Áine Ryan

Dec 26, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Áine Ryan

Just like Mary and her newborn baby Jesus in the manger, I breast-fed my first two babies to the light of the north star. It was before “the power” came to the island in the early 1980s and whilst my babas were not quite swaddled in straw-filled cradles, Bébhinn did sleep in a drawer for a time when we were extending our little home. It was a traditional cottage built after Clare Island was purchased by the Congested Districts Board at the end of the 19th century.

Dec 24, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Áine Ryan

Santa Claus’s sleigh was much lighter when Don McGreevy began working in his family’s toy shop in Westport more than 50 years ago. The elves at the North Pole workshop certainly hadn’t heard of Moana or Squishmallows, Pokémon or Peppa Pig when Don’s father Jack died suddenly in 1970 and, as the eldest in the family, it fell to him to take over the running of the shop with his mother.

Dec 19, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Áine Ryan

I’m honing my poker face for Christmas as I might as well be in a casino in Las Vegas with the two card sharks who keep beating me in our marathon games of Snap. Ada and Ellen may only be aged five and three, but honestly they’d give poker player Daniel Negreanu a run for his money when Princess Posy or Princess Lovelylocks, Princess Moonbeam or Princess Tilly are turned up in unison from our themed Usborne pack of playing cards.

Nov 20, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Áine Ryan

The perennial problem of the mainland harbour serving those living on Clare Island in Co Mayo has been highlighted to generations of politicians but to little avail. For Clare Island resident Lindsey Bellosa-McCabe (41), the dangers of Roonagh pier have become very clear since her oldest son, Tadhg, started secondary school in Louisburgh.

Nov 6, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Áine Ryan

There is nothing like an early-morning walk in the park for Castlebar’s Buggy Buddies before they head in for a cuppa and a talk on potty training in the county town’s Lough Lannagh leisure complex. It is just one of a broad schedule of events – including breastfeeding supports, baby massages and parenting classes – organised by Le Chéile Family Resource Centre (FRC). These walks and talks offer the perfect time for young mothers to discuss matters beyond the confines of their busy households.