Crannóggy Island

Saint Patrick ( Pádraig) i s venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Church of Ireland, a part of the Anglican Communion, and also in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is regarded as “equal-to-the-apostles” and as the “Enlightener of Ireland.” The "sons of Patrick" There is much written about Saint Patrick and many studies. The most readable and engaging account, if somewhat romanticised, is Thomas Cahill’s book,  “How The Irish Saved Civilisation” .  He writes: Ireland played the central role in maintaining European culture when the dark ages settled on Europe in the fifth century. As Rome was sacked by Visigoths and its empire collapsed, Ireland became  “the isle of saints and scholars”  that enabled the classical and religious heritage to be saved.   I rish monks preserved the faith by building Holy shrines, copied the manuscripts of both pagan and Christian writers, including Homer and Aristotle, and preserved these while l...

The painting below is by Anja Rozen, and was drawn when she was a 13-year-old school student in Slovenia in 2022. It’s title is “Unity”: "My drawing represents the land that binds us and unites us. "Humans are woven together. If someone gives up, others fall. We are all connected to our planet and to each other, but unfortunately we are little aware of it. We are woven together. Other people weave alongside me my own story; and I weave theirs." The poster is being used for a call to global interdependence; to recognise the need to care for the earth and for one another. It’s popularity is growing with all the conflict playing out across our world at the moment and the climate challenges we face.  One admires the skill and vision of this child as an intuitive and innocent call. A call for collaborative decision-making processes within our divided world and for greater unity with an emphasise on collective action, dialogue, and shared responsibility.  Whilst this...

“In my Father's house are many mansions;  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you”.     Protestant Heaven vs. Catholic Heaven Gates of Heaven Three men arrive at the gates of heaven.  St. Peter asks the first man,  "Religion?"  The first man replies, "Catholic"   St. Peter looks down his list and says, "Go to room 24. But be very quiet  as you pass room 8." St. Peter asks  the second man, "Religion."   The second man replies "Methodist."   St. Peter looks down his list and says, "Go to room 14. But be very quiet  as you pass room 8." St. Peter asks  the third man,  "Religion."   The third man replies, "Episcopalian."   St. Peter looks down his list and says, "Go to room 21.But be very quiet  as you pass room 8."   The third man then says to St. Peter, "I can understand there being  different rooms for different religions, but why must we be  quiet w...

May God receive these three children into His loving arms while their parents are left asking how the evil He permits fits with His Divine Providence.  Bebe King, aged six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine. Perhaps not the right time for these questions.  There will be blame aplenty apportioned to the various agencies who failed to identify and prevent this horrific murderous attack.  Not to blame them, but any inquiry needs to focus not just on the agencies who failed to pick up on the developing madness of this child. It also needs to look at the mother and father of Axel Rudakubana.   Where are parents amidst all these agencies? Is the State responsible? Given all their previous contact with numerous agencies over years, one is forced to ask what the parents needed to help them contend with and help this young, autistic teenager; an isolated child with evident growing mental health problems. What support were they offered?...

Melanie Phillips , writing last week, observed: There was one immediate and very public effect of the hostage deal that was prematurely reported to have been agreed between Israel and Hamas. No sooner had this news filtered through on Wednesday than thousands of jubilant Arabs poured onto the streets of Gaza brandishing weapons, uniforms and insignia, and chanting that they had won the war. These men were demonstrably well-fed, well-clothed and equipped with smartphones. So much for the libel - the ludicrous calumny that has been amplified from Gaza throughout the length and breadth of the west - that Israel has been conducting a genocide against the Palestinian Arabs. As was bitterly observed by some of those watching the euphoria in Gaza, this must be the first genocide in history where the victims have emerged to declare victory. Those Arabs were ecstatic because they believed that the deal would enable them now, finally, to destroy Israel and the Jews. “Jews remember Khayba...

After decades of silence, a long-overdue debate has erupted about the rape gangs in British towns. A backlash has been growing since GB News reported that the Labour government’s Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips, had rejected calls from grooming gang survivors in the northern town of Oldham for a public inquiry into the abuse they suffered and the way it was covered up. The interventions of Elon Musk, J.D. Vance, Nigel Farage, and Kemi Badenoch have made it difficult to ignore the depravity of organised grooming gang activity in England.  Click for:  Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips' letter. For more than 20 years it has been an open secret that, in numerous English towns and cities, ‘Asian’—principally Pakistani—rape gangs were operating in plain sight of the local police and officialdom.  These gangs were given a free pass to carry on with their monstrous crimes because neither the local nor the national elites were prepared to acknowledge the fact that mul...