Advice on everything from post-partum recovery to nutrition and learning Irish
AbleFest is a brand new festival taking place in Killarney over St Patrick's weekend. Picture: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan.
Killarney is the place for family-friendly St Patrick’s Day celebrations this weekend. The town is hosting Ablefest, an inclusive music and arts festival for people with additional needs and all their family and friends, on Sunday, March 16.
Taking place from noon to 4pm, at the Festival Hub at Beech Road, it promises a day of music, creativity and entertainment for all. Local entertainers DJ Donal and Thingamajig will perform live, as will Jake Carter and his band. There will also be face painting, puppet shows, line dancing, drum workshops, an animal roadshow, nail painting, sensory-friendly areas and lots more.
* Tickets for the event are for sale now from stpatricksfestivalkillarney.ie and cost €25 per adult, €10 per child or €50 for a family ticket, which covers two adults plus three children.
Bringing a baby into the world can take a significant toll on women’s bodies. Tipperary woman Marian Kennedy learned this when she had her first baby.
The next lesson she learned was that no products were available to help new mums support their recovery post-childbirth. So she decided to do something about it and developed a range called Anewmum Post Partum Relief Healthcare.
Her Postpartum Bathroom Essentials Bundle is currently available at the discounted price of €45. Presented in a discreet drawstring bag, it contains a peri-wash bottle, designed to wash the perineum area gently. There is also a bottle of comfort mist spray, to provide instant relief for the discomfort that comes with the bruising, swelling and tearing that often results from childbirth.
* The innovative nature of Kennedy’s product range recently won her a €10,000 grant at the Visa She's Next Awards.
Find out more about her story and the other products in the range at anewmum.com
This Seachtain na Gaeilge, parents might be thinking of ways to pass the Irish language on to the next generation. Children’s Books Ireland knows that one of the best ways of doing this is by reading ‘as Gaeilge’ with the children and young people in their lives. This is why it has launched a new Irish language reading guide called
This guide highlights the excellent books on offer in the Irish language for children and young people. It’s filled with 100 recommendations ranging from board and picture books to non-fiction, poetry collections, comics, middle-grade fiction and books for young adults.
Copies of the reading guide are available in selected libraries and bookshops nationwide. It can also be downloaded free of charge from childrensbooksireland.ie .
Puifín Beag agus an Dorchadas is a delightful book introducing young readers to the joys of reading ‘as Gaeilge’. Written by Erika McGann, it’s a bedtime story about a little puffling who reassures a younger friend that there is no need to be afraid of the dark. It’s set on the land and in the seas around Skellig Michael, and the gorgeous illustrations by Gerry Daly transport the reader to the island.
* The book is available from O’Brien Books and costs €11.99
How can you encourage your child to eat a healthy and balanced diet happily? The Instagram account of registered dietitian Cathy Monaghan has lots of helpful tips. At @weaning.ie, this mum-of-three and senior paediatric dietitian gives evidence-based nutritional advice on how to feed kids of all ages.
She covers topics like why toddlers like beige foods, how to gently encourage variety, sensory exploration and eating and why it matters for kids and what you should and shouldn’t do when your child is going through a fussy stage.
