A woman of true willpower: Alison Healy’s modest proposal for solving Fair Deal woesAn Irishwoman’s Diary: Department of Finance mandarins busy totting up budget figures should think beyond the horizon when deciding on elderly careSun Aug 11 2024 - 19:00
Bossy technology – Alison Healy on the rise of the smart machines Even the washing machine barks orders these daysSun Jul 07 2024 - 18:59
A see-through fridge, cookers that take pictures - and other fancy tech for your kitchenWho wouldn’t want a fridge that tells you what to cook tonight, or a robot that fixes your favourite martini every evening?Tue Jun 25 2024 - 05:00
At home in Youghal with jockey – and dancer with the stars – Davy Russell It’s a family affair for the retired champion jockey and horse breeder. Having renovated the family home in Co Cork, Davy and Edelle built a home for his father, Jerry, next doorSun Jun 23 2024 - 06:00
Clues of destiny – Alison Healy on the Crossword Panic of 1944 An astonishing series of coincidencesThu Jun 13 2024 - 19:32
An Irish designer in America: ‘Don’t overthink it ... if it makes you happy, then just do it’A move to the US saw Phoebe Edmondson make the leap from pharma to interior design. Now she’s renovating a home in the Boston suburbsSun Jun 09 2024 - 05:00
Leaving Cert parent: ‘Someone opened a bag of crisps in our kitchen the other night. It was deemed too loud for our exam student’Every day is a school day for our family nowadays, thanks to our student’s habit of sticking Post-It notes everywhereTue Jun 04 2024 - 17:00
Inside TV chef Clodagh McKenna’s new compact kitchen: why big isn’t always betterThe Cork-born TV chef who spent months renovating her London home says larger kitchens can be exhaustingSun Jun 02 2024 - 05:00
In the long run – Alison Healy on the bizarre Olympic marathon of 1904 There was a Mayo man in the mix because, after all, what story would be complete without one?Thu May 30 2024 - 19:16
A 1930s Dublin redbrick transformed: ‘We have our dream house. I just love the mix of the old and new’The owners of this 1930s redbrick house kept a close eye on the budget, but pushed the boat out on some design featuresSun May 26 2024 - 05:00
Change of tune – Alison Healy on not being a songbird I was lumped in with the most tuneless caterwaulers in the classSun May 19 2024 - 18:50
‘Worst morning of my life’ – Alison Healy on tricky touristsOne disgruntled visitor described the Phoenix Park as ‘just grass, grass, grass’Fri May 17 2024 - 19:22
This couple lived on Great Blasket with no electricity or running water. Here’s what they did nextAs caretakers on the epic Kerry island for six months, Emily Campbell and Daniel Regan were taken by the simple life, and found it hard to adjust back to city livingSun May 05 2024 - 05:00
Judgment Day – Alison Healy on predicting when the world will endForecasting the end of our days has taken up a lot of people’s time here on EarthFri Apr 26 2024 - 19:00
Egg on face – Alison Healy on the Warwick Egg IncidentEverything was going great for Australian prime minister Billy Hughes until Paddy Brosnan hurled an eggWed Apr 17 2024 - 19:32
From open-plan to broken-plan: a family’s dramatic transformation of a 1940s Raheny semi With clean lines and a neutral palette, this ‘Japandi’ north Dublin house exemplifies practical and contemporary architectureSun Apr 14 2024 - 05:00
Pushing the envelope – Alison Healy on the heroes and eccentrics of the Irish postal service One postmaster from Lismore travelled to Fermoy in a Dungarvan oyster tubFri Apr 05 2024 - 19:30
Moving back to Wicklow: ‘I love being back in the seasons again because in Dubai it’s either hot or hotter’Relocating from the Middle East to Wicklow may come with more domestic burdens, but interior designer Sharon Conneely-Donaldson is relishing the DIY jobsSun Mar 31 2024 - 05:00
Turnip the volume – Alison Healy on the Vienna-based Vegetable OrchestraThey buy their fresh vegetables on the day of the performance and then spend hours turning them into instrumentsWed Mar 13 2024 - 18:59
Keyed up – Alison Healy on the Boston Typewriter Orchestra The music of QwertyMon Mar 04 2024 - 18:59
Booked up – Alison Healy on people who want to reserve a special place in hell for vast swathes of the populationA warm welcomeSun Feb 18 2024 - 18:45
Off the shelf — Alison Healy on the Book of Kells Experience The lavish and vivid artwork from the manuscript leaps across the walls and floors of the new immersive exhibition at Trinity College DublinMon Feb 12 2024 - 18:59
‘We’re in our 50s so we didn’t want to be stuck with a big mortgage’: The couple who built their forever home in a Foxrock gardenWhen Esther and Stephen Waters built their home, they were conscious of providing a long-term home for their children, who may grow up and be unable to afford to move outSun Feb 11 2024 - 05:00
Riding high — Alison Healy on how a cowgirl stole the show at a Croke Park rodeo Vera McGinnis had no trouble standing astride two galloping horses and, better yet, she had Cavan connectionsFri Jan 12 2024 - 18:59
Bring back gallivanting. Few were quite as good at it as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton A dreary Dublin had never seen anything quite like that fiery coupleFri Jan 05 2024 - 18:59
Obituaries of 2023: Five notable figures on the world stage who died this yearMatthew Perry and Tina Turner were among those who died in 2023Tue Dec 26 2023 - 07:15
Obituaries of 2023: 50 people who died this yearThe Irish Times’s obituary writers have marked the deaths of more than 150 people this year. Here are 50 of the best knownTue Dec 26 2023 - 07:00
Kneeling cows - Alison Healy on Christmas folkloreFrom eating 12 mince pies in 12 days to cows speaking on Christmas Eve, folklore abounds this time of yearMon Dec 18 2023 - 19:00
A castle for Christmas: Roaring log fires, candlelight and banquet tables laden with foodSpending the festive period in a castle can be enchanting, but it also has its challenges, as the owners of Cahercastle, Tubbrid and Fanningstown tell usSun Dec 17 2023 - 05:00
Getting possessive about apostrophes – Alison Healy on the rise of the punctuation warriors One activist customised a stepladder and invented an “apostrophiser”Mon Nov 20 2023 - 18:59
Hold on to your Hat – Alison Healy on an artist who was not all that he seemed Bruno Hat’s artistic exploits became the talk of LondonFri Nov 17 2023 - 18:59
‘It’s the best thing I ever did’: Cooking up a business from homeEscape the drudgery with some tasty ideas; three food entrepreneurs share their experiences on running cooking classes, making cheese wedding cakes and writing a food newsletter from homeSat Nov 11 2023 - 05:00
Shining a light into the often-overlooked work of obituarists There’s always a risk that you might prematurely report the death of a famous personSun Oct 29 2023 - 19:00
A Blackrock home transformed: ‘It was dark, poky and stinky. Instead of moving, I thought, why not fix it’When her husband died, Twink Hickey had to consider her future. But rather than downsize, she opted to remake her home into a light-filled spaceSun Oct 22 2023 - 06:00
‘Lighting is everything’: An interior designer shares the secrets of her kitchen renovationWhen interior designer Geri O’Toole took on her own kitchen redesign, she wasn’t short of ideasSun Oct 15 2023 - 06:00
One fork in the grave – Alison Healy on food-inspired graveside tributes Recipe for immortalityFri Oct 06 2023 - 18:59
Rock bottom: Think you’ve got troubles? You haven’t been hit by a meteoriteAn Alabama woman is said to have been the first person to be injured by a meteorite, but she may have been pipped at the post by a chap in Birr, Co OffalySun Oct 01 2023 - 20:34
Self-build success: How one family saved ‘a small fortune’ by doing it themselvesThrough hard work, Ciara and Seán Owens have created their forever home, nestled in the Fermanagh countrysideSun Oct 01 2023 - 05:00
Alison Healy on the irrepressible cassette tapeYour attic might contain some sought-after treasuresSun Sept 10 2023 - 18:50
‘The location, the sea, the Aran islands, the Cliffs of Moher, it’s a spectacular setting’A German businessman has embraced the landscape and local materials in the construction of a new development in Furbo, Co GalwaySat Sept 02 2023 - 05:00
‘Great feeling of space’: A smart renovation transforms a former Dublin Corporation house for a growing family‘We wanted someone to be realistic about what we could do with two kids and a dog in a small, terraced former corporation house’Sun Aug 27 2023 - 05:00
Double trouble — Alison Healy on conspiracy theoriesThey all boil down to the same premiseSun Aug 13 2023 - 18:59
Meet the ‘agri-influencers’, Ireland’s next generation of women farmers Young women farmers are using social media to tell wholesome stories of rural life and promote Irish women in agriculture, amassing thousands of followers along the waySat Aug 12 2023 - 06:15
Giddy-up – Alison Healy on hobby horsingWhen is the Dublin Horse Show including a hobby-horse class in their schedule?Tue Aug 08 2023 - 18:57
Flat-pack – Alison Healy on staying at the Ikea HotelMy only quibble was that there wasn’t a tiny Ikea pencil to be seen anywhereMon Jul 17 2023 - 18:58
Ikea: What Irish shoppers love to buy The Swedish furniture giant is reviving a selection of classic designs this month - good news for Irish shoppers who are among the brand’s biggest home accessories buyersSun Jul 09 2023 - 06:30
On the back foot – Alison Healy on the perils of online shoppingFor the next three weeks, the tracking information taunted me relentlesslyFri Jun 30 2023 - 18:59
Intruder alert – Alison Healy on unexpected guests and getting work done Driven to distractionThu Jun 15 2023 - 18:55
See inside a modernist Raheny home with a musical twistWhen embarking upon their renovation project, the owners of this home wanted room for an entertaining family life, as well as rehearsal space for female barbershop quartet, Lady BarbaladeSat Jun 10 2023 - 05:00
To get a US president’s attention, sit on his clothes while he’s swimming naked in a river Anne Royall was an intrepid female journalist whose life consisted of one good story after anotherMon Jun 05 2023 - 18:50
