Christmas

The emotional toll is clear though as she recalls how lucky she felt to purchase this house

In a Word ... Sloth

In Canberra, Australia, everything except the people seems to be so much more intense than at home

Maria Ramos’s grandson ended up in Orlando, 160 miles away from where she was waiting to meet him

ISPCC reports 20% increase in number of calls to Childline between December 23rd and Christmas Day

Panicked bargain hunters feared missing out on discount televisions and matresses

Turkey broth, and pea and ham soup, will stand you in good stead for a new year

Television: Brendan O’Carroll should be praised for addressing dementia sensitively but the show is sorely lacking in laughs

More than 200 volunteers assist more than 550 guests at 99th meal event for the homeless run by Knights of St Columbanus at Dublin venue

Festive swimmers at Forty Foot in Sandycove enjoy sea temperature of 10 degrees, closing out a year of unseasonably warm Irish coastal waters

Ireland remains one of most peaceful and prosperous countries in world, according to most international metrics

Nurse Colin Plunkett has helped to ensure the smooth running of operations at the oncology department in Tullamore hospital over Christmas

Rosita Boland reflects on two very different Christmases in far away places

Christmas is better expressed through poetry, not prose. Prose typically deals in the raw stuff of lived experience, while poetry is strained through memory

Television: What a shame it would be if this is the end: Lot No 249 is a gift-wrapped helping of yummy mummy mania

This is a time that drags every ‘should’ and ‘ought’ you’ve stored away to the forefront of your mind. The relationships you don’t have. The ones you have but feel alone in. The people whose chairs will be empty

Ask Roe answers two queries: A best friend with a big personality and family conflict over Christmas

Christmas is a time of abundance and often excess, but try not to fill your plate or others’ to the brim

If you look at the original nativity scene, you do not see the weight of toxic individualism and judgment

Rite & Reason: On Christmas Eve, the frantic shopping is over. The feasting has not yet begun. It seems to me that the natural and spiritual worlds are in harmony. Awe is in the air

Jan approached the meat counter. I wouldn’t hold out much hope, the butcher said. Did she detect a smirk?

Answer questions on the year’s talking points to be in with a chance to win an overnight break for two

If Christmas has a seam of holiness in a broken world, it is in gazing out on midwinter and telling the darkness to be gone

Orla Tinsley: As I fought for life, the joy and magic of seeing Mariah Carey live, suspended in time, was something that could live forever

With its links to Scrooge and A Christmas Carol, Shrewsbury beats an independent retail path in a nation blighted by identikit high street outlets

Comedian Peter McGann would rather eat beans than turkey and has no work next year but, on the upside, he’s in Chris O’Dowd’s new show

At a recent dinner party I told the story about the Christmas when some family member left lunch to do class-A drugs

Ross O’Carroll-Kelly: It’s three days before the big day and Cornelscourt is like the Battle of the Bastards scene from Game of Thrones

Unsurprisingly, Rozario confirms that demand for this service has risen sharply in recent months, with over 70 individuals and families requesting food support

Try to remember many people aren’t Christmassy. So if they are a bit withdrawn or quiet, leave them be

Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem is a message of hope for those who struggle and feel forgotten and unimportant

Nationally, spending in the first two weeks of December was up 8 per cent on last year

Kate Ashe-Leonard wrote about Christmas on a sailboat; we heard expectations of what Christmas would be like in Australia from Laura Kennedy; and Jane spoke about her trip home into Dublin Airport

Tiramisu, trifles, roulades, meringues, iced soufflé – and a tart to die for

Plus rude answers to rude questions because getting one-up on nosey ones who have it coming for years is what the holidays are all about

Including the communist message of It’s a Wonderful Life, the nihilistic thuggery of Home Alone and the alternative nativity of Batman Returns

Choose from a selection box of old staples such as It’s A Wonderful Life and The Big Sleep and modern marvels such as Wolfwalkers and May December

Deck the halls with broken friendships, lost loves and all the other ghosts of the past

Emer McLysaght: Is it finally my year to receive the My Little Pony Dream Castle from Santa?

After lockdowns cancelled festive get-togethers, companies are reassessing seasonal traditions