Latest news with #Kinship
RTÉ News
26-05-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Kinship: Artist Dorothy Cross on returning a mummified body to Egypt
We present an extract from Kinship, the new book by celebrated artist Dorothy Cross. Kinship is a unique undertaking in the artistic career of one of Ireland's leading artists. This book, and the artistic project it is part of, charts the act of returning a mummified body of a man to Egypt. Kinship is the act of returning the ancient body of a mummified man to Egypt. It follows in a series of large-scale art projects created over the past three decades set in extraordinary locations such as epic natural sea pools, slate quarries, handball alleys, cathedrals and naval ships. Ghostship (1999), where a decommissioned lightship, was painted with phosphorescent paint and glowed in Dublin Bay, creating a glimmering phantom. Lightships had once marked dangerous underwater reefs all around the coast of Ireland – floating lighthouses placed to warn passing vessels of hidden danger. They were manned by a crew who lived aboard the engineless ships, which were moored bow and stern to the seabed below. As children, our father would bring us out in our boat to visit the Daunt lightship, carrying gifts of cigarettes, fruit and newspapers to the men. By the 1990s most lightships were decommissioned and replaced by satellite buoys. In Heartship (2019), a human heart was placed on board an Irish naval vessel, which sailed up the River Lee in Cork city. It took four years to find a human heart to borrow for the piece. Many hearts are stored in the world's anatomy departments, but laws now prohibit their use. Finally, I borrowed a heart that had been found in a crypt in Cork city in 1863 and acquired by the British army officer General Pitt Rivers, who gave his collection to the University of Oxford, where it remains to this day as the Pitt Rivers Museum. The heart, wrapped in lead, was ideal – nameless, genderless and historic – representing us all. Heartship honoured the thousands of hearts that drowned and remain on the Mediterranean seabed. The heart was held on board a ship that had rescued over 18,000 migrants while stationed in the Mediterranean. It sailed up the river in brilliant sunshine, music pulsing from the ship. The ethereal voice of Lisa Hannigan, with glass-armonica and water-phone, filled the valley. The only figure visible on board was a woman dressed in grey, wandering around the deck. Swallows flew across the bow and people gathered on the dock. The crew docked with perfect choreography – and then Lisa sang from the deck. Listen: Dorothy Cross talks to Brendan O'Connor Some time after Heartship, I remembered a story of an Egyptian mummy that had been in University College Cork (UCC) for decades. I had been told about it years earlier by my Aunt May. May was my father Fergus' oldest sister. She was born in 1899. Her house, Monteville, was full of treasures: a doll's-house replica of Monteville, a grand piano, a rocking horse, X-rays, damask and china, bones and intelligence. She had studied medicine during the curfews of the civil war, lying on her belly on the floor with a candle to illuminate her texts as guns fired across the city. She offered me a room in her basement to use as a studio when I graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and returned to Ireland in 1983. Remembering her story of the Egyptian body, I felt compelled to return the body and sarcophagus to his homeland – a simple act of kinship. Aunt May's husband, Billy O'Donovan, became professor of Pathology in the early 1940s. Building work was being done at the time in the lecture hall of the anatomy department where workers discovered a large sarcophagus containing a mummified human being. A rumour circulated that my uncle had hidden it under the floorboards. This wasn't the case however, it had been placed there for storage several years before he arrived, unbeknownst to him. There is no such thing as ownership with cargo like this. There is guardianship and fellowship. In the early 1900s mummified bodies were exhumed in Egypt and legally sold to collectors and museums around the world. The official version on how this body arrived in Cork is that in 1928 he was gifted by an African missionary priest to the then president of UCC. Some research was done on the mummy in the 1970s by Helen Maloney of UCC. It is the body of a man, believed to have died of natural causes, in his late forties or early fifties. He may have been a priest from Thebes. He was not high-ranking. He was not Tutankhamun. He dates from the Ptolemaic period, 332–30 BC. The sarcophagus which contained the mummy dates from 300 years earlier than the body and was originally occupied by a higher-ranking man named Hor, relatives of whom are in the Museum of Egyptology in Turin, Italy. In 2020 I began to research and view the sarcophagus in UCC, helped by custodians there. At this time I understood that the mummy was in the National Museum in Dublin undergoing preservation treatment. Before travelling to Dublin to view the mummy, I approached a restoration expert located near my home on the remote west coast of Ireland, to ask him about the cost of restoring such an ancient mummy. While in the office of the restoration centre, showing a photograph of the sarcophagus, I mentioned that the mummy was in Dublin. The director, however, pointed to the ceiling above my head and said, 'The mummy is not in Dublin, it is here!' It had been in storage five miles from my house for the last twelve years! The body had been sent to Letterfrack for preservation, when students in Cork rallied to have it sent back to Egypt. It was in bad shape when it arrived in Letterfrack. A restoration expert from the British Museum stabilised it and it was then kept in humidity-controlled storage for the following years. In the beginning things moved quickly. John FitzGerald, poet and head librarian of UCC, enabled us to view the sarcophagus, which remained in a crate under the stairs of the new library with students nonchalantly running up and down, entirely unaware that an ancient coffin lay below. In March 2022 the Kinship Group (Dorothy Cross, John FitzGerald, Mary Hickson and Maeve- Ann Austen) travelled to Cairo. We were aided by the then minister for foreign affairs, Simon Coveney, and then Irish ambassador, Sean O'Regan, in Egypt. We met with the top archaeologists and Egyptologists, notably Dr Mostafa Waziry. He was intrigued by the story of this 'Irish' mummy and agreed to have him returned, to be housed in the Museum of Egyptology in Cairo. Originally my idea for Kinship was to place the body on a ship in Ireland; to sail down the Bay of Biscay, through the Straits of Gibraltar and across the Mediterranean sea, to arrive home to Cairo – from where it had departed one hundred years earlier – with music from both cultures heralding it along the way. Kinship would draw attention to the present-day plight of thousands of migrants who, fleeing their countries, attempt to cross those waters. After these meetings in Cairo, however, it was decided, sadly, that travel had to be by air and not by ship. In the Autumn of 2023 UCC requested the return of the body to Cork from Letterfrack. At the time we were considering a documentary film to accompany what we thought would be an imminent and systematic return. We rented the most beautiful hearse from O'Connor's Funeral Home to carry him south. It turned out the great-nephew of my cousin Margaret O'Connor, daughter of Aunt May was one of the two men who arrived that day, both dressed in black suits, to bring the body back to Cork. We arranged flowers around the crate containing the body and he was driven through the wilds of the western mountains and valleys to the south. The idea for this book formed early in the journey. I wished to hear the voices of brilliant writers in connection with the idea of loss and migration, displacement, time and transition. To bind him in their words. I am so thrilled by the written pieces. They are varied and touching and wrap around the body of an unknown person. I would like to thank the writers for their work which illuminates the anonymity of the returning man, holding him within stories and thoughts. There is no such thing as ownership with cargo like this. There is guardianship and fellowship. As I write, five years have passed since I was first drawn to the idea of returning this man to his homeland. It felt like such a natural and simple act. The body has now been stored for over two years in a warehouse full of university artefacts, the crate gilded in anticipation of the journey. Months have passed; licences have been sourced from the Irish and Egyptian authorities. He was laid to rest over 2000 years ago, which is a short period in relationship to time but long in relationship to our own brevity on the planet. He will return home, however long it takes.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is pet insurance worth it? How to decide.
A broken leg, an emergency surgery, a surprise cancer diagnosis — vet bills like these can run $3,000, $5,000, or more, and most pet parents aren't ready. A 2025 PetSmart Charities-Gallup study found that over half of U.S. pet owners (52%) have skipped or declined needed veterinary care, usually because they couldn't afford it. That's the gap pet insurance tries to fill: It helps you say yes to life-saving care without panicking about the cost. But it's not always straightforward. Policies can be full of fine print, and the value you get depends heavily on your pet and your finances. Here's how to figure out when pet insurance is worth it — and when it might not be. Learn more: How does pet insurance work? A complete guide. 'Pet insurance is ideal for pet owners who can afford a monthly premium but would find it a hardship to pay a large emergency bill all at once,' said Dr. Robyn Jaynes, director of veterinary affairs at PetSmart Charities. If an unexpected vet bill would break your budget or force you to dip into savings meant for other goals, a pet insurance policy could allow you to make medical decisions based on what's best for your pet, rather than what you can afford. 'Most pet parents don't anticipate having to spend thousands of dollars up front on their pet's health,' said Dr. Amy Fox, doctor of veterinary medicine and author at Kinship, a pet parenting website. 'But when accidents happen like pets getting hit by cars, eating something they shouldn't, or breaking a bone, the medical bills can easily be thousands of dollars. Insurance can be a literal lifesaver when emergencies arise.' Still, pet insurance may not be right for everyone. If your pet is older and has preexisting conditions or if you have the savings to cover big expenses out of pocket, paying for pet insurance may not make financial sense. Learn more: The best pet insurance companies of 2025 Here are some of the biggest pros and cons to consider as you weigh whether pet insurance is worth it. Pros Can reduce the financial blow of unexpected emergencies Can make difficult treatment decisions easier Offers peace of mind against unexpected costs Many coverage levels and policies to choose from Cons Monthly premiums can add up, especially if you don't use the insurance Preexisting conditions typically aren't covered You generally have to pay the vet bill up front and wait for reimbursement (unless your vet accepts direct payment) Most policies have waiting periods, exclusions, and payout limits Learn more: Pet insurance that pays the vet directly: How does it work? Pet insurance isn't a guaranteed win, especially if your pet is older or already has health issues that will be excluded as preexisting conditions. Use these steps to think through whether it makes sense. Could you afford an emergency pet surgery tomorrow? If not, pet insurance might be worth considering. A 2025 report from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association found that the average annual premium for accident and illness coverage is $749.29 for dogs and $386.47 for cats, potentially far less than a single major vet bill. If you already have a healthy emergency savings account, you might prefer to self-insure. But remember: Tapping into savings could mean less money available for other emergencies or goals. Some pets are more likely to rack up expensive vet bills than others, and insurance can be a better bet in those cases. Start by talking to your vet because they can flag common conditions you might expect in the future based on your pet's age, breed, and health history. 'Generally, pet insurance is most helpful when you start it early, ideally when your pet is young and healthy,' said Fox. 'At this age, you'll get the most comprehensive coverage and avoid exclusions for preexisting conditions.' Health history. If a condition develops or is diagnosed before you buy a pet insurance policy or during the policy's waiting period, it will generally be excluded from coverage as a preexisting condition. This can include arthritis, allergies, and chronic GI issues. That's why your pet's health history matters. If they already have ongoing issues when you buy pet insurance, coverage will likely be limited to only new problems. Breed. Some breeds are prone to specific (and costly) health problems, like hip dysplasia in large dogs or respiratory issues in brachycephalic breeds such as pugs and bulldogs. Lifestyle. Outdoor cats and active dogs are at higher risk for accidents and injuries, while indoor pets tend to face fewer emergencies, but can still develop chronic conditions over time. 'For pets that are not insured, expenses in their golden years can add up,' Fox said. 'This can strain finances or force pet parents to pick and choose between treatments.' But when pet insurance is already in place, she notes, it can help cover frequent visits, medications, and monitoring. Learn more: Pets Best pet insurance review 2025 Veterinary care costs can vary widely depending on where you live. Understanding local costs can help you weigh whether paying a monthly pet insurance premium is worth it and less stressful than paying for an emergency out of pocket. According to the Animal Urgent Care clinic in Dallas, here are some examples of their common vet costs: Comprehensive lab work: $225 Laceration repair: $500-$1,500 and up Toxicities: $500-$1,000 Heat stroke: $1,200-$2,000 Gastroenteritis: $500-$850 Feline urethral obstruction: $1800-$2,100 Before you buy, it's important to understand what pet insurance covers. While coverage will vary by policy, here's what you can typically expect. Commonly covered: Accidents (like broken bones, poisoning, or swallowing objects) Illnesses (such as infections, cancer, arthritis) Chronic conditions diagnosed after your coverage starts Hereditary and congenital conditions Emergency surgeries and hospitalization Prescription medications Diagnostic tests like X-rays Often not covered: Preexisting conditions (anything diagnosed before coverage begins) Preventive care (unless you add a wellness plan) Cosmetic or elective procedures (like ear cropping) Breeding-related expenses Behavioral therapy (sometimes available as an add-on) Policies also have: Annual coverage limits: This is the maximum the insurer will pay in a year. Some policies provide unlimited annual coverage. Deductibles: This refers to the amount you must pay out of pocket toward vet bills before coverage kicks in. Coinsurance: After the deductible is met, you're responsible for a certain percentage. For example, you might pay 20% of the bill, and insurance covers 80%. Waiting periods: Many pet insurers require 14 days after enrollment before illness coverage begins, and longer for certain conditions like cruciate ligament injuries. 'Don't choose a policy with a particularly low ceiling of coverage,' advised Dr. Rebecca Greenstein, veterinary medical advisor for Rover. 'A broken leg can cost $4,000 to $6,000 to repair these days.' Having a maximum of around $2,000 in coverage can leave you with significant out-of-pocket costs. Once you have a sense of your pet's potential needs and the typical vet costs in your area, it's time to shop around. Pet insurance prices will vary, even for the same type of coverage. When gathering quotes, make sure you're comparing similar coverage options, such as: Annual limit: $5,000, for example, or unlimited Reimbursement rate: Usually 70%, 80%, or 90% Deductible: Can be $250, $500, or $1,000 Greenstein recommends looking for policies with at least $5,000 to $10,000 in coverage per year and evaluating how deductibles and claim frequency may affect what you'll actually get back. Here's a snapshot of how much a $5,000 annual coverage policy costs for a 1-year-old, mixed-breed dog: Pets Best — Essential plan: $23.79 Lemonade: $24.32 Pets Best — Plus plan: $26.77 Pets Best — Elite plan: $27.50 Embrace: $35.24 Spot: $41.03 MetLife: $41.34 Figo: $41.84 Fetch: $43.11 AKC: $43.41 ASPCA: $43.42 Liberty Mutual: $45.03 Before you buy pet insurance, it's smart to do a little math. 'Be honest about your finances,' recommended Jaynes. 'It's worth talking to your vet openly. They can often suggest options, from payment plans to community clinics, if insurance isn't the right fit.' Here's how to make an estimate: Tally your expected premium costs. For example, if you pay $70 a month for a $5,000 annual coverage policy, that's $840 a year, or $4,200 over five years, assuming rates stay steady (but they often increase as pets age). Factor in your deductible and reimbursement rate. Most plans reimburse 70%, 80%, or 90% of covered expenses after you meet your deductible (often $250 to $500), up to your policy's annual limit. Now, compare that to potential vet bills. Here's what common emergencies could cost, according to ManyPets: Broken bone: $3,000-$6,000 Cancer treatment: $5,100-$16,200+ Emergency hospitalization (per day): $800-$1,500 If you think you could comfortably cover one or more of these emergencies out of pocket, you might be fine self-insuring. But if a surprise bill would be financially devastating, pet insurance could be well worth the cost for the financial safety net. Pet insurance isn't the only way to prepare for big vet bills. If you decide it's not the right fit, here are alternatives that could work: Build a dedicated pet emergency fund. Instead of paying monthly premiums, you could set aside money in a high-yield savings account to cover unexpected vet bills. Ask your vet about payment plans. Many veterinary offices offer payment plans directly through the practice or by partnering with financing companies to help spread out the cost of major procedures. Use financing options like CareCredit. CareCredit is a healthcare credit card that many vets accept. It sometimes offers 0% interest for a promotional period, but if you don't pay it off in time, deferred interest can kick in at a higher rate. There are some 0% APR credit cards too. Just aim to pay it off before the interest-free window closes. Research charitable funds and assistance programs. Nonprofits like RedRover Relief and resources listed by the American Veterinary Medical Association offer financial assistance for emergency vet care if you qualify. There is no universally right answer to whether pet insurance is worth it. The key is to run the numbers, weigh your risk, and make a plan before you're in crisis mode. Amy Danise and Tim Manni edited this article.
