Pet O'Connell

Voice of women to be heard as Féile na Laoch festival looks to future Artificial intelligence, climate change, and employment are among discussion topics at the gathering in Cúil Aodha, writes Pet O'Connell

This weekend’s Féile na Laoch sees a reprise of Ceoltóirí Chualann, featuring Seán Ó Sé. @catherinegalway.bsky.social addresses a celebration of Fuinneamh na mBan, or female energy, where Cór Ban Chúil Aodha perform Peadar Ó Riada's Laoi na Laoithe. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...

30.09.2025 14:09 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Irish Examiner children's book reviews: Magical urchins, a fearful fur ball, and a pubescent trainee banshee: www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...
@puffinbooksuk.bsky.social @sineadohart.bsky.social @unawoods.bsky.social @theobrienpress.bsky.social

25.09.2025 11:14 — 👍 2    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0

Tacking up and mucking out, hoof picking and horsey snobbery in new children's books: irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @puffinbooksuk.bsky.social @theobrienpress.bsky.social @alnolan.bsky.social

07.08.2025 11:25 — 👍 2    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

'There’s great satisfaction in hearing your own tunes played': Jackie Daly turns 80 Cork trad legend Jackie Daly talks Sliabh Luachra, innovative tuning, and doing a Beatles cover that Paul McCartney loved

www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... As the Kanturk native celebrates his 80th birthday, ranked among his achievements is the title of the Man who put the Planxty into the Sliabh Luachra tradition.

25.06.2025 16:04 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @emmalarkinbooks.bsky.social threads family intrigue through the sporting action in 'Féile', capturing the essence of grassroots GAA and parochial rivalries. @littleislandbooks.bsky.social @theobrienpress.bsky.social @megcathwrites.bsky.social

25.06.2025 15:57 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... Futuristic fantasy holds a mirror to today’s world, where it is perhaps not AI we should fear, but those who would use it for nefarious ends. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social @daveruddenwrites.bsky.social
@littleislandbooks.bsky.social @grainneobrien.bsky.social

03.06.2025 13:13 — 👍 4    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Drawing on biographical detail from CS Lewis’ life, including the death of his Cork-born mother when he was aged 9, Judith McQuoid creates an imaginary friendship between Lewis and her own grandfather. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @littleislandbooks.bsky.social @theobrienpress.bsky.social

28.04.2025 22:10 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Matt Cranitch takes a bow for lifetime of musical achievement Cork fiddle player, academic, and authority on Sliabh Luachra music Matt Cranitch will this weekend be presented with a TG4 Gradam Ceoil award for lifetime achievement

Cork fiddle player, academic, and authority on Sliabh Luachra music Matt Cranitch will this weekend be presented with a TG4 Gradam Ceoil for lifetime achievement. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @tg4.bsky.social

28.04.2025 21:22 — 👍 12    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 1

The Case of the Secret Signal is historically informative but first and foremost just what a children’s book should be: a damn good adventure@theobrienpress.bsky.social @hachettechildrens.bsky.social @futafata.bsky.social @pforde123.bsky.social @unawoods.bsky.social irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...

29.03.2025 13:35 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 1

How the Fleadh Cheoil helped revive traditional music in Ireland A new book shows how the Fleadh played a crucial role in helping to revive traditional music

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, first held by a nascent Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Mullingar in 1951, was “the most extraordinary thing which happened to traditional music in the 1950s and 1960s on this island”. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...

20.03.2025 01:46 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

A shape-shifting beast with jagged antlers and red eyes arrives from another time and place but nearly as petrifying is the spine-chilling spectre of peer rejection @Doomsday Club @kmoranwrites.bsky.social @littleislandbooks.bsky.social @pforde123.bsky.social www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar...

24.02.2025 22:57 — 👍 2    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Children’s book reviews: Dickensian child poverty meets Victorian scientific advancement Pet O’Connell rounds up a selection of the latest children’s books, featuring history, rhymes, and the surreal

'The Last Boy' is at once a story of darkness and hope as Brewster wishes on each star that he will be the last climbing boy. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @everywithwords.bsky.social @evemcdonnell.bsky.social @susancahill.bsky.social @sarahwebbwriter.bsky.social @theobrienpress.bsky.social

20.01.2025 13:47 — 👍 7    🔁 3    💬 3    📌 1

Remembering Annie Patterson, the trailblazer who was UCC's first female music lecturer As the anniversary of Dr Annie Patterson's death approaches, Pet O'Connell recalls the life of the incredible woman who also was instrumental in the creation of the Feis Ceoil and Oireachtas na Gaeilg...

UCC’s first female music lecturer and the first woman in Ireland or Britain to be awarded a non-honorary doctorate in music, Annie Patterson was instrumental in the foundation of Oireachtas na Gaeilge and Feis Ceoil. @oirnagaeilge.bsky.social www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @ucc.bsky.social

15.01.2025 00:12 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Plus ça change... how Irish trad has influenced the music of Quebec The Francophone province has a proud music culture, with both fans and ethnomusicologists spotting the strong Irish links in many of the tunes

“There’s an obvious Irish influence when you listen to Québécois music - whether it’s known about or not.” www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... @canadianirish.bsky.social

07.01.2025 21:15 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 1