Season opener – on your marks...
The flat racing season gets underway at The Curragh Racecourse on 15 March with the St Patrick’s Festival Family Race Day. Alongside a packed race card, including the €100,000 Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire, the day will also shine a light on mental health awareness. Nua Healthcare Services will donate €2,500 to Irish Injured Jockeys and launch the 2026 National World Mental Health Day poster campaign with Mental Health Matters. Expect racing, family activities and a positive start to the season.
See curragh.ie
Pictured below: From left at the launch of Nua Healthcare Services sponsorship
at the Curragh Racecourse, Evan Arkwright, sponsorship manager, The Curragh Racecourse; Barbara Brennan, founder of Mental Health Matters; Ben Coen, professional Irish jockey; Noel Dunne, CEO, Nua Healthcare Services;
Michael Higgins, general manager of Irish Injured Jockeys.
Features editor at the Belfast Telegraph, Áine Toner has just published her latest novel, The Confidence Club. The story centres on three strangers who sign up for a confidence-building course and when the course leader fails to appear, Emer, Terry and Sarah unexpectedly find themselves relying on each other instead. Through humour, honesty and growing trust, they discover that confidence sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Toner’s engaging storytelling and relatable characters make The Confidence Club an encouraging and enjoyable read about the power of support, friendship and believing in yourself. Published by Austin Macauley, the book is priced £12.99, (€14.99).
See austinmacauleycom
Confidence Club.
Menopause Hub Academy is partnering with Core Research to launch one of Ireland’s largest surveys on women’s hormone health – from menstruation and maternity to menopause and everything in between. The findings will help inform how workplaces and policymakers respond to women’s health needs in the years ahead.The survey takes no more than 15 minutes and is completely anonymous.
We encourage mothers, daughters, sisters,partners, friends and colleagues to participate and share widely. Women’s health affects us all.Take the survey at: survey.euro.confirmit.com/wix/2/p507645617212.aspx
Loretta Dignam, founder of the Menopause Hub.
Cheese please across the sea
Irish cheesemakers are making a strong return to the British & Irish Cheese Awards, with a record 48 Irish entries among more than 600 cheeses in this year’s competition. Judging takes place on 20 March at the Bath & West Showground in Somerset as part of the Bath & West Food & Drink Festival. A decade after Brexit disrupted trade, the growing number of Irish entries signals renewed momentum for farmhouse cheeses crossing the Irish Sea once again.
Tim Rowcliffe, vice-chairman of the British & Irish Cheese Awards and ambassador to Ireland for the Specialist Cheesemakers Association, commented: “It’s shocking to think that a decade has passed since Irish cheese began losing its presence in the UK, but I’m really excited by the progress we’ve made in putting this right.” Pictured blow: Judging at the British & Irish Cheese Awards in 2025.Tickets are €70 plus booking fee.
See britishcheeseawards.com
Judging at the British & Irish Cheese Awards in 2025.
If you’re marking Mother’s Day this week, Irish skincare brand Away with Nature makes a thoughtful gift. Founded by Fiona O’Donohoe after her own rosacea journey, the range is made with natural ingredients and designed for sensitive skin, including changes linked to perimenopause and menopause. With a new workshop and studio opening soon, it’s a lovely Irish success story too.
See awaywithnature.com
Calendula and Turmeric Overnight Mask 60ml, €47.
Applications are now open for the ESB Networks Apprenticeship
Programme 2026, offering school-leavers and career-changers the chance to train as electrical apprentices while earning along the way. The four-year programme combines hands-on work with classroom learning and leads to a QQI Level 6 electrical trade qualification. Apprentices help build and maintain Ireland’s electricity network while developing practical skills for a long-term career. Applications are open now.
See esbnetworks.ie
Male electrician apprentice learning the ropes. \iStock
Poetry Corner
Mam’s Kitchen Light
by Ellen Dunphy, Prosperous, Co Kildare
Mam was always
the first awake,
long before the rest of
the house
found its voice.
The kettle humming softly,
the back door opened to
the morning,
cold air slipping across the tiles.
She knew the sound
of every step
coming down the stairs.
Who needed toast,
who needed tea,
who just needed a quiet minute
before the day began.
Her hands were never still.
Lunches wrapped,
buttons sewn,
bread thick with butter
waiting on the plate.
We didn’t notice it then,
how the whole house
turned around her kindness.
Now when I pass the
kitchen late at night
and see the small light left on,
I think of Mam.
How love lived there,
in warm mugs,
open doors,
and the way she always said
come in out of the cold.
Do you have a piece of poetry inspired by the countryside and farming?
Please send in your best work for consideration for the weekly Poetry Corner. We’re looking for short poems that captivate, inspire and reflect the landscapes, traditions, and culture of rural Ireland in the past or the present. About 200 words or so is the ideal length.
Please send your poetry to icl@farmersjournal.ie or post to Irish Country Living, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.
Season opener – on your marks...
The flat racing season gets underway at The Curragh Racecourse on 15 March with the St Patrick’s Festival Family Race Day. Alongside a packed race card, including the €100,000 Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire, the day will also shine a light on mental health awareness. Nua Healthcare Services will donate €2,500 to Irish Injured Jockeys and launch the 2026 National World Mental Health Day poster campaign with Mental Health Matters. Expect racing, family activities and a positive start to the season.
See curragh.ie
Pictured below: From left at the launch of Nua Healthcare Services sponsorship
at the Curragh Racecourse, Evan Arkwright, sponsorship manager, The Curragh Racecourse; Barbara Brennan, founder of Mental Health Matters; Ben Coen, professional Irish jockey; Noel Dunne, CEO, Nua Healthcare Services;
Michael Higgins, general manager of Irish Injured Jockeys.
Features editor at the Belfast Telegraph, Áine Toner has just published her latest novel, The Confidence Club. The story centres on three strangers who sign up for a confidence-building course and when the course leader fails to appear, Emer, Terry and Sarah unexpectedly find themselves relying on each other instead. Through humour, honesty and growing trust, they discover that confidence sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Toner’s engaging storytelling and relatable characters make The Confidence Club an encouraging and enjoyable read about the power of support, friendship and believing in yourself. Published by Austin Macauley, the book is priced £12.99, (€14.99).
See austinmacauleycom
Confidence Club.
Menopause Hub Academy is partnering with Core Research to launch one of Ireland’s largest surveys on women’s hormone health – from menstruation and maternity to menopause and everything in between. The findings will help inform how workplaces and policymakers respond to women’s health needs in the years ahead.The survey takes no more than 15 minutes and is completely anonymous.
We encourage mothers, daughters, sisters,partners, friends and colleagues to participate and share widely. Women’s health affects us all.Take the survey at: survey.euro.confirmit.com/wix/2/p507645617212.aspx
Loretta Dignam, founder of the Menopause Hub.
Cheese please across the sea
Irish cheesemakers are making a strong return to the British & Irish Cheese Awards, with a record 48 Irish entries among more than 600 cheeses in this year’s competition. Judging takes place on 20 March at the Bath & West Showground in Somerset as part of the Bath & West Food & Drink Festival. A decade after Brexit disrupted trade, the growing number of Irish entries signals renewed momentum for farmhouse cheeses crossing the Irish Sea once again.
Tim Rowcliffe, vice-chairman of the British & Irish Cheese Awards and ambassador to Ireland for the Specialist Cheesemakers Association, commented: “It’s shocking to think that a decade has passed since Irish cheese began losing its presence in the UK, but I’m really excited by the progress we’ve made in putting this right.” Pictured blow: Judging at the British & Irish Cheese Awards in 2025.Tickets are €70 plus booking fee.
See britishcheeseawards.com
Judging at the British & Irish Cheese Awards in 2025.
If you’re marking Mother’s Day this week, Irish skincare brand Away with Nature makes a thoughtful gift. Founded by Fiona O’Donohoe after her own rosacea journey, the range is made with natural ingredients and designed for sensitive skin, including changes linked to perimenopause and menopause. With a new workshop and studio opening soon, it’s a lovely Irish success story too.
See awaywithnature.com
Calendula and Turmeric Overnight Mask 60ml, €47.
Applications are now open for the ESB Networks Apprenticeship
Programme 2026, offering school-leavers and career-changers the chance to train as electrical apprentices while earning along the way. The four-year programme combines hands-on work with classroom learning and leads to a QQI Level 6 electrical trade qualification. Apprentices help build and maintain Ireland’s electricity network while developing practical skills for a long-term career. Applications are open now.
See esbnetworks.ie
Male electrician apprentice learning the ropes. \iStock
Poetry Corner
Mam’s Kitchen Light
by Ellen Dunphy, Prosperous, Co Kildare
Mam was always
the first awake,
long before the rest of
the house
found its voice.
The kettle humming softly,
the back door opened to
the morning,
cold air slipping across the tiles.
She knew the sound
of every step
coming down the stairs.
Who needed toast,
who needed tea,
who just needed a quiet minute
before the day began.
Her hands were never still.
Lunches wrapped,
buttons sewn,
bread thick with butter
waiting on the plate.
We didn’t notice it then,
how the whole house
turned around her kindness.
Now when I pass the
kitchen late at night
and see the small light left on,
I think of Mam.
How love lived there,
in warm mugs,
open doors,
and the way she always said
come in out of the cold.
Do you have a piece of poetry inspired by the countryside and farming?
Please send in your best work for consideration for the weekly Poetry Corner. We’re looking for short poems that captivate, inspire and reflect the landscapes, traditions, and culture of rural Ireland in the past or the present. About 200 words or so is the ideal length.
Please send your poetry to icl@farmersjournal.ie or post to Irish Country Living, Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.
SHARING OPTIONS