The Woke Macarena: All you need to know about the TikTok dance of the summer and its Irish origins
It's the TikTok dance of the summer – the Woke Macarena dance accompanies the catchy single Take a Sexy Picture of Me by acclaimed Irish singer CMAT, which will be on her upcoming album Euro-County.
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Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Romantasy island: ‘I picked up the book, and I became feral! I read the first book in a day, then the second in a day, which is 700 pages. It was intense'
As the clock ticked towards midnight on January 21, crowds gathered outside bookstores around the world in fevered anticipation of the release of Onyx Storm, the third instalment in Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series about a military academy for dragon riders. The American author is at the forefront of the booming 'romantasy' genre, which combines elements of romance and fantasy, and has exploded in popularity in the past year thanks to BookTok, TikTok's reader community.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Wedding of the Week: Two gowns, two bands, and one big party for Kerry couple's summer wedding
A romantic winter wonderland engagement set the scene for Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald's summer wedding. The Kerry couple became an item in April 2020. 'We met online around the start of covid but had known each other through friends,' says Maureen, from Fenit. Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography She and Kevin, from Currow, headed to Vienna to celebrate New Year's Eve 2022, where that December 31, he booked an evening at the opera and popped the question as the clock struck midnight. Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography Maureen, who owns a hair salon with her mother Frances, Brush'n'Blush, and Kevin, a secondary school teacher, were married in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Currow, by Fr John Buckley, and held their reception in the Killarney Oaks Hotel. Helping them celebrate were both sets of parents, Frances and Gerard McCarthy and Maureen and Maurice Fitzgerald. Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald with their wedding party. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography 'My grandmother, Patsy Nevin, was my official witness,' says Maureen. 'It's a memory I will cherish forever.' Niamh Sheehy was the maid of honour and Kirstin O'Shea, Nicola Warren and Fenagh O'Mahoney were the bridesmaids with Padraig O'Shea as the best man and JJ Hanrahan, Conor O'Leary and JJ Cahill as the groomsmen. Maureen McCarthy with Niamh Sheehy, Kirstin O'Shea, Nicola Warren and Fenagh O'Mahoney. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography The bride's nieces, Maisey and Abbie McCarthy, were the flowergirls. Horan's Wedding Cars ensured the newlyweds travelled in style. Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography Maureen wore two different super-elegant bespoke gowns by Irish designer Kathy De Stafford for her wedding day. 'My vision for the first dress was a classic satin strapless gown with buttons down the back and a two-tiered veil, which I wore for the ceremony and meal,' she says. Maureen McCarthy. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography 'I wanted my second dress to be more of a party dress, and it was an ankle-length satin dress with an embellished corset top. I wore both dresses with satin Valentino sling-back heels.' Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography The groom and his party sourced their suits at Red Church, Cork City. The bride had no shortage of professional consultants. Maureen McCarthy. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography 'My good friend Zoe O'Carroll, who is a talented makeup artist, made the trip back from Australia for the wedding and did an amazing job on my makeup. My hair was done by the sister of my maid of honour, Grace McDonnell, so it was very personal to have the two of them with me on the morning,' she says. Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography 'Being a wedding hairstylist myself, I had a massive insight into how the day would go, I really wanted to enjoy it all and not worry about small things that you don't realise until after really don't matter.' Maureen McCarthy with Niamh Sheehy, Kirstin O'Shea, Nicola Warren and Fenagh O'Mahoney. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography Photographer Padraig Healy ( and videographer Mike Grace (Vision & Vows) were behind the lens. 'I was lucky enough to have worked with both my photographer and videographer before and was 100% confident to follow their instructions. I let all the suppliers do their thing on the day and trusted the process. My bridesmaid Kristin was married the month after us, and I had the pleasure of doing her hair and being her bridesmaid on her big day, too.' Maureen McCarthy with Niamh Sheehy, Kirstin O'Shea, Nicola Warren and Fenagh O'Mahoney. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography Maura Sheehy of Maura's Cottage Flowers created the floral décor. Two wedding bands ensured the dance floor was full, Rouge and Super Ceili ('instead of a DJ — it was so much fun!'). For the day-two celebrations in the bride's local, The Tankard Bar and Restaurant in Fenit, singer Seamus Harty, followed by The Little Creatures, entertained. Maureen McCarthy and Kevin Fitzgerald. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography 'Day two was electric,' adds Maureen. 'We wanted the whole weekend to be a big party.' The Currow-based newlyweds enjoyed a honeymoon organised by Nicola Browne Travel Counsellors that included Cancun, Orlando, and Yosemite National Park. If you would like your wedding featured in Weekend email
Extra.ie
7 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Dr Norah Patten on the less glamorous side of space training
When you picture astronaut training, chances are you're imagining extremely serious, Hans Zimmer soundtracked scenes from the likes of Interstellar, Gravity or Ad Astra. Chances are you're probably not picturing a Ballina woman perfecting her zero gravity approach; however, Dr. Norah Patten: engineer and Ireland's very own spacebound trailblazer, is the REAL face of space exploration in 2025. As she edges closer to becoming the first Irish person in space, Norah's training regimen is, as you'd expect; rigorous, technical, and full of acronyms. But it also comes with a healthy dose of chaos and very human moments. She sat down with this week to lift the visor on what really goes on behind the scenes of astronaut prep. When you picture astronaut training, chances are you're imagining extremely serious, Hans Zimmer soundtracked scenes from the likes of Interstellar, Gravity or Ad Astra. Pic: Facebook 'I think with social media, it's been great having that as a platform to share some of the some of the preparation we do, and some of the programs that we've we've worked on,' she began. 'I think people like to hear about the kind of quirky things…for example, the microgravity flights are often named 'the vomit comet' because people get motion sick on them. 'Because you're flying in this trajectory on the aircraft where it's like you're flying up and down, and you're getting this 20 seconds of weightlessness, and you then transition into like a 2g pull, so everything becomes heavy, and often in those transitions, people can get motion sick and and so people often like to hear, did you get sick? You know, and what do you eat in advance?' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aer Lingus (@aerlingus) Norah sees her pre-flight meal as an essential part of the launch day routine, admitting she has it down to a 'fine art' by now. 'I know a chicken wrap, a plain chicken wrap, maybe two and a half hours before I fly and I'm perfect. I haven't gotten sick. If you don't eat, you're more likely to get sick. So there's all these combinations.' Another lesser-known but entirely practical part of space preparation is the use of adult nappies—yes, even astronauts have to think about bathroom breaks when suited up, with Norah spilling the beans on the less glamorous side of space exploration. Chances are you're probably not picturing a Ballina woman perfecting her zero gravity approach, however, Dr. Norah Patten: engineer and Ireland's very own spacebound trailblazer is the REAL face of space exploration in 2025. Pic: Instagram/ Dr Norah Patten 'It's a maximum absorbency garment, it's a mag, and you actually wear those on the space flight. Astronauts wear them on the way to the space station. It's just, if you did have to go to the toilet, there's no toilets on the spacecraft. So what do you do? You wear a mag on your space flight. I think it's those interesting little facts that people like to get a sense of that the human side.' Norah's journey has also quietly transformed her into a role model for a new generation of space enthusiasts, especially in Ireland. Her presence in the space world shows young people—particularly girls and those from underrepresented communities—that space isn't just for a select few. It's a career path that can start with stargazing in Mayo and lead all the way to orbit. As she edges closer to becoming the first Irish person in space, Norah's training regimen is, as you'd expect; rigorous, technical, and full of acronyms. But it also comes with a healthy dose of chaos and very human moments. She sat down with this week to lift the visor on what really goes on behind the scenes of astronaut prep. Pic: Facebook 'It's sometimes hard to put into words, because it's something I don't for one second take for granted,' she remarked of her newfound fame. 'Sometimes I get recognized out, you know, with little kids coming up, and they're like, 'oh, there's Nora!' And it's really, really special to see. 'I just want to be able to use the flight as a means of engaging with as many, not just kids, adults too, in Ireland, just to share what we're doing, inspire them and If there was some big dream or ambition they had, to find possible routes to make it happen.' Norah has been selected for a mission on board Virgin Galactic's second generation of spacecraft that will hopefully launch in 2026 Aer Lingus has since partnered with Dr Patten ahead of her historic space mission, with the Irish airline proudly flying Norah as she crosses the Atlantic while undertaking this vital space research.
