Blog

Longer sunnier days usually arrive by mid-March and we have more opportunities to get into the garden and perform some much-needed tasks. March is the time when growth begins, and …

By Walter Lawler  Kilkenny’s Carnegie Library I begun my library career with Kilkenny Libraries in June 2003.  I needed work experience before I started my postgrad in Library and Information …

‘There are so many untold stories that need a voice and a light to be shined on them, this keeps me going, I need to tell these stories.’ (Sheila Forsey) …

I was having one of those “beached whale afternoons” over the recent festive period. You all know the one: sprawled across the couch, totally stuffed but still managing to find …

The fourth and final film in our online season of classic films is the 1947 crime thriller ‘Kiss of Death’. Arguably (in this writer’s opinion at least!) the best film …

Interviews with Irish Writers by Niamh Boyce. I’m delighted to welcome David Delaney, author of Reaching Eden to #TuesdaysWriter today! Living in Laois – David is multi-talented and dynamic – …

By Karen from Portlaoise Library “What do you call a blind dinosaur?” A Do-you-think-he-saurus. What do you call a blind dinosaur’s dog? A Do-you-think-he-saurus Rex. If you’re of a certain …

Article by Tommy Scott, Portlaoise Library. The third film in our season of online classic films is the 1950 gangster thriller ‘Night and the City’. Starring Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney …

  I first became aware of Pat Ingoldsby in the 1980s, through his TV shows Pat’s Pals, Pat’s Hat and Pat’s Chat. He stood out from the other presenters of …

Now that spring has sprung it’s time to get busy in the garden and although it’s still wet and cold, there are a lot of jobs that can be done …

By Walter Lawler September 2001 will be remembered globally for the 9/11 terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York.  This was the main headline story of the month …

Few other films of the 1940s better set the template for film noir than the 1944 Fritz Lang directed  ‘The Woman at the Window’. One of the giants of early …

Toni Morrison 1931 -2019 “It’s impossible to actually imagine the American literary landscape without a Toni Morrison. She is our conscience, she is our seer, she is our truth-teller.” Oprah …

The first film in Laois Library Film Club’s Spring season of classic films is the 1946 film noir thriller ‘The Stranger’. ‘The Stranger’ was directed by Orson Welles, and he …

Finding inspiration in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. By Niamh Boyce It’s February, month of snowdrops, new growth, longer days and farewell to winter! This new season finds me thinking about …

  by Erika from Portlaoise Library. February 1st marks the festival of St Brigid or Lá Fhéile Bhríde in Ireland. It was seen as the turning point in the year …

By Walter Lawler   The first time I heard of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier was in the early 1980s, when I was 6 or 7.  The names didn’t mean …

  ‘She wrapped her hands around the tree of Irish poetry and shook it to its foundations.’   Imagine a poet – what do you see? In a recent editorial …

By Walter Lawler On the 5th of May 1821 Napoleon died on the island of St. Helena deliriously whispering “France, Army, At the Head of the Army, Josephine”.  Not bad …