Obituaries of 2023: 50 people who died this year
The Irish Times’s obituary writers have marked the deaths of more than 150 people this year. Here are 50 of the best known
Top Stories of the Year
A selection of some of the best reads and popular articles from the year
‘Our son is getting married soon, but we think he’s making a very big mistake’
Tell Me About It: ‘His wife-to-be comes from a broken home where all her siblings have gone their separate ways’
‘It’s hard to find an existing society better’ than this east coast Irish town
It’s not Dalkey. British anthropologist Daniel Miller calls it ‘Cuan’ but you know it by another name
The property I was due to inherit was sold. Where does that leave me?
Executor may find themselves with questions to answer on any tax debt and treatment of foreign property
Late Late Toy Show review: Kielty can’t match Tubridy’s eyes-on-stalks jolliness and doesn’t try
Patrick Kielty offers a quieter start to Christmas as he slowly, yet steadily, puts his own stamp on the programme
Marie Cassidy: ‘It’s the man in your bed you should be worried about, not the man under your bed’
Former state pathologist acknowledges that to do the stressful job: ‘You have to have a certain personality, a very odd personality’
A gentleman is someone who can play the accordion but doesn’t – especially on an Aer Lingus plane
Hugh Linehan: ‘Trapped in a confined space with loud music played at you is what they do to terrorists,’ one commenter said about last weekend’s impromptu session
Cillian Murphy: ‘People in Ireland are kinder and more understanding and a bit more copped-on’
Actor on how famous people are treated in different countries, his BBC Radio 6 Music show and how performing music prepared him for acting
‘My son came here at 18 with a dream - now I’m going to take him home at 23 without one of his legs’
M50 crash: Family and friends of Brazilian Deliveroo rider João Ferreira describe horror of Garda incident and aftermath
‘I lost my job, said goodbye to a 16-year relationship and found my golden ticket to a new life abroad’
She had a love of English, so Louise Toal thought she would make a career out of teaching it. She is glad she did
Expelled from school at 14, now she is an associate professor in education
Dr Hannagh McGinley is just the third Traveller to be awarded a PhD in the State’s history
‘His abilities to catch and kick and run were superb’ - All Black Beauden Barrett’s GAA days
Beauden, Jordie and Scott spent 16 months living in Ballinacree, Co Meath, during their youth
Terry Prone: ‘I never do parties, dinners. I’ve always been reclusive and shy’
The communications guru, writer and broadcaster’s memoir is full of contradictions, just like the woman herself
‘My mom always had to ask my dad for money and I remember thinking I never wanted to have to rely on anyone else for money’
Me & My Money: Yvonne Tchrakian, corporate lawyer with US-based Prothena Biosciences
The Graham Norton Show: Lack of A-listers proves the Late Late still has reason to exist
Television: As Norton begins his 31st season on the BBC, there’s no glossing over the sheer RTÉ-ness of the enterprise
‘People seem intrigued by an Irish couple leaving beautiful Ireland and starting afresh in foreign climes’
Jennifer Simpson on moving to rural France later in life and opening a guest house
How did the anti-IRA Zombie by The Cranberries become an Irish rugby anthem?
How did Rugby World Cup fans end up embracing a song about the futility of atavistic nationalist violence?
I bought the cheapest land I could find in Ireland. Now I’m planting a forest bigger than St Stephen’s Green
Three years ago Catherine Cleary and her husband decided to build a native woodland. This is how they did it
The Late Late Show: Slicker, suave Patrick Kielty starts brightly – if better guests lie ahead
New host appears up for the challenge. He certainly isn’t afraid to kick RTÉ where it hurts
Ireland has two classes: working-class and ‘notions’. In London, it’s far more subtle
British supermarkets mirror the nation’s class structure. Australia’s no-nonsense approach feels more like home
‘When I see another eejit using a Centra bag as carry-on, I wonder how so many of us managed to emigrate’
Every shift Molly Furey serves at least one Irish customer and attempts to identify them before they open their mouth. It is easier than you think
David McWilliams: Ireland’s ‘nepo-baby buyers’ are creating a two-tier housing system
David McWilliams: Wealth perpetuates housing inequality, as those without parental financial backing struggle
Oliver Callan fires a clean shot at Ryan Tubridy that any hitman would be proud of
Radio: On The Nine O’Clock Show, the stand-in host has a jag at the self-exculpatory impulses that scuppered his predecessor’s planned return
Tax means our daughter will not be able to keep the family home she inherits
Q&A: Politicians are juggling pressure to increase tax free thresholds on inheritance with other demands for the same money to be used for those less well off
Young people leaving Ireland: ‘I do love Galway but I’m emigrating for a better quality of life’
A newly qualified doctor and a nurse are among those preparing to go to Australia this month
Blackbird in Dun Laoghaire – a poem by Joseph O’Connor
Blackbird in Dun Laoghaire was read by Joseph O’Connor at the funeral of his sister Sinéad O’Connor
Ten things that used to be free but now cost money
But there are also things that used to cost money and are now free, writes Conor Pope
My loving partner turned out to be married the whole time – and it’s happened before
Ask Roe: This has happened to me on three former occasions, and again, I had no idea. Am I the problem?
Róisín Ingle: Instead of being celebrated, Sinéad O’Connor was mocked, dismissed and derided for far too long
Sinéad O’Connor showed us a different way to be a woman, giving two fingers to narrow expectations
Sinéad O’Connor by Ryan Tubridy: ‘She was rock’n’roll. I was the opposite’
Sinéad ‘was a magnificent, misunderstood, underestimated, beautiful soul full of divilment’
Ireland’s top earners: What the CEOs of the country’s biggest companies were paid last year
Pay for 19 top executives averaged €2.84 million last year
Sinéad O’Connor 1966-2023: A life in pictures
The Irish singer, who has died at the age of 56, will be remembered for her unique voice and activism
‘My family don’t particularly like me and I despair about retiring and spending more time with them’
Tell Me About It: A reader is not relishing retirement because of his troubled relationship with his wife and children
Claire Byrne: ‘I had lived an adult life up to the age of 38 not having had children, so I know what that freedom is like’
Parenting in My Shoes: Broadcaster was child-free until age 38, but now adores having youngsters
Fintan O’Toole: In the end, Ryan Tubridy resorted to the Father Ted defence
The broadcaster had three tasks in the most important live show of his career
Colm Meaney: ‘We’ve got to get these f**kers out – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’
Colm Meaney discovered politics as a teenager, up against the forces of John Charles McQuaid. Since then, he has relished combining activism with acting
‘I can’t sleep. I can’t eat’: south Dublin family facing eviction ‘due to apartment management fee’
Housing crisis: Family and landlord’s representative say council backed out of tenant-in-situ purchase due to €3,600 annual fee
Thousand-year-old skeletons discovered off Capel Street in Dublin city
More than 100 skeletons excavated from site of Bullitt Hotel development off Capel Street
‘I was married for three decades. Why did I stay when I was so unhappy?’
Tell Me About It: I was married for 30 years and I wonder why I allowed myself to remain sad, unhappy and pretty much unheard for so long
Rare Irish orchid discovered in Trinity College after lawn mowing is halted
Orchid which requires ‘perfect set of circumstances’ grew when mowing stopped
Fintan O’Toole: RTÉ abandoned the public interest during Covid and capitulated to Tubridy’s tone-deaf demands
This sorry episode shows how far the crassness of consumer culture has eroded the instincts of good citizenship
‘We are at our wits’ end. Our adult daughter still lives with us and her boyfriend has started to settle here too’
Tell Me About It: Their plans to go travelling, instead of focusing on their careers, concern us as the current situation will likely resume when they return
‘The throuple was intense. I’m really happy I had that experience. I’m equally happy I’m no longer in it’
Amber Bain, aka The Japanese House, has made an extraordinary album after her fraught three-way relationship
Mother-of-12 to start studying medicine: ‘I stopped worrying colleges were going to laugh at me’
Dubliner Rosemary Murphy (40) says she fought hard for a college place and is determined to make her dream come true
Tom Hanks entertains Dalkey with accents, anecdotes and the Irish director who gave him a chance
US actor was speaking at the Dalkey Book Festival and discussed his debut novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
Harry Styles at Slane: Boy, does this two-hour spectacle prove the naysayers wrong
There were snorts of derision when the singer was announced as this year’s headliner. On Saturday he shows why he’s one of the world’s biggest pop stars
A second life in Vancouver: ‘I made the decision to get away from any potential downward spiral into addiction’
Wild Geese: Steve Mooney, Vancouver
Hawksmoor review: This steakhouse is a serious addition to Dublin - top-notch food in a spectacular setting
Splash out on dinner or go for an affordable Sunday lunch at this top-notch venue
County-by-county guide to the best places to eat in Ireland
Wherever you are, you’ll find someplace great to enjoy a tasty meal or a quick snack at these carefully selected restaurants and cafes across the island of Ireland
‘We sleep in different rooms, haven’t had sex in four years and we bicker. I’m tempted to start casual dating’
Tell Me About It: One of you needs to be courageous enough to demand that the relationship goes under the microscope so all possibilities are investigated before letting it go
‘I miss breakfast rolls and the sense of humour but our life in the US has been as normal as anyone else’s with young kids’
Brendan McGinn went from Blarney to a new life in Providence with his Puerto Rican wife and two daughters
‘I sit in my car at the top of his road to see where he is going and if he is still with her’
Tell Me About It: My first real love announced last year he had resumed contact with an ex and they were giving it a second chance. I want him back - and I hope his relationship will fail
My mother-in-law claimed a widow’s pension for first husband while married to her second. Will we have to repay?
Q&A: The rules around the State widow(er)’s pension are black and white but the situation is much less certain on survivor’s pensions from employers
‘In tears with his closing number. We hope this isn’t his last tour’: Readers share their Bruce Springsteen concert experiences
Some fans were not impressed with some of the services and sound levels at the gigs in Dublin while others say it was a night they’ll remember for the rest of their lives
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