Wish List: Eight ideas to treat ourselves and loved ones
Father's Day is coming up, and if you're on the hunt for something a little different for any sea-loving dads, Sligo-based Outcrop have nailed it. Their beautifully crafted round wooden 3D maps (€99) are the kind of gift that ticks all the boxes — personal, Irish-made, and eco-conscious. You can even mark a meaningful spot with a solid brass pin or add a custom engraving. We love the Atlantic blue stain (a nod to their coastal roots), and the new natural finish is just lovely. Made without glue or nails and fully compostable — how sound is that? Browse over 100 Irish locations at outcrop.ie or check them out at stockists like Foxford Woollen Mills, The Loft in Clonakilty, or Krafted in Wexford.
Street Carnival
Mark your diaries: The brilliant Irish Yogurts Clonakilty Street Carnival is back on Saturday, June 14, and fitness expert Karl Henry has already cut the ribbon. It's one of West Cork's happiest days out — think street food, music, colour, and serious summer vibes. Pearse Street transforms into one long open-air dining room, with top-notch dishes from local chefs (everything from spicy Indian to seafood feasts). Non-food activities are free, but grab meal tickets early from Clonakilty.ie, O'Donovan's Hotel or Fuchsia Footwear.
Hungry birds
Got a dad who loves his garden birdies? FieldDay's bamboo bird feeder could be a sweet little gift. It's part of their expanded collection, which now includes reusable stoneware candle pots and refill packs — great for repurposing and easy on the planet. This bird feeder, along with their wild bird seed, is a gentle reminder to enjoy the outdoors. Find them at Fielddayireland.co.uk and in stores like Avoca, Meadows & Byrne, and Blarney Woollen Mills.
Bagged
Beach days are back, and we spotted the perfect bag in Clonakilty: The Venice from Burke by Design — fully lined, zipped, with handy internal pockets, and just €39.95. It comes in black, brown, cream and gold, and honestly, it looks far more expensive. Pam's shop is a real treasure trove — think baby gifts, homeware, jewellery (Ania Haie, Ted Baker, Chlobo), and even bespoke wardrobe styling. You'll find them on Instagram @burkebydesign or at burkebydesign.ie. Or just pop in if you're in town — it's that kind of place.
New tastes
I had planned to include Keogh's new crisps in our Tried & Tested spot... but they vanished before I got the chance (thanks, family, ye hounds). Their Ghost Chilli & Sour Cream flavour launched at Bloom, and apparently, it's hot, hot, hot — but it is balanced beautifully by that cool tang. They're €2.89 a bag and available from June in stores and Keoghs.ie. You've been warned!
Time to cleanse
One thing I did get to try is the new Rosalique cleanser and night cream. I'm a long-time fan of their three-in-one anti-redness cream, and the balm cleanser (€34.95) is gorgeously gentle — and it also doubles as a mask. The night cream left my skin calm, happy, and totally unbothered. Everything is vegan, cruelty-free, and available from pharmacies or Rosalique.ie.
Organic beauty
Beauty lovers take note: Innersense Organic Beauty has landed in Ireland. If you're into clean, conscious self-care, this California brand ticks every box — high performance, sustainable, and transparent. Prices range from €28-€70 and it's all available via Innersensebeauty.ie. The story behind it is special too, rooted in family, care, and making better choices.
Cork pride
Oh and before I forget, we had to include Jando's 'Everything Is Better In…' print series. It's a colourful, county-pride collection of riso prints that's perfect for GAA-loving dads or anyone missing home. Naturally, we went for Cork. Up the Rebels! Available in Irish and English, €30 unframed, €70 framed, at Jando.ie.
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Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
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When laid out on the page, the lyrics of Kingfishr have the look and feel of mid-century Irish poetry — subdued, conversational, and peppered with an energy that borders on despondency. However, when paired with the still, heavy baritone of lead singer Eddie Keogh, and the striking musicality of bass player Eoghan 'McGoo' McGrath, and banjo player Eoin 'Fitz' Fitzgibbon, the alchemy changes to reveal a stirring, emotional urgency, one not dissimilar to hope. When Kingfishr play, they emote something that is both entirely unaffected and yet drenched with feeling. Like the writing of the band's stylistic forebears — The Dubliners, The Cranberries, The Frames — the music of Kingfishr is imbued with a yearning for a long-vanished, almost parochial way of life: one centred around the beauty, peace and danger of youth, and the long, hazy days of wondering where life will take you next. Next month, Fitzgibbon (27), McGrath (26) and Keogh (27) will release their debut album, Halcyon, along with a smattering of tour dates across Europe and the US, many of which are already sold out. As we sit in Dublin's The Gibson Hotel, and look across to the 3Arena, they can't quite believe that this venue is one of them. 'Ticket sales sometimes feel not real, social media isn't real, but walking into that space, knowing you're going to sell it out for two nights… That is real,' Keogh says. 'And crazy,' Fitzgibbon laughs. 'It never gets normal, and to be honest, I don't think I want it to,' McGrath smiles. The trio met in the early twenty-twenties — some say 2021, others 2022 — while studying Hardware Engineering at the University of Limerick. Between long days in student accommodation during the hangover of the pandemic, they punctuated college work with PlayStation and songwriting, picking up where Keogh's teenage hobby left off. Fitzgibbon, an East Cork hurler with thick eyebrows and a bashful smile, soon joined him in creating music, only to remember a classmate with a penchant for strings. 'McGoo comes from a musical dynasty,' Keogh says. 'There's a room dedicated to silverware in their house. But yeah, we asked him to get involved to see what a banjo would sound like with what we'd written — and it all kind of started from there.' Kingfishr, named for the birds who reside near the river behind Keogh's house, began playing at house parties to hone their craft and spread their name. It was a natural extension of their previous lives, picking up guitars at sessions and singing until daylight broke. The first 50 gigs, mainly pubs around Limerick, were 'rubbish,' but they persisted. As friends began to request their music at parties over celebrated covers, the three men began to consider the will-they-won't-they pull of the music industry. (Their track Shot In The Dark tracks this leap of faith from a much steadier path to a much more creative one.) That they've managed to break through the noise amidst an island of songwriters is not lost on them. 'I just knew that if we didn't do this now, we never would,' Keogh says, catching my eyes. 'I wanted to be able to go to bed every night and know that we'd tried. And like… More people win the lottery than achieve what's happened to us. This doesn't just happen.' Kingfishr: 'I wanted to be able to go to bed every night and know that we'd tried. And like… More people win the lottery than achieve what's happened to us. This doesn't just happen.' Indeed, since their debut on the Irish music scene less than three years ago, Kingfishr have racked up more than 70 million streams, sold 50,000+ tickets, played support slots for the likes of Dermot Kennedy and Bruce Springsteen, and are key players in the Irish revival alongside acts like The Mary Wallopers, Amble, KNEECAP, and John Francis Flynn. According to Cork and Limerick locals, their impromptu gigs have amassed what publicans have come to label as 'Beatlemania'. In person, the band's members are boyish, smiling and unassuming. They regularly discuss how it's not in their nature to be self-promoting, something that brushes against the norms of today's music industry, and prefer to discuss the likes of nicknames ('McGoo' was deemed so by McGrath's physics teacher, and somehow persisted), advertisement soundtracks (the 2005 Sony Bravia TV one with José Gonzales' Heartbeats, Hyundai's 2018 one with James Vincent McMorrow's cover of Higher Love) and perfect movies (' Shrek 2 is a rare example of a sequel better than the original'). They do align on one serious topic, though: spirituality. 'I spent an awful lot of my teens feeling that there was no point to anything, that we were just bones and flesh, and you could just drink yourself off a cliff,' Keogh says. 'But I've had a couple of experiences now where I start to consider that there's something out there worth believing in. And I think that's partially what a lot of music is about.' 'I certainly believe in something,' Fitzgibbon shares. 'I grew up in a religious family,' McGrath says. 'And I can't help but feel today that something's lost. You can explain away an awful lot, and we are engineers, so we know that more than most, but sometimes…' Keogh interjects. 'There's a bit of magic in the air. And maybe you can explain that away as just like molecules and DNA. But I think if people were really honest with themselves… they would say that it's something we know very little about.' Certainly, Kingfishr have given young people something to believe in. As peers of theirs continue to emigrate, their music brings those who have left home in a way few anticipated. There's perhaps their most famous track, Killeagh, an ode to Fitzgibbon's hurling team, penned before an East County Final. ('They'd go raring and tearing and fighting for love / For the land they call Killeagh and the Lord up above'). Written in just 15 minutes, the now four-times Platinum single speaks to everything the band is about: storytelling, community and an appreciation for home. 'We have this crowd of 8-year-olds who stand behind the goals whenever we play in Killeagh now,' Fitzgibbon smiles. 'And now they scream the song whenever we score. I think it makes them proud of their place, and that's everything, because we want to give people an Ireland to be proud of.' In the end, the music of Kingfishr continues to soar because they tend to shine a light on a need few of us can put a name on. They, too, speak to a myriad; each listen allows one to find something slightly different from the time before. In that way, Fitzgibbon, McGrath and Keogh have become, unbeknownst to themselves, north stars for a generation, one that may have felt that Ireland wasn't for them, through no fault of their own. Indeed, one central theme permeates through the band's debut album: that we all live in the shadow of one another, and we must listen to find our way out. 'Certainly, the reason I fell in love with music is from, like, house parties, running after girls you hadn't a hope with, and then some song comes on and everyone goes bananas,' Keogh says. 'And you're just like, will things ever be this good again? If we can give that to someone, and they can come away from a night listening to our music with a core memory, that to me is everything.' 'I want us to take America,' Keogh says, finally, as we discuss the band's big dreams. 'I've never said that aloud before, and I'm aware it might sound stupid. But we've finished a tour there, with another coming up now. So we might have the chance to sink our claws in, and God, we're going to try.' * Kingfishr's debut album Halcyon will be released on August 22, 2025 * Tickets for their tour are available on
Extra.ie
3 hours ago
- Extra.ie
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- Irish Daily Mirror
Hundreds attend music session in solidarity with Kneecap after court appearance
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Kneecap's Liam Og O hAnnaidh, speaks to supporters as he leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court, London, where he was charged with a terrorism offence (Image: Lucy North/PA Wire) Hundreds of Kneecap supporters greeted O hAnnaidh as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday morning, alongside fellow Kneecap rappers Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh. During the hearing, his defence team argued the case should be thrown out, citing a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought. The case has been adjourned until September 26, when the judge will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case. At the protest session at Connolly Books on Wednesday afternoon, several artists played Irish traditional music in solidarity with the rappers and Palestine. People attending the music session in Connolly Books (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire) Musician Ru O'Shea, who performed at the demonstration, said charging O hAnnaidh had turned him into 'a hero'. 'I think it's been a huge misstep by the powers that be to go after him in the first place,' he told the PA news agency. 'I reckon that they don't have a thing on him and I think they are turning him into a hero and I think we need a hero. 'What's happening in Palestine right now, it's gotten to such an extreme that it's waking a lot of people up, including the British who might not have ever seen it otherwise and stayed in that bubble forever.' Palestinian flags flown outside Connolly Books in Dublin's Temple Bar, where a music session took place to show solidarity for Kneecap's Liam Og O hAnnaidh after he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court, in London, charged with a terrorism offence (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire) O'Shea's friend John Feehan said: 'I think people are maybe starting to look up a little bit in Britain and I think things like what's happening with Kneecap is a catalyst for people to be like 'Oh, wait a minute, what's actually happening here?'. So I hope there's momentum, but I really don't know.' Dubliner Aoife Powell, 19, said she came out to protest because she is 'angry' at the decision to charge an artist rather than focus on what is happening to the people of Gaza. 'I'm here because it just worries me that the fact that governments are focused on artists expressing themselves rather than the actual problem, which is obviously the genocide in Gaza,' she told PA. 'It's a little bit disheartening to see there's so much pressure being put on these artists to stop saying what they truly think and to stop standing on the right side of history. 'I feel like it's a distraction from what's actually happening. A 'Free Mo Chara' t-shirt and 'Make Palestine Great Again' cap at the music session to show solidarity for Kneecap's Liam Og O hAnnaidh (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire) 'When a government tries to silence people, they should learn that they can never silence people. I feel like the public would get more angry at that.' Sean O'Grady is from Coleraine in Northern Ireland but has lived in Dublin for almost 70 years. 'I'm delighted with them (Kneecap), that they've done what they're doing and they're getting plenty of publicity. 'The British government are crazy, I mean, what are they at? 'They're supplying a lot of the bombs and a lot of the arms and ammunition to Israel to do what they're doing. So they should be ashamed of themselves instead of bringing in these people (to court) for stupid reasons. 'It's getting good publicity over there for the cause of the Palestinians.' Dubliner Dermot Nolan said he attended his first Palestine protest in 1967, and while he remembers horrific events such as the Vietnam War, the scale of death and injuries in Gaza is the worst he has ever lived through. 'I'm here because it's important to for two reasons – first of all, to show our intolerance of the genocide and slaughter that's being carried out by the US, Nato and Israel. 'The second reason is the question of civil rights. We're protesting about the indictment of a member of the Irish group Kneecap. 'It is a sign of creeping authoritarianism which is happening in all the western countries and most clearly in Britain.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
