For the first time ever, more people in Northern Ireland identify as Catholic than Protestant, 101 years after the jurisdiction was founded with a Protestant majority in mind.

The tributes and gestures from the leaders of Irish political parties long established in the European mainstream came as no surprise. What came as something of a shock—especially to some of their supporters—were statements issued by the leaders of Sinn Féin, the party most associated with the Irish Republican Army.

For all the buzz surrounding its publication, the Irish synod synthesis is both sober and humble in tone and yet inspiring and hopeful.

In his new 10-story collection, Roddy Doyle tells stories of catastrophes—unemployment, a deadly storm and Covid-19—and their socioeconomic and psychological fallout on Irish families.

Fintan O’Toole reflects on the last 64 years in Ireland—a time when Irish life was almost completely transformed.

Our shared name is a constant reminder that the work I do today is not on behalf of some shapeless ideal of a better world, but for the world that my children will grow up in.