Lifestyle

WHILE she started out initially in theatre, changing her career path to the world of fashion design just over a year ago wasn’t a major leap of faith for Ennistymon-born jeweller Christina Brosnan. 

COMMENT Last week, Fianna Fáil put down a private members’ motion in the Dáil calling on the Government to reverse cuts made in the budget to education.

NELLIE Bly was the name of a song by Stephen Foster and the name of a character in the song Frankie and Johnny recorded by, among others, Elvis. The name was also used as a pen name by an American journalist Elizabeth Cochran.

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IT WAS the year of a royal visit, a census, widespread unemployment, soaring emigration, stagnant economic growth, saturation sports coverage and uproar over senior public servant pay.Dublin 1911 is a lavish volume that chronicles a year – one that shared much with 2011 – in the life of a city using newspaper excerpts, advertisements and, most strikingly, photographs. The book is edited by Catriona Crowe, senior archivist at the National Archives, who will appear at the Ennis Book Club Festival on March 4. Structured by calendar months, Dublin 1911 offers a snapshot of the period through both contemporary artefacts and 17 short essays focusing on themes such as poverty, religion and fashion. It was inspired by the National Archives’ publication of the 1911 Irish census website.“The site has been a huge success,” explains Ms Crowe, whose father’s family hails from Clare. “I think it’s had 600 million hits at this point in time and about 12 million unique visits. So …

ON January 12, Ruan woman Sister Grace O’Brien marked her 100th birthday. Evidence of Sister Grace having reached a century is plastered all over her room in the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine McAuley House in Limerick. The room is filled with birthday cards from all corners of the country. Although born Margaret Grace O’Brien on January 12, 1912, in Thornville House, which has a Corofin postal address, Sister Grace insists she is definitely from Ruan. She was the fifth of nine children born to Daniel and Elizabeth O’Brien. Three of her sisters also joined the nuns; Sister Ambrose, Sister Stanislaus and Sister Ignatius, who was a Poor Clare sister. Her other sisters, Jenny McMahon and Dorothy Shields both married, while Sister Grace had two brothers, Joseph and Donal. Another sister, Maureen, died aged 16. Sister Grace is the only surviving member of her family. Grace attended Kells primary school in Corofin and secondary school at Brigidine Convent in Mountrath, Laois. …

MORE than 320 walkers of all ages, shapes and sizes took part in the Operation Transformation National walk day held in Lissycasey last Saturday. The event took in the Lissycasey Cascades Looped walk and was organised by the Clare Sports Partnership. Participants were impressed at the beauty of the route and were surprised that it has been hidden for so long.Buoyed by the success of the walk, the Clare Sports Partnership is organising a series of four free monthly walks. The first of these walks will be held on February 25 with the remainder on March 31, April 28 and May 26. Routes will be finalised in the coming days and they will be available on claresportspartnership.ie.   Speaking after the walk in Lissycasey, co-ordinator of the Sports Partnership, John Sweeney, said he was surprised that so many people had taken part. “We were delighted with the large number that turned out. We were expecting 100 people but over 320 turned …

SINCE September, I have lived with the loss of my voice.  Suddenly, with no previous experience, I became mute or nearly so.I thought I knew about disability. In the 1980s, a condition greatly restricted the use of my limbs and I have used the visible signs, walking aids or electric scooter, ever since. But this was a whole new area. How do I do my work and live my daily life without a voice?When I was first disabled, I needed to grieve as I recognised that my body would no longer work as I willed and certainly not as society expected. With my visible limitations, the chances of work, least of all in my own area, and the chances of keeping a social life seemed equally closed for good.I have witnessed two social revolutions in my life: one in the 1970s opened doors to women and one in the 1990s opened them to disabled people. As a church member, I …