours for NI hero who transformed surgery and saved thousands of lives
Larne man and ground-breaking anaesthetist Sir Ivan Magill revolutionised modern medicine and to nonour his his contributions, a plaque was erected yesterday at his birthplace . For more details, please click Belfast telegraph.

Hooked on Irish men
Judging by dating websites, Irish men have a good reputation among foreign women. But does the fantasy match the reality of dating an Irish man? The Irish Times asks three women for their experiences. For more details, please click Irish Times.

August 23
Regional round-up from Antrim to Wicklow
All the news that probably won't make the national headlines: Elk skull rediscovered in Armagh; Historic document goes on display in Leitrim; and Priestly reunion in Thurles, Tipperary. To read these news items and many others, please click Irish Emigrant.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia/Postdif

'Spirit of Collins inspires us all'
Making history as the first figure from Fianna Fail to deliver the oration at the annual commemoration at Beal na mBlath, Mr Lenihan said Collins must continue to inspire all in public life through the current economic crisis. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Missive from medieval Ireland
A week in a medieval castle, with no electricity or washing facilities, sleeping on straw and foraging for rabbits. It’s all in a day’s work for one journalist who has just moved to Carlingford to spend a week with her new medieval ‘family’. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Brenda Fitzsimons

Surfing and turfing
Mixed weather failed to dampen spirits at the weekend’s Cruinniú na mBád (gathering of the boats) festival in Kinvara, in south Co Galway, the 32nd year in which the traditional turf-carrying boats, the Galway hookers, have been celebrated. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Joe O'Shaughnessy

Corkman's do-wop group lands five-album deal
A group of painter-decorators led by Corkman Timmy Matley are hoping to hang up their overalls on the back of the release of their debut album 'Good Ol’ Fashioned Love', which is out in October. For more details, please click Breaking News Ireland.

Daithi factor brings cash and crowds to Kingdom
The Rose of Tralee Festival this year is being hosted for the first time by a Kerryman, with TG4 weatherman and proud Dingle native Daithi O Se admitting he cannot wait for the cameras to begin rolling on Monday night. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Saving the mussels
Strangford Lough in Co. Down is one of the most protected marine habitats in Europe. When it was discovered that human activity had damaged many of the mussel beds, the European Commission demanded, as a protected species, that they must be reinstated. Fo4 more details, please click BBC.

August 22
Pope's Itinerary revealed
The Vatican has published details of Pope Benedict's state and pastoral visit to the UK. The Pope's spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi has also spoken of the "great expectation and excitement in the lead up to the first day, which immediately sees the Pope's meeting with Her Majesty, the Queen." For more details, please click BBC.

Sixty years of the Angelus
At 12 noon and six in the evening the Angelus bells ring out across Ireland's air waves. News bulletins must wait until a minute past the hour to allow for the devotional Catholic prayer, recited in memory of the Incarnation of Jesus. For more details, please click BBC.

Cardinal pays visit to Kilkenny priests
The former head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor attended a Mass in Kilkenny to thank locally-trained priests for their service in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Dylan Vaughan

Knock dress code meant as 'guideline' for visitors
According to a spokesman, the introduction of a dress code at Knock shrine in Co Mayo is also intended to bring it into line with other pilgrimage sites and destinations. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Indy Media

Lenihan to deliver Collins oration
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will this afternoon become the first ever Fianna Fáil Minister to deliver the oration at the annual Michael Collins memorial ceremony at Béal na mBláth. For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Michael Collins web site

Hunt is on to find whiskey blend creator
Candidates from the US, South Africa, Europe and both sides of the Irish border are due to gather on Wednesday for the final stages of the selection process to find an apprentice to help create a new blend of Bushmills whiskey. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.

Georgian folly to get new lease of life
The late Mariga Guinness once claimed that “Ireland has more follies to the acre than anywhere else in the world”. Now a “unique” architectural folly in the Kilkenny countryside is to be restored. For more details, please click Irish Times.

August 21
Rose of Tralee festival gets under way
Up to 100,000 people are due to attend the Rose of Tralee festival, its organisers predicted yesterday, as the 32 Rose contestants arrived for the opening ball. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Kieran Clancy/Eye Focus

Kingdom crowns local hero as Daithi's home to host Roses gig
Not since the Sam Maguire crossed into Kerry last September has the Kingdom afforded anyone a reception remotely like that enjoyed by Daithi and the 32 international beauties who are now vying for the 2010 Rose of Tralee tiara. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Dominick Walsh

New Leinster kit to make on-pitch debut
The federal blue-coloured strip was officially launched on July 1, but Brian O'Driscoll and co will be sporting the fetching new attire for the first time this evening at Donnybrook Stadium. For more details, please click Irish Herald.

Dublin rolls out red carpet for tourists
Details have been announced of a new €160,000 advertising campaign for Dublin funded by Fáilte Ireland, in conjunction with Dublin Tourism, the Irish Hotels Federation and Dublin City Business Improvement District. For more details, please click Irish World.

Scrabo Hill secrets to be revealed
Think of Scrabo Hill and you picture the magnificent tower overlooking Newtownards. But a guided walk this weekend will uncover the many people and creatures have made their home on the hill over the millennia. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Walk NI

Irish craft in the 21st century
Forget chunky knits, crocheted tea cosies and hairy wall hangings – Irish crafts are hot property abroad for collectors and galleries. This story looks at the trendsetters and artists bringing the tradition into the 21st century. For more details. please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Craft Council of Ireland

Galway explorer celebrated
Robert O’Hara Burke who led the first successful expedition from south to north Australia was remembered yesterday in the city of his birth on the 150th anniversary of the mission’s launch. For more detail, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Joe O'Shaughnesy

August 20
Archaelogists dig for ‘New Dublin’ near Boston
Archaeologists have begun a major dig at at the site of A pre-Famine Irish shantytown and St Patrick's Church in Lowell. The church was built by Irish immigrants who worked on building canals in 1831. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Boston Globe

All-Ireland final preview: Dublin v Cork
With Kerry and Tyrone having fallen by the wayside, there is a school of thought that this is the year that Cork should win the All-Ireland denied to them by the dominance of the aforementioned counties in recent years. For more details, please click RTE.

Real map of Ireland trawls up our true coastal territory
The final results of a seabed survey are still being finalised, but Ireland can lay claim to 220 million acres of seabed — gaining a significant amount of territory, primarily off the south-west coast. For more details, please click Irish Examiner.

Playing in the key of free
Play Me, I'm Yours – that’s the irresistible invitation inscribed on 10 battered but cheerfully painted old pianos that have recently arrived on the streets of Belfast. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Arthur Allison/ Pacemaker

A chance to shine at the fleadh
Aside the competitions in the official venues in Cavan town, there is another fleadh taking place daily on the streets, and in the pubs, showcasing Ireland’s traditional music buskers. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Alan Betson

Connemara pony gets another fine show
A small herd of ponies graze contentedly in a field. A few miles away, the scene is far less relaxed. The famous showgrounds in Clifden is alive with the 87th Annual Connemara Pony Show. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Andrew Downes
ED. NOTE: See our article: The Connemara Pony

Glasses raised as Guinness family member celebrates 70th birthday
The cream of Dublin’s most famous brewing dynasty turned out in full force last night to raise a glass and say congratulations to Lady Miranda Iveagh who celebrated her 70th birthday at a lavish party fit for someone as noble as King Arthur himself. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Brenda Fitzsimons

August 19
He's Top of the class
Killian Donovan - the only student to achieve nine A1s in the Leaving Certificate last night said he was "over the moon" as he considered taking up an offer at Cambridge University. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Irish Times.

Northern Ireland A-level students outperform rest of UK
Northern Ireland's A-Level students continue to outperform counterparts in England and Wales, with girls doing slightly better than boys. Around 12,000 students were expected to receive results today. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.

Night of culture set to rock the nation
Cities, towns, counties and islands across the land are to engage in a one-day blitz of painting, poetry, dance, opera, traditional music, architecture, history and theatre on Friday, September 24th. For more details, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit: Matt Kavanagh

Ireland outclass Netherlands in one-day international
Ireland eased to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over the Netherlands in Dublin to complete a 2-0 series win. Ireland had won by 70 runs in the first meeting between the sides on Monday. For more details, please click BBC.

Beached Minke whale back at sea
On their second attempt, staff from the NI Environment Agency have managed to refloat a minke whale which was stranded on Tyrella Beach in Co. Down. Because the whale might return, agency staff will continue to watch the shoreline. For more details, please click BBC.

Dublin exhibition: 'Irish history in pictures'
The Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin is showing paintings by the Ulster artist, Sir John Lavery, which include portraits of nearly all the senior British and Irish politicians from the period of Irish independence. For more details, please click BBC.

Dáithí can't wait to host Rose of Tralee
New 'Rose of Tralee' host Dáithí O'Sé has said that he is really looking forward to gracing the stage at The Dome in Kerry. When asked if he would be nervous, O'Sé said: "I'll definitely be nervous..." For more details, please click RTE.