"August Is A Wicked Month" is the title of an early novel by Clare born writer Edna O'Brien, some of whose books were banned by the Irish Censorship Board in the early '60s of the last century.
I hope this August does not turn out to be wicked from a weather point of view, as July was a disappointment after a glorious June.

The eagle has landed. I use the word 'eagle' in the context of The Skibereen Eagle newspaper, which more than a century ago claimed to keep an eye on the Czar of Russia.
I am not as far from Mayo as the 'Eagle' was from Moscow, but I will be keeping an eye on happenings in my home county from across the Twelve Pins.
I am delighted to be able to continue to write a weekly column for The Connaught Telegraph. I still have some technical adjusting to do in order to send my article by email, but things should fall into place in the near future as I

A few years ago a Clareman I met in Galway told me: "I was at your wake in Inis Oirr in 1975." I told him I didn't even know that I had died, but I was well aware that he meant my last night as a priest in my first sojourn in the Aran Islands.
The comparison between leaving a parish with being at your own wake or funeral has been ever present in my mind since the priestly changes were announced. The only good thing