All that glitters

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

In 2001, Mariah Carey was in an awful film called Glitter. Now, thankfully, the must-have party trend for this year (of glitter and all things sparkly), is a lot better than the film, which I believe was not exactly a success at the box office. Adding a hint of shine here and there to your outfit will never be easier as the high street shops and boutiques embrace this look with open arms, and let’s be honest, our eyes tend to be drawn to something shiny. Taking inspiration from a floor length Dolce and Gabbana dress, sequins are really flattering to wear, shorts and minis are the key statement piece and naturally shoes and accessories are where we can have a little fun.

Something special at Silver Wood Jewellery

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

Silver Wood Jewellery opened in High Street last July, offering a beautiful array of jewellery for every occasion.

Best foot forward for the Christmas party season at Born Footwear

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

With Christmas around the corner it is time to get your party looks ready. Celebs are rarely seen now unheeled so why not join them with a new pair of heels for the Christmas party season. Stilettos are a timeless tool for every woman’s classic collection. Designed to force you to stand on your tip toes, tense your calf muscles, and push your chest forward, they elongate your legs, making them appear slimmer, and give you a better posture. Born Footwear stocks a range of Bebo stilettos with peep toe and closed toe that would glam up any outfit for nights out this party season. Our range of stilettos start from €49.95 to €59.95 in a variety of colours from silver, gold, black, and nude.

Every woman’s go-to pair are the black stiletto. The combination of the high heel and the point give you an air of elegance and without doubt will make you look like you have dropped a few pounds. Alternatively, a fashion trick dating back to the 1980s is the nude heel. These will automatically elongate your legs and, better yet, they will go with absolutely everything. The Bebo black and nude stilettos, priced at €49.95, come in both leather and in suede and in both peep toe and closed toe so you will be sure to find a style that suits your night out.

Win a Christmas turkey and ham with Eat Galway

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

To celebrate the run-up to Christmas we have a fantastic prize of an Irish turkey and ham for one lucky reader.

Taxing times, mistletoe and wine...

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

I think it is fair to say that the developing Irish wine market has hit something of a snag. Thanks to the unbalanced and, quite frankly, bizarre new tax on wine, all of our small retailers will have to increase the cost of wine in their shops at various stages between now and the New Year as their duty-paid stock runs out. This means that their customers will see various price increases per bottle, as many of the big supermarkets may very well hold their price, either by losing margin or by negotiating better deals with the big wholesalers. That some wine shops will close is certain, as the difference between what they can offer their customers and the below-cost selling of the supermarkets widens even further.

It is this below cost selling by the multiples that has been blamed as the cause of many of the social problems associated with alcohol. They unfairly use alcohol as a loss leader to build market share in the grocery sector. Yet the loophole still exists that when alcohol is sold below cost price, the retailer is entitled to a refund of the VAT differential, meaning in effect that the Government and taxpayers (that's you and me, folks) are subsidising any large retailers who can afford to sell alcohol below cost price. This is not by any means a fair or level playing field. In the absence of any coherent, balanced, national retail strategy, it is up to us as local people to buy from local businesses who wish to make an honest living by selling quality products to us.

Connemara Coast Hotel, Furbo announces new bilingual menu

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

An bhfuil ocras ort? Fancy something tasty for lunch like steig chaoldroma, or perhaps a trinsuir de bhia mara, fresh from Galway Bay?

B&Q survey finds the Irish are tops for home improvement and gardening

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

A Europe-wide survey by the owners of B&Q Ireland indicates that a large proportion of Irish homeowners spend money on home improvement, and that, along with the UK, Ireland is the country where homeowners are most likely to carry out internal and external painting and decorating themselves.

Gift somebody a pain-free Christmas

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

Nobody wants to be in pain for Christmas, especially while others are busy celebrating the season. So why not demonstrate goodwill by giving a Care Cure acupuncture and Chinese medicine gift voucher?

Galway Chest Clinic to run another Breathe Freely programme in January

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

Following the success of its first Breathe Freely programme for COPD and lung fibrosis sufferers, the Galway Chest Clinic has announced that it will run another programme in January 2013. The programme is designed to improve the quality of life for people with chronic lung diseases, many of whom suffer from considerable shortness of breath when carrying out simple daily tasks despite maximum medical therapy. The British and Irish Thoracic Societies have stated that all patients with lung diseases whose lifestyle is adversely affected by chronic breathlessness would benefit from such a course.

“Chronic lung disease is the third most commonly reported long term illness,” said Dr Hilary McLoughlin, the director of the Galway Chest Clinic. “This course is modelled on the national COPD rehabilitation programme which aims to address the inequity in COPD service across the country. Not everybody who needs help and support is getting it because of long waiting lists in the HSE.

Facing down fear

Thu, Dec 13, 2012

Many of us carry fears within us. Fear of the dark, fear of failure, fear of losing our jobs, our homes, our lifestyle, our loved ones.

The Bish, one hundred and fifty years

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

On this day one hundred and fifty years ago, St. Joseph’s Secondary School formally opened. It represented a triumph for Dr McEvilly, Bishop of Galway, who had worked tirelessly to get the Patrician Brothers to Galway to add to the educational facilities for Catholic boys in the city. Indeed the bishop’s association with the school was such that it became known as ‘The Bish’. Others regarded it as a seminary for preparing boys for the priesthood and so it was also known colloquially as ‘The Sem’.

Reeling back the years....

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

I get both embarrassed and amused, in an hysterical sort of a way, reading back over the recent social history of poor Cathleen Ní Houlihan. Particularly when it touches on anything sexual. It is surprising that any of us were born at all, such was the misery caused at the mention that anyone might be enjoying a healthy sexual relationship with a partner. The impression was given that everyone who had sexual contact outside marriage was not only in a state of serious sin, but that they were some kind of social pariah, to be scorned and driven away from normal society. Even sex within marriage could be shaky. It really was a subject that could not be discussed in public at all without inviting legions of self-righteous men and women out on the streets proclaiming well-meaning but ill-informed opinion.

Tackling the accessory issues ahead of the Christmas nights out

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

To amend the words from the famous musical Annie, ‘you’re never fully dressed without accessories’. Every ensemble poses the accessories debate. From tights to shoes to scarves, indecision over these articles can leave your head in a frenzy of confusion so as the party season looms quicker with the passing days it is essential to be prepared when it comes to decorating your going out attire. Below is a consise guide on how to vamp up your outfits.

The tights

On the Wine Shelf...

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (Independents €14.99)

On the Cookery Book Shelf …

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

Over the last number of years, Paula Wolfert has made a name for herself as an author with a penchant for Mediterranean cuisine and this publication will only enhance that growing reputation.

Christmassy lunch

Thu, Dec 06, 2012

If you are looking for somewhere to have a Christmassy lunch with family or colleagues, there is a little place in Galway that I can recommend to you, Blazers Bar & Bistro. It is set apart from the hustle and bustle of the city, part of The Ardilaun hotel and yet but a stroll from either Salthill or the city centre. This tranquil setting, with beautifully landscaped gardens is a little a gem.

Kirwan’s Lane

Thu, Nov 29, 2012

This medieval street dates back as far as the 16th century and is believed to be one of only five medieval lanes that still exist in the city out of an original 14. It is considered by historians and archaeologists to be one of the richest areas “in terms of its medieval layout, building design and street plan”. It evidently received its name from the Kirwan family, one of only two of ‘the tribes’ who were of Gaelic origin. They were successful merchants and landowners who moved into the city around 1490, and whose wealth helped Galway reach the peak of its splendour during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Tricksters, undemonstrative fathers, and other stories...

Thu, Nov 29, 2012

I wonder would the following story still happen in Galway today. It happened in more innocent times, in the early 1960s. A very upper class gentleman, Major Woodfall Murphy, rented Bermingham House, the great 18th century pile once owned by the barons of Athenry, on the outskirts of Tuam. The genuinely snobby Lady Molly Cusack Smith, who owned the pile, was only too glad with the promised extra lolly. To the outsider it all felt hunky-dory: One snob helping another.

St Bride’s nursing home

Thu, Nov 15, 2012

St Bride’s was situated on Sea Road and was opened in 1916 by Dr William AF Sandys. He was soon joined by Dr Michael O’Malley and by Dr Joseph Watters, who was the anaesthetist. Both doctors Sandys and O’Malley lived in the Crescent, so it was very convenient for them. It was a private nursing and maternity home accepting medical, surgical, and maternity cases. Generations of Galwegians were born here, and many more would have had their tonsils out or their appendix removed here.

‘Outstanding courage, skill and determination’ defined romantic Oranmore Commander

Thu, Nov 15, 2012

The first winter of the war was unusually cold. Commander Bill King’s submarine Snapper served in the North Sea from April 1939 for 12 months. During that time it had numerous contact with enemy ships, mainly in the Skagerrat Strait, between the southeast coast of Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden.

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.