Three hawks were suddenly circling high above me. They seemed to have come from different directions. Round they went and round, once, twice, three times, calling, calling, calling, keening, keening.

If I had children of primary school age, I’d be back making their lunches after what’s been reported about the school dinners programme recently, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

I’d mentioned to a friend that we were going to see the film. She swooned. She loved Wuthering Heights....she was better off staying at home, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

There will be intense grief at her loss. As anyone who has ever loved and had the love of a pet, especially a dog, will understand, there is nothing like the warm, loyal, trusting companionship and the unconditional, uncomplicated affection they show you, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

My hat was placed on a windowsill adjacent to where it had been dropped.....but, from there, alas, it disappeared.

So many of these words are so incredibly lovely – take ‘dinglisí’ which means tickles...and ‘tearmann’ or sanctuary, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

We need to explain to parents the value and benefits to children of reading books, and outline to them the very real harms involved in handing children over to the easy entertainment offered by technology, says ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

Start a new world order by reading with your child. Doesn’t matter that he or she is now 10 or 11. Do it anyway and do it every day, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

I generally don’t do self-help books and I certainly try to avoid making them the potential basis for a New Year’s resolution, but then I read this one book...

If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and walks like a duck, then it most likely is a duck, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN.

Outsourcing traditional chores is becoming part of life, says ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

I had to change my phone because the battery was severely degraded and kept running down. An iPhone 6, it was a bit over five years old, which everyone else seemed to view as virtually Jurassic.

A nuclear blast had just gone off in my mouth. It felt like somebody had turned a blow torch on my gum, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

This November is the first that, as numerous headline-writers have succinctly described him, The Andrew Formerly Known As Prince will experience without the shield of a royal title.

The shopper paying for her groceries at the till in Dunnes last Friday turned out to be the canary in the coal-mine for the electorate’s lesson to the government, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

Maybe now’s a good time to remind ourselves that our ancient Celtic heritage of Samhain should ideally not be confused with the cynical, commercialised, make-a-quick-buck American version being touted by the retail sector.

When it comes to housework, ÁILÍN QUINLAN says she has started to notice things she never saw before.

"We used to blame the church, communism or lack of education for repression and judgmentalism. Now we’re doing it ourselves," writes Áilín Quinlan. 

Recent research found that more than one in three first-time mothers were being given drugs to artificially accelerate their labour, when there appeared to be no requirement for it to be used, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

ÁILÍN QUINLAN has details of a dog agility contest at the Clonakilty Showgrounds this weekend. 

Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book became famous and, to this day, believe it or not, is viewed not only as an early classic but also as a still fabulous guide to life, politics, and relationships.

Think twice before you slap a label on somebody, man or woman, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

It’s difficult to describe the grief of losing a truly beloved pet to somebody who has never lost one, but it’s visceral, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

The mind has a way of sometimes connecting completely unconnected events, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

Clutter can be a real problem, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

A cold-eyed analysis of the cost-benefit ratio of selling alcohol in airports and on board aircraft could conclude that it’s just not worth it, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN.

Many of our young adults are pulling out of the well-trodden life-paths of previous generations, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

The skorts controversy is not just a sports issue, writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

What happened in Cork city last week was on another level, writes Áilín Quinlan. 

Allowing children unregulated access to the internet is a big mistake, says ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

One phrase in a response from an agony aunt to a letter writer "blew my mind", says Áilín Quinlan. 

Diarmuid Gavin and a second-hand book with a torn dust-jacket got Áilín Quinlan thinking about herbs. 

Áilín Quinlan says she has learned there are lots of ways to balance your chakras. 

A trip to the butchers left Áilín Quinlan in no doubt about rising costs. 

The new Netflix series Adolescence is set in a town in England. But it could just equally be set in Cork city, or Carrigaline, or Ballincollig, or Bandon. Or in Limerick, Clonmel, or Dungarvan, writes Áilín Quinlan. 

I’m not a fan of any reality TV of any kind. But for some reason, Captain Lee Rosbach of the Below Deck US TV series is my big exception, writes Áilín Quinlan. 

Áilín Quinlan said she was horrified to see drivers travelling "shamelessly in breach" of speed restrictions near a school while on a recent walk. 

Could I now pick and choose between the predictions for each of my star signs if I didn’t like something, asks Áilín Quinlan. 

The problem was not the time it might take to do it all myself or that had I any issues with using the technology, explains Áilín Quinlan. 

It appears that making candles is actually quite tricky, which is why most sensible people go to the shop and them, writes Áilín Quinlan 

There is an attitude of rudeness, entitlement and effrontery that we have never seen before in Irish society, writes Áilín Quinlan. 

Unisex toilets are supposed to be more inclusive – but more inclusive for who exactly, asks ÁILÍN QUINLAN.

Designers may believe they’re making products for everyone, but they are not writes ÁILÍN QUINLAN. 

Áilín Quinlan says not enough is being done to make life easier for pedestrians in the city. 

It was just one small, relatively inoffensive thing, but it was a flag-bearer, about the way prices are sneaking up, writes  Áilín Quinlan. 

As many of us prepare to tuck into salmon this Christmas, it’s worth asking whether the public and government are aware of the debates around where they come from, writes Áilín Quinlan

Today’s customer is usually the least important element of any transaction - and when things don’t go to plan, are generally in the wrong, writes Áilín Quinlan. 

As the country prepares to go to the polls, Áilín Quinlan has raised a number of challenges facing the country.

The number of potential female clients in need of good tradespeople is growing exponentially, writes Ailin Quinlan. 

Why not make the hot food providers pay a honking great levy, says Ailin Quinlan