Congratulations to the five winners of our recent Father’s Day Competition with Dunnes Stores Simply Better, who willl enjoy a day of cooking with Neven Maguire on Friday, 17 July, at Dunnes HQ in Dublin city centre. The winners are Martin Casey, Co Kerry; Brid O’Gorman Crowe, Co Clare; Vivienne Murphy, Co Dublin; Yvonne McGrath, Co Leitrim; and Niamh Wiseman, Co Wicklow. The winners and their culinary companion will join an exclusive group of cooking enthusiasts for a welcome reception of tea and pastries before enjoying a day of guided cooking with Neven. Each winner will also get to enjoy the dish they create and leave with a Dunnes Stores Simply Better goodie bag.
Participants are being sought to enrol in Horse Knowing, a fully funded equine-assisted learning and mental wellbeing coaching programme, returning for the summer. This innovative initiative uses guided interactions with horses to support wellbeing, build resilience, increase self-awareness and develop practical coping strategies for the pressures of modern farming life. No riding or previous horse experience is required. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, it is open to people across Ireland. Participants attend one-hour coaching sessions each week for eight weeks in Meath and Westmeath with start dates up to October. Places are limited. See horseknowing.com
Celebrate Ireland’s rich maritime heritage with this beautifully illustrated ceramic mug from The Designer of Things. Part of the brand’s ambitious project to document every working lighthouse around the Irish coast, the design features 13 iconic beacons, including Fastnet Lighthouse, Hook Lighthouse, Loop Head Lighthouse and Fanad Head Lighthouse. The striking design is a thoughtful gift for sea lovers, history enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys a beautiful cuppa. They also have a vast selection in their Lighthouses of Ireland collection from jigsaws to notebooks.The ceramic mug (pictured above), is priced at €15. See thedesignerofthings.com
Scenic County Sligo will be transformed in to a hub of creativity from 4-11 July, bringing leading international performers together with Irish artists across music, visual art, theatre, literature and street performance for Cairde Sligo Arts Festival.A musical highlight this year is master fiddler and natural seanchaí Aindrias de Staic, who brings his unmistakable blend of storytelling, trad and wild imagination for two special solo performances in Enniscrone and Grange on 7 and 8 July. It’s described as part theatre, part trad session and entirely original. See cairdefestival.com
My Greatest Race is a sports memoir like no other, a devastating contrast between the elite athlete road that so few get to travel and the all-too-familiar cancer journey that so many do. A profoundly moving sports memoir that is heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal parts, it is written by Irish Olympic middle-distance runner Ciara Mageean, with journalist Clíona Foley. It contrasts the euphoric highs of her European gold medal win in Munich in 2024 with the heartbreak of her Paris Olympics withdrawal and her subsequent battle with stage-four bowel cancer. My Greatest Race is published by Gill Books, €21.99.
Do you have a book, event, product, craft, business, or local initiative that celebrates rural life in Ireland? The Country Vibes pages in Irish Country Living are always looking for unique finds and community happenings to share with our readers. Whether it’s a new book release, an upcoming festival, a handmade product, a farm diversification project or a special event in your area, we’d love to hear about it. Send us details, photos, and contact information for consideration. We can’t guarantee coverage, but we’re always keen to discover the people, places, and ideas bringing vibrancy to rural Ireland. Please send to Country Vibes icl@farmersjournal.ie
Ode to the Fly (by George Butler, a Sligo native now living in Adelaide, Australia)
Enemy
To the scholar
and embattled kings,
Bakers cooks
fishmongers,
the diva when she sings.
Aviator
Buzzy Baron
Owner of the skies,
Cats hats and Lord Byron
Seldom can surprise.
Witness
Of forbidden love
Cruel lies and treason,
Dare they say
your little life,
Has no rhyme
nor reason.
Do you have a piece of poetry inspired by the countryside and farming? Please send in your best work for consideration for the weekly Poetry Corner. We’re looking for short poems that captivate, inspire and reflect the landscapes, traditions, and culture of rural Ireland in the past or the present. About 200 words or so is the ideal length. Please send your poetry to icl@farmersjournal.ie or post to Irish Country Living, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.
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