Search Results for 'Jesus'

LLOYD COLE'S musical career spans more than 30 years and across that time he has delivered musically sharp and melodic indie-pop with lyrics brimming with wit and intelligence. He is also an artist who enjoys touring and tonight he is in Galway to play the Róisín Dubh at 9pm. In advance of the show, we present five of Cole's best songs, from across his career.

Siobhan Halligan (second year, Mount St Michael Secondary School, Claremorris) and Catherine King (second year, Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Crossmolina) are both finalists in the 2013 John West Fantasy Writing Competition – and they are competing against each other in the same category. It is an impressive achievement for both girls as the competition attracted more than 11,000 entries this year.

RICHARD BEARD, an ‘experimental novelist’ and author of non-fiction, is nothing if not versatile. His books have addressed such subjects as rugby union, grave-robbing, sex changes, Eurodisney, and cigarette addiction.

A chara,- The robin has excellent credentials for inclusion in religiously-themed Christmas stamps. In Irish tradition, the robin (spideog) was beannaithe, that is, blessed or holy, and had a sacred character. Various religious legends illustrated why.

The late Hubert Butler once wrote a delightful essay called Influenza on Aran in which he examined the evidence for the early Irish saints. His title is explained in the first few sentences: “When I arrived in Aran by the Naomh Eanna at Kilronan I was sneezing and, by the time I had raced to St Enda’s Church at Killeany and seen the stone on which he had floated in from Connemara, I was feverish and coughing. I spent the rest of my time in bed reading the only two books on Aran and its saints that I could find, a big one by Mr O Siochain [Aran: Islands of Legend] and a small one by Father Scantlebury [Saints and Shrines of Aran Mor]”.

I have always thought it strange why so many women feel isolated from the Catholic Church, when it has at its centre a woman, Mary - the Mother of God. It is not right that many women feel they are ‘second class citizens’ within a church that attempts to reach out to all. Surely without Mary, the New Testament would be worthless. Surely after the Nazarene Himself, the Mother of Jesus, who is venerated by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, is the first and greatest saint in heaven. Mary is revered by all Christian churches, and honoured by Islam. At the very first council of the Church, at Ephesus four hundred years after Christ, she was declared to be the Theotokos, Mother of God (the actual God bearer). But even before that her image, holding the Child, was etched into tombs in the Roman catacombs. Being the Theotokos, Mary could have become remote, unreal from the human experience. After all we are told that she was born free from Original Sin, which as a total ‘theological illiterate’ I don’t fully understand; but I accept the logic that if Mary was not the mother of God, then Jesus was not God. I believe that He was. Yet despite the supreme position of Mary many women feel isolated, uninvolved, as if they have no contribution to make.

By the end of this year, Galway will have its first fully recognisable mosque, complete with iconic dome and minaret. It is a building which will break new architectural and cultural ground in the city, and one the Ahmadiyya community also hope will create bonds of friendship between Muslims and people of all faiths Galway.

There were some emotional scenes in the District Court when a woman accused of causing a four-car pile-up which involved a car carrying a mother and four children was involved had her charges dismissed.

An exhibition of paintings by Sr Irene Gibson, icons at the gallery of the Clew Bay Hotel, Westport will run until November 30. Originally from Dublin, Sr Irene spent 16 years living a prayerful and contemplative life in her hermitage in Drummin, Westport. It was during this time that Irene completed this body of work consisting of religious icons.

“The North wind doth blow, And we shall have snow; And what will poor Robin do then, poor thing?” While you’re more likely to see a robin hopping about in bushes and low branches than hiding in the barn to keep himself warm, there’s no doubt that robins are more visible in winter than many other small birds: their red breasts are cheering beacons in these dull, gloomy days.