Balancing childcare and Creative work by Niamh Boyce
Did you make a resolution to make time for creative work this year? Here are some tips from some very successful writers… Some time ago, (in pre-Covid days) I asked …
The Long Hot Summer of 1995
Note: The article contains a few interspersed hyperlinks to newspaper articles, just click on the blue text to read these. It’s incredible to think that the beautiful summer of 1995 …
Irish Historical Novels
It’s a good time for Irish historical fiction. Christine Dwyer Hickey recently won the eleventh Walter Scott Prize for her novel The Narrow Land, which explores the marriage of artists Edward and …
Rewarding Reads- Denise
Dracula by Bram Stoker chosen by Denise Kinsella from Mountrath Library As a young teenager, maybe 12 or 13, I read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” for the first time. I …
Following The Foos: #11 Thurles
For those of you who have been following this blog series, the chosen subject as this week’s destination may strike you as slightly underwhelming. On first impression it may seem …
Sense into Sensory: Mountmellick Library During Lockdown
Every school day for over two years I have driven past the new school that is under construction on the Borris Road in Portlaoise. The primary schools and secondary schools …
Christmas Books for Children
‘Tis the season to be read to with the abundance of Christmas Books for children available! Let us help you navigate the many, many titles available in your library or …
Following The Foos: #10 New York
It is certainly not an original observation to make about New York that walking its streets is like being on the set of a movie. The city and its landmarks …
All in a Day’s Work!
Considering I have worked in the Laois County Library Service for the best part of two decades, you could be forgiven for thinking that I could very well have seen …
The Joys of Decluttering
When the lockdown of Laois, Offaly and Kildare was announced, it scuppered my plans for a break away to Galway. Confined to my own county again, with a couple of …
An “Unofficial” Family History
As anyone who has undertaken research into their family history will testify, the significance which official state records play (birth, death, marriage, census) is pivotal to the process of navigating …
Following The Foos: #9 Manchester
As exciting as it undoubtedly is to visit somewhere new, there is a definite reassurance in returning to a place that we are already familiar with and, perhaps more importantly, …
Rewarding reads with Julie
Today we have three very different books that have come out in the last few years. These suggestions were made by Julie from Stradbally library and she has some amazing …
Lodz Film School – 72 years of film making
Author: Aga Wypychowska Bardzo Ładnie Foundation “A portrait of a town where some people work, others roam around in search of Lord knows what… A town which is full of …
Following The Foos: #8 Stockholm
If the capital city of Sweden is going to be the subject destination of this week’s Following The Foos, then I feel I must hold my hands up right from …
Podcast Suggestions for Book-loving Walkers
These past few months have brought restrictions on our movements that most of us have never encountered before. As I write, we’re limited to 5 k from our homes. Walking …
Following The Foos: #7 Paris
Paris is one of those cities in the world which conjures up a preconceived familiarity in a person’s mind such is its revered status and its obsequious representation in both …
The Irish Winter Through History
Since a very young age I’ve always been fascinated with meteorology. As a child I messed around with thermometers, rain gauges and weather vanes, breaking some of the former and …
Rewarding Reads- Eilish and Niamh
This is the second in our ‘rewarding reads’ series! Sit back and enjoy some beautiful language and musical poetry thanks to the library staff of Laois Libraries. Both of these …
Following The Foos: #6 Prague
There was a lot riding on this particular trip to Prague in August 2012 when I went to see the band play in the city. You see, when I made …