Pick up a cúpla focal at Wexford Arts Centre’s bilingual drama workshop. \iStock
If you’re looking for a creative, confidence-boosting way for your child to pick up a cúpla focal, Wexford Arts Centre’s bilingual drama workshop is a great place to start. This is an opportunity for children aged 6-12 years old, to enjoy Irish language drama and activities. It is facilitated by playwrights and theatre makers Eoghan Rua Finn and Alison Ní Mháirtín and it is funded by Seachtain na Gaeilge (Ciste Spreagtha).
Children with all levels of Irish language are welcome on 10 May from11am-12pm. Email fisagusbis2024@gmail.com
Lament for the Ash Trees in the Hedge
By Margaret Duff,
Rathdrum, Co Wicklow
You send your winged seeds
across the passing breeze
to find a home from home.
In every hedge and hollow
spreading fingered
foliage to the light,
standing keeper in noble time of holy wells and healing,
and hurling’s shaft of
perfect timber.
Now unseen, your winter branches hide in every season
under creeping leaves of ivy.
So, if your leaf is curling black
and bark ringed with brown,
can your seed survive attack?
Were these seeds not
good enough,
to sprout new woods of ash in waiting, wanting earth with oak and birch and thorn?
Or, do we still believe
that living woods are made
from seeds in pots in nursery centres?
Shipped from far away
across the sea.
Harbouring the silent end
of our unnoticed,
beautiful ash tree.
Butter them up – from cow to churn
Local dairy farmer Tim Feen and the fifth and sixth class students of Ardfield National School enjoying making butter in the classroom with Danielle O’Donovan from The Butter Museum
Most children know butter as something wrapped in gold foil and found in the fridge, but perhaps not how it’s actually made. That’s something the Butter Museum in Cork is hoping to change with a new hands-on educational project to connect children with the local dairy industry.
Supported by the Jubilee Trust and led by Danielle O’Donovan, the primary school students in Barryroe and Ardfield in west Cork and those in the North Presentation National School in Cork city are looking forward to taking part. It all starts in the classroom, where children learn how butter was made on farms in the past.
Get the street party started
Little growers at Cork City Stephen Street Community Garden. \ Joleen Cronin
We may not chat to our neighbours everyday but we know that sense of place and community is crucial for our wellbeing.
For 15 years, Street Feast, Ireland’s biggest day of street parties and community gatherings, has been trying to cultivate that connection by encouraging people to use shared spaces – like a village square or community centre – and join together for food.
You can register to host your community event this 24 and 25 May 2025 and receive your free party pack at StreetFeast.ie with bunting, invites for neighbours and a step-by-step guide for organising.
The entrance view at The Grace, Westport Estate.
Irish Country Living hears there is a new hotel coming to town, Westport town that is. Westport is known as a sunny and colourful spot along the Wild Atlantic Way, and a new 129-room hotel will be somewhere for tourists to rest their heads in luxury. It may be new, but its name – The Grace – harks back to the past, inspired by two iconic women connected to Co Mayo: Grace O’Malley, the 16th-century pirate queen, and Hollywood icon Grace Kelly.
The opening of the hotel – in spring 2026 – and the transformation of the estate will also include the refurbishment of the 300-year-old Westport House. See thegrace.ie
The local arts scene is having a moment, as nine amateur drama groups prepare to head to Athlone next month for the 2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival. Taking place from 8-16 May, the performances will be premiering in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone, Co Westmeath. Pictured above: (In front )John Clancy, Corofin Dramatic Society and Paul Walsh, Wexford Drama Group, with (from left to right) Ger Canning, Ballyduff Drama Group, Declan Rudden, Balally Players, Sean Treanor, Newpoint Players, Pat Whelan, Ballycogley Players, Réidín Dunne, Bradán Players, Jack Aherne, Brideview Drama Group and Susan Somers, Bridge Drama Group.
Tickets for the festival are €25. See deancrowetheatre.com
Pick up a cúpla focal at Wexford Arts Centre’s bilingual drama workshop. \iStock
If you’re looking for a creative, confidence-boosting way for your child to pick up a cúpla focal, Wexford Arts Centre’s bilingual drama workshop is a great place to start. This is an opportunity for children aged 6-12 years old, to enjoy Irish language drama and activities. It is facilitated by playwrights and theatre makers Eoghan Rua Finn and Alison Ní Mháirtín and it is funded by Seachtain na Gaeilge (Ciste Spreagtha).
Children with all levels of Irish language are welcome on 10 May from11am-12pm. Email fisagusbis2024@gmail.com
Lament for the Ash Trees in the Hedge
By Margaret Duff,
Rathdrum, Co Wicklow
You send your winged seeds
across the passing breeze
to find a home from home.
In every hedge and hollow
spreading fingered
foliage to the light,
standing keeper in noble time of holy wells and healing,
and hurling’s shaft of
perfect timber.
Now unseen, your winter branches hide in every season
under creeping leaves of ivy.
So, if your leaf is curling black
and bark ringed with brown,
can your seed survive attack?
Were these seeds not
good enough,
to sprout new woods of ash in waiting, wanting earth with oak and birch and thorn?
Or, do we still believe
that living woods are made
from seeds in pots in nursery centres?
Shipped from far away
across the sea.
Harbouring the silent end
of our unnoticed,
beautiful ash tree.
Butter them up – from cow to churn
Local dairy farmer Tim Feen and the fifth and sixth class students of Ardfield National School enjoying making butter in the classroom with Danielle O’Donovan from The Butter Museum
Most children know butter as something wrapped in gold foil and found in the fridge, but perhaps not how it’s actually made. That’s something the Butter Museum in Cork is hoping to change with a new hands-on educational project to connect children with the local dairy industry.
Supported by the Jubilee Trust and led by Danielle O’Donovan, the primary school students in Barryroe and Ardfield in west Cork and those in the North Presentation National School in Cork city are looking forward to taking part. It all starts in the classroom, where children learn how butter was made on farms in the past.
Get the street party started
Little growers at Cork City Stephen Street Community Garden. \ Joleen Cronin
We may not chat to our neighbours everyday but we know that sense of place and community is crucial for our wellbeing.
For 15 years, Street Feast, Ireland’s biggest day of street parties and community gatherings, has been trying to cultivate that connection by encouraging people to use shared spaces – like a village square or community centre – and join together for food.
You can register to host your community event this 24 and 25 May 2025 and receive your free party pack at StreetFeast.ie with bunting, invites for neighbours and a step-by-step guide for organising.
The entrance view at The Grace, Westport Estate.
Irish Country Living hears there is a new hotel coming to town, Westport town that is. Westport is known as a sunny and colourful spot along the Wild Atlantic Way, and a new 129-room hotel will be somewhere for tourists to rest their heads in luxury. It may be new, but its name – The Grace – harks back to the past, inspired by two iconic women connected to Co Mayo: Grace O’Malley, the 16th-century pirate queen, and Hollywood icon Grace Kelly.
The opening of the hotel – in spring 2026 – and the transformation of the estate will also include the refurbishment of the 300-year-old Westport House. See thegrace.ie
The local arts scene is having a moment, as nine amateur drama groups prepare to head to Athlone next month for the 2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival. Taking place from 8-16 May, the performances will be premiering in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone, Co Westmeath. Pictured above: (In front )John Clancy, Corofin Dramatic Society and Paul Walsh, Wexford Drama Group, with (from left to right) Ger Canning, Ballyduff Drama Group, Declan Rudden, Balally Players, Sean Treanor, Newpoint Players, Pat Whelan, Ballycogley Players, Réidín Dunne, Bradán Players, Jack Aherne, Brideview Drama Group and Susan Somers, Bridge Drama Group.
Tickets for the festival are €25. See deancrowetheatre.com
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